Melanie McKell
Cincinnati, Ohio
Qualls Lab
Research focus: Metabolic control of macrophage host defense against mycobacterial disease
Why choose us? The University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center offer such a great collaborative environment, which is ideal for learning and growing as scientists. The atmosphere is always positive and helpful, rather than competitive and secretive. This paired with such amazing opportunities here at Cincinnati Children's especially, including all the cores and specialists to help improve your research in ways you otherwise might not be able to achieve, make Cincinnati Children's and UC such a great institution for a graduate degree.
Why study Immunology? Immunology is at the root of all infectious disease. While my interests revolve around microbiology and infectious disease, I find the interplay between the human immune system and the infectious microbe to be the most fascinating part of my field.
What will be the thing years from now that you’ll remember about the program? I’ll always remember how helpful and caring the faculty and students are. Whether it be with questions about a class, how to best set up an experiment, borrowing reagents, or even with where to find the best tacos – the students and faculty here are always willing to help and offer a suggestion.
Awards or publications:
Lange, S. M. McKell, M. C., Schmidt, S. M., Bricker, R. L., and Qualls, J. E. “Myeloid L-citrulline metabolism orchestrates anti-mycobacterial host defense in vivo.” (manuscript in preparation).
Lange, S. M., McKell, M. C., Schmidt, S. M., Chaturvedi, V., Kinder, J. M., Hossfeld, A. P., Turner, J., Way, S. S., and Qualls, J. E. “L-citrulline metabolism augments CD4+ T cell accumulation in the mycobacteria-infected lung.” (manuscript in preparation).
Hassan, F., Ni, S., Arnett, T., McKell, M., Kennedy, M. “Adenovirus mediated delivery of decoy hyper binding sites targeting oncogenic HMGA reduces pancreatic and liver cancer cell viability.” (manuscript in preparation)
Wang, N., McKell, M., Dang, A., Wu, D., Czabanska, A., Kohl, J., Waggoner, L., Hogan, S. P. “Lipopolysaccharide suppresses IgE-mast cell mediated reactions.” (manuscript in preparation)
Geh, E. N., Ghosh, D., McKell, M., Cruz, A. A., Stelma, G., & Bernstein, J. A. (2015). Identification of Microcystis aeruginosa Peptides Responsible for Allergic Sensitization and Characterization of Functional Interactions between Cyanobacterial Toxins and Immunogenic Peptides. Environmental Health Perspectives, 123(11). doi:10.1289/ehp.1409065
Pope, W. H., Bowman, C. A., Russell, D. A., Jacobs-Sera, D., Asai, D. J., Cresawn, S. G., Jacobs Jr., W. R., Hendrix, R. W., Lawrence, J. G., Hatfull, G. F., Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science, Phage Hunters Integrating Research and Education, Mycobacterial Genetics Course (2015). Whole genome comparison of a large collection of mycobacteriophages reveals a continuum of phage genetic diversity. eLife. doi:10.7554/eLife.06416