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Faculty

Innate Immunity and Inflammation

Bibiana Bielekova, MD
Dr. Bielekova's research program focuses on studying the immunoregulatory mechanisms between innate and adaptive immune systems, especially as it relates to autoimmunity and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and on the development of novel therapeutic approaches for MS.
Charles Caldwell, PhD
Dr. Caldwell's lab focuses on three projects: 1) the role of hypoxia inducible factor during sepsis; 2) the role of adenosine following thermal injury; and 3) developing a predictive system for humans for infections following trauma utilizing biomarkers as well as leukocyte function.
Monica Chiaramonte, PhD
Dr. Chiaramonte studies the immunological mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of lung fibrosis and identifies components of both innate and adaptive immunity involved in fibrotic processes.
David Glass, MD
Dr. Glass' research focus is autoimmunity, especially of the chronic rheumatic diseases of childhood with the application of high throughput genomic and functional genomic methodologies.
Xi Jiang, PhD
Dr. Jiang's laboratory is interested in research on enteric viruses causing acute gastroenteritis in humans, particularly the human caliciviruses, including Norovirus and Sapovirus, and the human rotaviruses. His laboratory also is involved in research on the role of human milk in protection of infants from infection of these viruses.
Christopher Karp, MD
Dr. Karp's lab focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for the regulation and dysregulation of immune responses in infectious and autoimmune human diseases.
Joerg Koehl, MD
Dr. Koehl's laboratory is focused on the role of the complement system in bridging innate to adaptive immunity. The projects center on models of allergic asthma and autoimmune diseases.
Simon L. Newman, PhD
Dr. Newman's research focuses on innate immunity to fungi, particularly Histoplasma capsulatum. His studies are specifically aimed toward understanding the biology and biochemistry of the interaction between Histoplasma yeasts and macrophages and dendritic cells.
Marc E. Rothenberg, MD, PhD
Dr. Rothenburg is involved with studying the molecular and cellular basis for allergic responses, the role of chemokines in inflammation, and novel therapeutic intervention strategies in patients with allergic disorders.
Marc G. Wathelet, PhD
Dr. Wathelet's laboratory is focused on the mechanisms by which viruses evade the interferon response, an essential arm of innate immunity against viral infection. Current work involves the Ebola virus and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-associated coronavirus.
Timothy E. Weaver, PhD
Dr. Weaver's work is to understand the structural basis for surfactant protein function and to identify the roles of these proteins in lung development and postnatal pulmonary physiology. These goals are achieved by expressing mutated/deleted surfactant protein transgenes in knockout mice and evaluating pathophysiologic changes associated with a specific mutation or loss of functional domain.
David A. Williams, MD
Dr. Williams' laboratory studies the function of the Ras-related Rho GTPases in hematopoiesis and immune cell function. In addition, the laboratory has a long standing interest in gene transfer/gene therapy of hematopoietic and immne deficiency diseases using viral vectors.
Marsha Wills-Karp, PhD
Dr. Wills-Karp's research focuses on defining the genetic, environmental and immunological basis of allergic diseases including asthma. Specific areas of interests include: the role of T cells and cytokines in the pathogenesis of allergic disease; the role of environmental exposures (viruses, pollutants) on the development of allergic asthma; the identification of susceptibility genes for asthma; and the role of the innate immune system in asthma pathogenesis.
Nives Zimmermann, MD
Dr. Zimmermann's laboratory is focused on genetic and biochemical characterization of the CC chemokine receptor 3 (CCR3). CCR3, the eotaxin receptor, is a major receptor involved in regulating eosinophil trafficking in allergic responses. In one set of studies, her research has shown that treatment of eosinophils with CCR3 ligands results in marked internalization of the receptor into the early endosome compartment. The mechanism and functional consequences of this ligand-induced internalization are currently under investigation.