Biography:

Christina earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in 2018. Her studies characterized the role of a scaffolding protein, Partner of STIM1, in coordinating cytoplasmic Ca²⁺ influx and efflux during T cell activation. She subsequently joined the lab of Dr. Phillip Scott in the Department of Pathobiology at PennVet studying cutaneous leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease characterized by chronic, ulcerated lesions due to high parasite burden or immunopathology. Gene expression studies in patients and murine models have demonstrated that immunopathology is driven by cytolytic T cells and subsequent processing and release of pro-inflammatory IL-1β by the NLRP3 inflammasome. Christina’s studies focus on understanding the mechanisms of IL-1β release in severe disease. To this end, she has established in vitro co-culture systems to investigate what signals activate the inflammasome during T cell-mediated cytolysis. Additionally, she is using a fluorescent inflammasome reporter mouse to identify the cell types involved in aberrant inflammasome activation and IL-1β release in vivo. These studies will provide novel therapeutic strategies to target immunopathologic responses in cutaneous leishmaniasis.