Daniel Stetson graduated with distinction from Duke University in 1997 and received his Ph.D. in 2002 from the University of California, San Francisco. After completing postdoctoral work at Yale University, Stetson joined the University of Washington Department of Immunology in April 2008. He has received a Cancer Research Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship and a National Institutes of Health Pathway to Independence Award. He was also named a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease.

Research in the Stetson lab focuses on mechanisms by which cells detect and respond to viral infection. All organisms have viral pathogens, and all organisms have sensors that detect foreign nucleic acids. In vertebrates, these sensors coordinate an inducible antiviral response by activating the production of type I interferons (IFNs). While the pleiotropic roles of IFNs have been studied since their discovery almost six decades ago, recent advances have allowed scientists to understand their means of induction and complex regulation in molecular detail. Stetson’s research program seeks to understand the induction and regulation of antiviral responses. He studies these responses in the context of protective immunity and human autoimmune diseases.