The Role of Tissue-resident Memory CD8 T Cells in Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of severe lower respiratory tract infection in infants and young children, resulting in over 3 million hospitalizations and 60,000 fatalities annually. There is currently no licensed RSV vaccine. Unlike in the majority of acute viral infections, neutralizing antibodies do not completely protect individuals from reinfection of RSV, and individuals are susceptible to repeated RSV infections throughout life. It is currently unclear how long-lasting immunity against RSV reinfection may be provided. Thus, there is a critical need to understand the correlates of protective immunity against RSV to develop a safe and effective RSV vaccine.

Memory CD8 T cells provide protection against many acute viral infections by mediating viral clearance without causing excessive host damage. Previous work in the lab has shown that while systemic RSV-specific memory CD8 T cells able to efficiently reduce viral titers following RSV infection, they unexpectedly do so at the expense of fatal immunopathology. Thus, significant knowledge gaps exist regarding how RSV-specific memory CD8 T cells control RSV infection and the mechanisms that contribute to pathology following RSV infection. Recent studies in a variety of infection models have indicated that tissue-resident memory (TRM) CD8 T cells that are localized to the site of infection provide better protection against local infections than systemic memory cells. However, the role of TRM CD8 T cells in RSV infection remains unknown. My research is focused on examining the role of TRM CD8 T cells in RSV infection, which will address a critical knowledge gap in the RSV literature and provide valuable information towards the design of a future RSV vaccine.

Bibliography

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Honors & Awards

• NIH Pre-Doctoral Training Grant T32AI007485, NIH, Bethesda, MD. 2016-2018
• Presidential Graduate Research Fellowship, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA. 2014-Present
• 2018 AAI Trainee Abstract Award, IMMUNOLOGY 2018, Austin, TX. May 2018
• Levitt Center for Virology Travel Awards, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA. May 2016, September 2016, and May 2018
• AAI Young Investigator Award, Autumn Immunology Conference, Chicago, IL. November 2016
• 2016 AAI Trainee Abstract Award, IMMUNOLOGY 2016, Seattle, WA. May 2016
• Graduate Student Senate Travel Award, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA. May 2016