Steve Julio, Ph.D.

After graduating from Westmont, Dr. Julio earned his doctorate at UC Santa Barbara, where he studied bacterial pathogenesis. He spent two years as a research scientist at a start-up focused on developing cancer vaccines. He returned to UCSB in 2003 to study Bordetella, which causes whooping cough. He returned to Westmont in 2006 and continues his work on Bordetella pathogenesis using a combination of genetics, biochemistry and animal models of disease. He researches the bacteria’s ability to colonize respiratory tracts and modulate host immunity and explores why some Bordetella strains infect a variety of mammals but others target only humans. He and his wife, Cheryl, have four daughters.