Dr. Filler is Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, Chief of Academic Research in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and an Investigator at the Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation.

Funded by the NIH for over 30 years, Dr. Scott Filler’s research focuses on the pathogenesis of fungal infections caused by Candida spp. and Aspergillus fumigatus. This work includes investigating the mechanisms by which fungi invade and damage host cells and how the innate immune system senses and responds to these organisms. His group discovered the first known invasins of Candida albicans and A. fumigatus. One of these invasins, Als3 is the basis for a vaccine that was found to reduce the incidence of recurrent vulvovaginitis in women. His research uses in vitro and mouse models of infection to investigate the pathogenic interplay between the host and the fungal pathogen.

To date, Dr. Filler published over 200 research papers and has mentored 11 postdoctoral fellows, of which 4 have gone onto faculty positions including one funded by a K99 award. As a member of the KL2 committee of the UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), Dr. Filler has a strong commitment for mentoring junior faculty in their advancement to independently funded principal investigators.