Immune Priming Unit
Oyebola Oyesola, DVM, Ph.D.
NIH Independent Research Scholar
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Program Description
The Immune Priming Unit is focused on understanding how previous infection and exposure to environmental antigens can reprogram the immune system to influence outcomes to subsequent insults and injury.
Helminths infections are widespread and affect over a billion people worldwide. These worms have co-evolved with their vertebrate host for hundreds of millions of years before recent regional efforts aimed at eradication. Some of these worms can migrate through different tissue sites, such as the lungs, to induce a Type 2 inflammatory and regulatory response. This response can persist even after worm clearance and may influence responses to subsequent immunological challenges.
Furthermore, humans are constantly exposed to various antigens and microbes in their immediate environment. These microbes can play important roles in shaping immune response and contributing to immune variation within a population. However, use of mice in specific pathogen free (SPF) facilities has not favored an understanding of the contribution of an individual environmental history in responses to subsequent insults.
Our unit is focused on understanding how helminth infection and exposure to environmental antigens can reprogram the immune system to influence outcomes to other insults. To answer this question, we use various murine models, infection models, environmental models, multicolor flow cytometry and other single cell approaches to dissect the contributions of reprogrammed innate cells to the development of host resistance and/or susceptibility to other insults.
Biography
Education
Ph.D. Immunology and Infectious Disease, Cornell University
M.Sc. Infection and Immunity, University of Leicester
DVM Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan
Dr. Oyesola obtained her Veterinary Degree (DVM) from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria graduating with several distinctions at the end of her study at Ibadan. Motivated by her interest to better understand diseases of global and zoonotic importance, Dr. Oyesola pursued a postgraduate MSc. training in Infection and Immunity at the University of Leicester as a Commonwealth Shared Scholar. Following this, as a recipient of the Cornell African Scholar and Graduate Research Award, she obtained her Ph.D in Immunology and Infectious Disease at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Her dissertation work in the Tait-Wojno lab focused on dissecting the role of prostaglandin D2 in the regulation of mucosal responses during Type 2 inflammation.
In 2020, Dr Oyesola moved to the NIH where she became a visiting post-doctoral fellow in the Loke lab at the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, NIAID, NIH. Her work here was focused on understanding how an individual’s macro and/or microenvironment together with its interaction with host genetic factors can influence their susceptibility to disease, disease pathogenesis, and outcomes.
In 2023, Dr. Oyesola received an Independent Research Scholar Award from NIH, allowing her to continue her study on how an individuals’ environmental and/or infection history alter the immune system and influence their response to subsequent infections.
Dr. Oyesola is passionate about global health issues.
Selected Publications
Oyesola OO, Hilligan KL, Namasivayam S, Howard N, Clancy CS, Zhao M, Oland SD, Kiwanuka KN, Garza NL, Lafont BAP, Johnson RF, Mayer-Barber KD, Sher A, Loke P. Exposure to lung-migrating helminth protects against murine SARS-CoV-2 infection through macrophage-dependent T cell activation. Sci Immunol. 2023 Aug 18;8(86):eadf8161. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.adf8161. Epub 2023 Aug 11. PMID: 37566678.
Oyesola O, Downie AE, Howard N, Barre RS, Kiwanuka K, Zaldana K, Chen YH, Menezes A, Lee SC, Devlin J, Mondragón-Palomino O, Silva Souza CO, Herrmann C, Koralov S, Cadwell K, Graham AL, Loke P. Genetic and Environmental interactions contribute to immune variation in rewilded mice. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 May 2:2023.03.17.533121. doi: 10.1101/2023.03.17.533121. PMID: 36993484; PMCID: PMC10055251.
Oyesola OO, Shanahan MT, Kanke M, Mooney BM, Webb LM, Smita S, Matheson MK, Campioli P, Pham D, Früh SP, McGinty JW, Churchill MJ, Cahoon JL, Sundaravaradan P, Flitter BA, Mouli K, Nadjsombati MS, Kamynina E, Peng SA, Cubitt RL, Gronert K, Lord JD, Rauch I, von Moltke J, Sethupathy P, Tait Wojno ED. PGD2 and CRTH2 counteract Type 2 cytokine-elicited intestinal epithelial responses during helminth infection. J Exp Med. 2021 Sep 6;218(9):e20202178. doi: 10.1084/jem.20202178. Epub 2021 Jul 20. PMID: 34283207; PMCID: PMC8294949.
Oyesola OO, Duque C, Huang LC, Larson EM, Früh SP, Webb LM, Peng SA, Tait Wojno ED. The Prostaglandin D2 Receptor CRTH2 Promotes IL-33-Induced ILC2 Accumulation in the Lung. J Immunol. 2020 Feb 15;204(4):1001-1011. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1900745. Epub 2020 Jan 3. PMID: 31900341; PMCID: PMC6994842.
Douglas B, Oyesola O, Cooper MM, Posey A, Tait Wojno E, Giacomin PR, Herbert DR. Immune System Investigation Using Parasitic Helminths. Annu Rev Immunol. 2021 Apr 26;39:639-665. doi: 10.1146/annurev-immunol-093019-122827. Epub 2021 Mar 1. PMID: 33646858; PMCID: PMC8162934.
Oyesola OO, Souza COS, Loke P. The Influence of Genetic and Environmental Factors and Their Interactions on Immune Response to Helminth Infections. Front Immunol. 2022 Apr 29;13:869163. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.869163. PMID: 35572520; PMCID: PMC9103684.
Research Group
The Immune Priming Unit is focused on understanding how previous infection and exposure to environmental antigens can reprogram the immune system to influence outcomes to subsequent insults and injury.