Over the past year and a half, I have been working in the Immunity to Pulmonary Pathogens Section, where we investigate how a pathogen influences the host cell metabolism to evade immune responses using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and lipidomics. One of my primary projects is focused on studying how differences in metabolites and lipids of obese patients can lead to changes in disease severity upon infection with SARS-CoV-2 or F. tularensis using a diet-induced obesity mouse model. This work is of particular significance, as we are currently in the middle of a global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 that has resulted in the deaths of over 6.3 million people. F. tularensis is a bacterium that results in the disease known as pneumonic tularemia that, if left untreated, can result in mortality rates approaching 60% and remains a critically unaddressed bioterrorism threat.
One of my favorite aspects of metabolomics and lipidomics research within NIH is that it leads to many different collaborations. In addition to the ongoing projects within the Immunity to Pulmonary Pathogens Section, I have worked with investigators across NIH. This has afforded me the opportunity to work on projects ranging from Borrelia burgdorferi with NIAID scientists at RML to the tumor microenvironment with NCI scientists located in Bethesda, MD. Working with B. burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, we identified a gene that served as a regulator of glycerol-3-phosphate levels that was required for the pathogen to survive under nutrient stress. In our collaboration with NCI on the tumor microenvironment, we quantified a class of metabolites called cyclic-di-nucleotides (CDNs). By increasing the concentration of these CDNs in the tumor microenvironment, specifically cyclic-di-AMP, normal antitumor pathways are restored, and chemotherapeutic potential is modulated. By working in such a collaborative environment, I have met some incredibly intelligent people and have learned so much about a diverse range of diseases and pathogens.
Being a postbac at RML has allowed me to gain experience in the field of immunometabolism and advance my scientific career while also living in my home state of Montana, where I love to hike, fish, and ski. After completing my postbac, I look forward to continuing my scientific career at RML where I will continue working with Immunity to Pulmonary Pathogens Section as a contractor. Long term, I plan to apply to medical school. My goal is to take what I have learned here at RML and use it to better serve rural Montana and improve health outcomes for the people in the community that I grew up in.
- Drecktrah D, Hall LS, Crouse B, Schwarz B, Richards C, Bohrnsen E, Wulf M, Long B, Bailey J, Gherardini F, Bosio CM, Lybecker MC, Samuels DS. The glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenases GpsA and GlpD constitute the oxidoreductive metabolic linchpin for Lyme disease spirochete host infectivity and persistence in the tick. PLoS Pathog. 2022 Mar 7;18(3):e1010385.
- Lam KC, Araya RE, Huang A, Chen Q, Di Modica M, Rodrigues RR, Lopès A, Johnson SB, Schwarz B, Bohrnsen E, Cogdill AP, Bosio CM, Wargo JA, Lee MP, Goldszmid RS. Microbiota triggers STING-type I IFN-dependent monocyte reprogramming of the tumor microenvironment. Cell. 2021 Oct 14;184(21):5338-5356.e21.