Loke Research Group

Type 2 Immunity Section

Our research goal is to understand the heterogeneity of type-2 immune responses during helminth infections. An appropriately regulated type-2 response is critical in maintaining the balance between expelling enough parasites and tolerating the remaining parasites without excessive collateral tissue damage, in order to maintain the fitness of the host. The mechanisms underlying the heterogeneity of type-2 responses between individuals still remains poorly understood. Our basic immunological studies on macrophage biology and our translational research studies on the microbiota are converging toward the goal of understanding factors that regulate variation of type-2 immune responses in humans. Using a combination of mouse models, as well as field and clinical studies, our future plans are to test some of the concepts that we have developed on chromatin remodeling in macrophage responses to type-2 cytokines, as well as helminth-microbiota interactions, in mouse models, field studies and also human challenge infections.

P’ng Loke Ph.D.

Chief, Type 2 Immunity Section

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Education:

Ph.D., 2001, University of Edinburgh, UK

Dr. P’ng Loke completed his Ph.D. research at the University of Edinburgh on IL-4 activated macrophages responding to Brugia malayi filarial parasites in 2001. He then did postdoctoral research on costimulatory molecules at University of California-Berkeley and studied macrophage responses to different parasites at University of California-San Francisco. In 2009, he joined New York University School of Medicine as an assistant professor and was a tenured associate professor before he joined the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases as a senior investigator in 2020.

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Camila de Oliveira Silva e Souza, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow

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Portrait of Camila de Oliveira Silva e Souza, Ph.D.

Nina Grace Howard

Post-bac IRTA

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Kasalina Kiwanuka, Ph.D.

IRTA Postdoctoral Fellow

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Soo Ching Lee, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow

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Education:

Ph.D., 2014, Universiti Malaya

Jean Pierre Kambala Mukendi, M.D., Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow

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Portrait of Jean Pierre Kambala Mukendi, M.D., Ph.D.

Oyebola Oyesola, DVM, Ph.D.

NIH Independent Research Scholar

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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.

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