New External Funding Awards

Congratulations to Stephanie Orozco-Figueroa as she received a new NIH F-Award!

Congratulations to the following faculty in receiving new grant funding:

• June Round, R01, Microbiota-immune interactions that promote intestinal homeostasis
• Tracey Lamb, R01, Pathogenic low affinity CD8 T cells in malaria
• Patrice Mimche, R01, Small Molecule Antagonists Targeting EPHB Receptors for the Treatment of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis
• June Round, R21, Microbiota Pancreas Interactions During Cancer
• Ryan O’Connell, R21, Metabolic regulation of macrophage microRNAs during colitis
• Tracey Lamb, R21, Genetic and Immunological Control for Development of Asymptomatic Malaria
• Diane Ward, U54, Enrichment Program
• Vicente Planelles, Sub, Scripps
• Dean Tantin, Foundation, Praespero Autoimmunity Foundation

Welcome New Faculty

Wan-Lin Lo, PhD

Welcome to Wan-Lin Lo, who joined the Division in July as an Assistant Professor from the University of California, San Francisco.

Since my PhD training, I have been obsessed with the long-standing question in immunology: how do self-peptides mediate thymic selection to ensure that mature thymocytes recognize self-ligands but will not be activated by self-tissues in the periphery, while retaining sensitivity and specificity for foreign ligands? At the University of Utah School of Medicine, my lab will investigate how T cells respond to environmental stimuli to guide their effector function and differentiation, calibrate their sensitivity to activation signals, and establish the magnitude and functional specialization of their responses. My lab will explore the signaling nodes that can be easily engineered to modulate T cell fate decision process during pathogen infections or the growth of tumor cells. We will build upon the hypothesis that T cell functional capacity can be modulated by manipulating signaling nodes that control ligand discrimination. In the steady state, self-peptide–MHC complexes (self-pMHC) fail to activate peripheral T cells, but relatively high self-pMHC sensitivity sustains steady-state T cell survival and augments memory responses against pathogens. Yet excessive sensitivity to self can trigger an unresponsive state termed ‘anergy’, while chronic antigen encounter in the setting of the tumor microenvironment or persistent infections can induce ‘exhaustion.’ Thus, I envision that our work, by understanding the molecular mechanisms modulating T cell ligand discrimination, will contribute to our understanding that why some self-reactive T cells become autoimmune while others can be kept in quiescence, why many highly self-reactive T cells are eliminated whereas others persist, and what are the nature of T cell clones that can be functionally reinvigorated during chronic viral infections or persistent tumors. The answers to these questions will require in-depth understanding of the temporal and spatial regulation of TCR signaling upon encounter of bona fide antigens—the fundamental T cell biology puzzles my lab is committed to solving.

Jarrod Johnson, PhD

Welcome to Jarrod Johnson, who joined the Division in September as an Assistant Professor and came for the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Utah.

The Johnson Laboratory studies how cells detect and respond to viruses, with a particular focus on HIV. To defend against infection, the innate immune system needs to “sense” the pathogen, sound the alarm signals, and engage a protective response to fight the threat. The Johnson lab integrates cell biology, molecular virology, biochemistry, and functional genomics approaches to understand these different stages of the innate immune response to address questions such as: How are viruses recognized during infection? What cell factors help to relay the alarm signals? And how do our cells “tune” immune responses once they are engaged? To study infection in near-native conditions, the laboratory uses several experimental models including primary human leukocytes isolated from blood as well as immortalized cell lines. In some cases, innate immune responses are reconstituted in vitro so that host-pathogen interactions can be studied in purified, cell-free conditions. The long-term goals in the laboratory are to learn how viruses like HIV evade detection and uncover new ways to harness our body’s natural defense systems to fight disease.

Annual Vitae Honors

Congratulations to Patrice Mimche, who is being honored at the Annual Vitae event. This event is sponsored by the SVPHS Research Unit and recognizes junior research faculty at the University who have received acclaim for their research contributions, whether through significant grant funding, highly visible publications, national or international awards, or other media publicity.

New Publications

• Haecker, Hans; Research square; Jul-21; A Rapid and Affordable Point-of-care Test for Detection of SARS-Cov-2-Specific Antibodies Based on Hemagglutination and Artificial Intelligence-Based Image Interpretation.
• Planelles, Vicente; Research square; Jul-21; A Rapid and Affordable Point-of-care Test for Detection of SARS-Cov-2-Specific Antibodies Based on Hemagglutination and Artificial Intelligence-Based Image Interpretation.
• Redecke, Vanessa; Research square; Jul-21; A Rapid and Affordable Point-of-care Test for Detection of SARS-Cov-2-Specific Antibodies Based on Hemagglutination and Artificial Intelligence-Based Image Interpretation.
• Planelles, Vicente; Frontiers in immunology; 2021; Activation of the Anti-Oxidative Stress Response Reactivates Latent HIV-1 Through the Mitochondrial Antiviral Signaling Protein Isoform MiniMAVS.
• O'Connell, Ryan M; Nature; Aug-21 Adaptive immunity induces mutualism between commensal eukaryotes.
• Round, June L; Nature; Aug-21; Adaptive immunity induces mutualism between commensal eukaryotes.
• Stephens, W Zac; Nature; Aug-21; Adaptive immunity induces mutualism between commensal eukaryotes.
• Round, June L; Annual review of virology; Sep-21; Bacteriophage-Bacteria Interactions in the Gut: From Invertebrates to Mammals.
• Mulvey, Matthew A; Infection and immunity; Sep-21; Bile Salts Regulate Zinc Uptake and Capsule Synthesis in a Mastitis-Associated Extraintestinal Pathogenic Escherichia coli Strain.
• Mimche, Patrice N; American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology; Jul-21; Enhanced epithelial sodium channel activity in neonatal Scnn1b mouse lung attenuates high oxygen-induced lung injury.
• O'Connell, Ryan M; Cell Reports; Nov-21; Epithelial-myeloid exchange of MHC class II constrains immunity and microbiota composition
• Round, June L; Cell Reports; Nov-21; Epithelial-myeloid exchange of MHC class II constrains immunity and microbiota composition
• Stephens, W Zac; Cell Reports; Nov-21; Epithelial-myeloid exchange of MHC class II constrains immunity and microbiota composition
• Bettini, Maria; Diabetes; Jun-21; Function, Failure, and the Future Potential of Tregs in Type 1 Diabetes.
• Bettini, Matthew L; Diabetes; Jun-21; Function, Failure, and the Future Potential of Tregs in Type 1 Diabetes.
• Round, June L; Current opinion in virology; Aug-21; Immune-bacteriophage interactions in inflammatory bowel diseases.
• Planelles, Vicente; Frontiers in immunology; 2021; Impaired Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity in a Spanish Cohort of Patients With COVID-19 Admitted to the ICU.
• Weis, Janis J; Nature reviews. Rheumatology; Aug-21; Lyme arthritis: linking infection, inflammation and autoimmunity.
• Round, June L; Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950); Oct-21; Microbiota-Immune Interactions Regulate Metabolic Disease.
• O'Connell, Ryan M; The FEBS journal; Jun-21; No small matter: emerging roles for exosomal miRNAs in the immune system.
• Round, June L; The FEBS journal; Jun-21; No small matter: emerging roles for exosomal miRNAs in the immune system.
• Hale, J Scott; Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950); Sep-21 ;Protein Immunization Induces Memory CD4+ T Cells That Lack Th Lineage Commitment.
• Planelles, Vicente; Biochemical pharmacology; Oct-21; Provirus reactivation is impaired in HIV-1 infected individuals on treatment with dasatinib and antiretroviral therapy.
• Fujinami, Robert S; Frontiers in immunology; 2021; The CSF1R-Microglia Axis Has Protective Host-Specific Roles During Neurotropic Picornavirus Infection.
• Bettini, Matthew L; Nature; Jun-21; Thymic development of gut-microbiota-specific T cells.
• Round, June L; Nature; Jun-21; Thymic development of gut-microbiota-specific T cells.

Faculty Awards

Congratulations to Keke Fairfax for receiving the following awards:

• International Interferon and Cytokine Society Regeneron Young Investigator award
• MEDiversity Inclusion Excellence Award in Research
• Elected to the board of ASTMH

Congratulations to Aaron Petrey who was selected for the Endre Balazs & Janet Denlinger Award

National Postdoc Appreciation Week

We appreciate the hard work our Postdocs perform in our Department. The University had activities throughout the week and the M&I Division had a lunch for all of our postdocs.

During the week there was a Plenary session, Coffee and headshots, Workshop on Communicating in a flash talk, Division Lunch, Networking events, and a CV workshop.

Congratulations to the following students who completed their PhD Degree

Welcome New M&I PhD Students

Welcome New Masters Student

New Application Options for M&I PhD Students

During the Fall 2021 semester, the M&I Division has opened up a new option for students who wish to join our PhD program. Previously, students only had the option of entering the program through the MB/BC program or directly work with a faculty member to gain access to our program. We have just launched a direct application to our program. These students will benefit from jumping right into classes and labs that pertain to their degree instead of entering a more generic program. We are excited to see the growth of students entering our program.

Upcoming Events

We are looking forward to our upcoming Immunology, Internal Medicine, and Infectious Disease (III) Symposium on April 29th. We will enjoy speakers from outside the University, poster sessions, networking, and fun. We look forward to seeing everyone there.