Philip J. Norris, MD

Philip Norris, MD, is the VP of Research and Scientific Programs at Vitalant and a Senior Investigator at Vitalant Research Institute (VRI), a UCSF-affiliated research institute. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.  Dr. Norris earned his BA and BS degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, his MD degree from the College of Physician & Surgeons at Columbia University, and completed his residency in internal medicine at Duke University Medical Center and fellowship in infectious diseases at the Massachusetts General Hospital.  Dr. Norris has received numerous academic awards and was the recipient of a Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Clinical Scientist Development Award in 2000.

The Norris lab research interests focus on how the human immune system responds to viral infections and transfusion.  Early efforts centered on defining how HIV-specific CD4+ T cells might contribute to control of viral infection.  A second area of interest has been defining the earliest events of viral infections through study of subjects with HIV, West Nile virus, and hepatitis viruses.  More recent projects include understanding how blood transfusion affects the immune system and modulates immune responses in transfusion recipients.  His lab is also directing several projects to understand the natural history of COVID-19 and how convalescent plasma might modify the disease course.