Email: [email protected]

Program: Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology Graduate Student
Year Entered: 2020
Thesis Advisors: Sara Hamilton Hart and Kris Hogquist

Research:
Memory CD8 T cells provide us with long-term protection against reinfection by intracellular pathogens. The CD8 T cells memory pool is heterogenous; our group has recently defined a rare circulating subset known as long-lived effector cells (LLECs) which are characterized by their expression of KLRG1 and superior control of LM. Months after infection in SPF mice, the LLEC population wanes in comparison to other subsets. However, this does not seem to be the case in “dirty mice,” which have higher systemic pro-inflammatory cytokine levels. My work centers around the hypothesis that LLECs are uniquely able to utilize pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-18 for their maintenance. List of Publications

Degrees received:
BS, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2020