Dr. Mariah Hassert, a Postdoctoral Scholar in the laboratory of Dr. John Harty, has been awarded an NIH F32 Fellowship entitled “Antiviral Lung Resident Memory T Cell Maintenance and Reinvigoration” from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Diet and the gut microbiome have emerged as important factors in regulating the pathobiology of multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. The Mangalam laboratory has previously shown that individuals with MS have distinct gut microbiota, with a specific depletion of gut bacteria responsible for metabolism of dietary phytoestrogen. The importance of phytoestrogen-metabolizing gut bacteria in preventing MS has been verified by the Mangalam laboratory using a mouse model of the disease (experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis or EAE), where a diet rich in isoflavone (a type of phytoestrogen) protected from severe disease.

he Post-Comprehensive Research Fellowship is awarded to students to recognize their distinguished academic achievement and to provide protected time for research. Kimberly is a PhD candidate in the Experimental Pathology program working in the lab of Dr. Marco Hefti. Her dissertation uses a combination of human tissue and human-derived stem cell models to answer questions about how the tau protein contributes to different types of neurodegenerative diseases.

Drs. Ashutosh Mangalam, Hans-Joachim Lehmler and Christina Camell were awarded a Collaborative Iowa-Minnesota Pilot and Feasibility Grant from the UI Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center. The grant is entitled ‘Environmental Toxicant Glyphosate Synergizes with the Western Diet to Induce Obesity by Increasing Gut Microbial Dysbiosis and Adipose Tissue Inflammation’.

Dr. Dao-Fu Dai received a five-year NIH R01 award entitled ‘Metabolic Reprogramming and FGF21 Signaling in Kidney Health and Polycystic Kidney Diseases’ from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

Dr. Zizhen Kang was awarded a two-year R21 research grant entitled "Understanding the Role of LRRK2 G2019S-mediated Gut-brain Axis in the Pathogenesis of Parkinson's Disease" from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Dr. Lisa Drewry, a Postdoctoral Scholar in the laboratory of Dr. John Harty, has been awarded an NIH F32 Fellowship entitled “Dissecting Compromised Efficacy of Liver-stage Malaria Immunizations in Hosts with a History of Blood-stage Malaria” from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Pathology Welcomes New Faculty: Drs. Abdullah Thayyil, Kathryn Eschbacher, Osorio Lopes Abath Neto, Jhanvi Kanotra, Rostislav (Rossy) Ranguelov, and Daniel Griffin

Invasive Candida infection is one of the leading causes of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections, which carry a mortality rate ranging from 45 to 75 percent. Toxicity and resistance to the limited number of anti-fungal agents currently available contributes to high morbidity and mortality associated with invasive fungal infections. Therefore, there is an urgent need to better understand the host-pathogen interaction during fungal infection and develop new immuno-therapeutic approaches to fight invasive candidiasis.

Dr. Bing Li received a five-year NIH U01 award entitled “Determine the Molecular and Metabolic Mechanisms by which A-FABP Links Dysregulated Lipid Metabolism-induced Obesity/Breast Cancer Risk”. This award in combination with four other selected projects and a Coordinating Center will constitute the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Metabolic Dysregulation and Cancer Risk Program, which will focus on metabolic dysregulation as the key process linking obesity with cancer risk.