Preston Tasoff

PhD Student

A walk in the woods may seem like a pleasant, not too scientific experience to most. Maybe they ID some trees, try and get away from the hustle of their work and lives. Preston however takes to the soil, probing deep into the invisible world of the microbiome.

Preston is a PhD student in the Environmental Science Management and Policy department at UC Berkeley, a part of Jill Banfield and Eoin Brodie's Lab groups. His research is at the intersection of the plant - soil - microbe world, using metagenome resolved genomics and biogeochemical methods to explore the way microbial traits affect ecosystems. His current work involves vegetation influences on the soil microbiome at the East River in Gunnison Colorado. He is generally curious about the ways microbes respond to climate change, and can help the biome at large combat ecosystem stress.

At UCSF, Preston helped start up the Benioff Center for Microbiome Medicine, in charge of the Microbial Genomics service co-lab for its founding and then transitioning to a research scientist for the co-lab. At NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Preston worked as a research affiliate for 4 years, investigating the halophilic communities of microbes and their bio preservation on earth, as a proxy for discovering life on Mars. He attended Washington University in St. Louis for undergrad and helped publish microbiome research as well.

Education

Washinton University in St. Louis 2016-2020

UC Berkeley 2022-Present

Research Interests / Specializations:

Microbiome

Metagenomics

Biogeochemistry

Microbial Ecology

Selected Publications

Geil R. Merana, Laura R. Dwyer, Miqdad O. Dhariwala, Antonin Weckel, Jeanmarie R. Gonzalez, Joy N. Okoro, Jarish N. Cohen, Courtney M. Tamaki, Jungmin Han, Preston Tasoff, et al. (2022). “Intestinal inflammation alters the antigen-specific immune response to a skin commensal.” Cell Reports Open Access.
Rampersaud, R., Tasoff, P., et al. (in prep) “Gut microbiome effects on kynurenine pathway in depression.” UCSF.

Geil Ramvielle Merana; Laura Rachel Dwyer; Miqdad Onali Dhariwala; Antonin Weckel; Jeanmarie Rose Gonzalez; Joy N Okoro; Jarish N. Cohen; Courtney M Tamaki; Jungmin Han; Preston Tasoff; Yasmin Palacios-Calderon; Connie W. Y. Ha; Susan V Lynch; Julia A Segre; Kong H Heidi; Michael G Kattah; Averil Ma; Tiffany C Scharschmidt. (2022) “Intestinal inflammation breaks established immune tolerance to a skin commensal.” Cell Press Community.

Perl, S.M., Celestian, A. J., Seuylemezian, A., Baxter, B.K., Tasoff, P., Vaishampayan, P.A., Corsetti, F.A. (2021 in review) “Evaporitic Preservation of Modern Carotenoid Biomarkers and Halophilic Microorganisms in Martian Analogue Hypersaline Environments.” Astrobiology.

Eric C. Keen, Preston Tasoff, Tiffany Hink, Kimberly A. Reske, Carey-Ann D. Burnham, Gautam Dantas, Jennie H. Kwon, and Erik R. Dubberke (2020). “Microbiome restoration by RBX2660 does not preclude recurrence of multidrug-resistant urinary tract infection following subsequent antibiotic exposure: A case report
Open Forum Infectious Diseases.” Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Grinwald, M.F., Tasoff, P., Simpson, K.F., Vasser, A., Shaffer, C.D., Weston-Hafer, K.A., Russell, D.A., Pope, W.H., Jacobs-Sera, D., Hendrix, R.W. and Hatfull, G.F. (2018) “Streptomyces Phage Billnye, Complete Genome.” Nucleotide, GenBank: MG757153.1.