Dr. Arjun Rustagi is dedicated to understanding the early immune responses to infections, and the methods pathogens use to persist despite these responses, in order to inform new prevention and treatment strategies. His research has focused on viral pathogenesis and immunity. He set up the respiratory viral biosafety level 3 (BSL3) program at Stanford in early 2020 in order to study SARS-CoV-2, contributing to several projects in SARS-CoV-2 virology including a single-cell study of intact in vitro lung tissue infection. He also protocoled the first peripheral immune single-cell profiling study of severe COVID-19. His ongoing interest is in the full spectrum of in vitro respiratory pathogen models, particularly those that recapitulate lung epithelium and mucosal immunity.