Title: "Hepatic immune responses to Plasmodium parasite infection of the liver"

We investigate host-pathogen interactions during Plasmodium parasite infection to guide the development of immune-directed interventions that prevent infection, disease, and onward transmission. We mostly study the pre-erythrocytic stages of the Plasmodium life cycle (i.e., invasive sporozoite and parasite developmental stages in liver hepatocytes) to discover and define innate immune mechanisms that modulate the generation of durable, protective anti-Plasmodium liver-resident memory CD8 T cells (CD8 T_RM). We published the first report documenting detrimental impacts of hepatic type I Interferon (IFN-I) signaling on the development of anti-Plasmodium adaptive immunity in mice vaccinated with live attenuated whole Plasmodium parasite vaccines. Importantly, this negative association between IFN-I signaling and the development of protective adaptive immunity has also been observed in human vaccinees, validating the importance of our animal models for mechanistic studies that are infeasible in humans. We are currently developing approaches to spatiotemporally characterize IFN-I signaling in the parasite-infected murine liver, identifying innate and adaptive immune cells impacted by IFN-I signaling and determining the mechanistic underpinnings of this detrimental IFN-I response on the adaptive immune response to parasite infection of the liver. Data from these studies will be discussed in this presentation.

Dr. Nana Minkah will be presenting on February 19, 2025 at 12 pm EST / 9am PST. Please register HERE.