Nita-Lazar Research Group

Research in the Functional Cellular Networks Section focuses on understanding the changes that occur in the cell in response to exogenous factors such as pathogen- and symbiotic microbe-derived molecules, cytokines, and chemokines, which alter the differentiation state of cells in the immune system or whose production characterizes specific disease states. We are especially interested in large-scale absolute quantitative measurements of immune cell signaling cascade components, and we use a variety of experimental approaches (including but not limited to proteomics) to develop a systematic understanding of the inflammatory response of the innate immune cells to the acute and persistent signals they receive from the environment. Interestingly, many chronic inflammatory diseases occur due to an inappropriate immune response to subsets of commensal microbes and are driven by complex environmental, dietary, and genetic cues, which we are investigating using systems biology tools and aim to create predictive models of molecular interactions. The predictions of these models will, in turn, be employed to elucidate biological responses to stimuli at multiple scales of biological organization, including the cell, tissue, and, eventually, the whole organism.

Photo of the Functional Cellular Networks Section

Functional Cellular Networks Section, November 2024. First row, from left: Vanya Bhushan, Doeun Kim, Aleksandra Nita-Lazar, Jiraphorn Issara-Amphorn, Sandhini Saha. Second row, from left: Sung Hwan Yoon, Jacob Pederson, Nathan Manes, Hyojung Kim (guest researcher from Dr. Anirban Banerjee's lab, NICHD), Jose Pittaluga.

Credit: NIAID

Aleksandra Nita-Lazar, Ph.D.

Chief, Functional Cellular Networks Section
Senior Investigator

Education:

Ph.D., 2003, University of Basel

Dr. Nita-Lazar received her Ph.D. in biochemistry in 2003 from the University of Basel for studies performed at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, where she analyzed protein glycosylation using mass spectrometry methods.

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Vanya Bhushan, Ph.D.

Exchange Visitor / Postdoctoral Fellow

Education:

Ph.D., 2022, National Dairy Research Institute

Languages Spoken: Hindi

Dr. Vanya Bhushan earned her Ph.D. from National Dairy Research Institute in 2022 and joined the Nita-Lazar lab in the spring of 2023. Her project at NIAID focuses on quantifying cellular protein abundance changes within subcellular compartments of host innate immune cells upon time course challenge with PAMPs/Vita-PAMPs from viable/non-viable whole cells, with activation of complex TLR/PRR signaling networks and their cross talk. Her interest primarily lies in quantitative mass spectrometry approaches to study cell signaling mechanisms.

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Jiraphorn Issara-Amphorn, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Languages Spoken: Thai

My research focuses on understanding molecular mechanism of macrophages in response to the pathogen derived molecules such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS). I’m also interested in the function of MARCKS and phospho-MARCKS in the regulation of inflammatory response in macrophages.

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Doeun Kim, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Education:

Ph.D., Kyungpook National University
M.S., University of Science and Technology (UST)
B.S., Yeungnam University 

Languages Spoken: Korean

My research interests include identifying protein dynamics in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-driven TLR signaling pathway using proteomics approaches such as limited proteolysis, thermal proteome profiling, and quantitative proteomics (TMT and SILAC). Additionally, I’m interested in exploring the correlation between protein stabilities and protein phosphorylation.

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Nathan Paul Manes, Ph.D.

Staff Scientist

My research focus is quantitative proteomics using mass spectrometry. I use comparative proteomic profiling to discover host biological pathways affected by infection, and I use targeted proteomics to measure the absolute abundance of proteins to support biological pathway modeling and simulation.

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Jacob W. Pederson, B.S.

Predoctoral IRTA Fellow

Education:

B.S. and M.S., Microbiology (Oregon State University)

Using a combination of computational network analysis and systems biology principles we aim to understand how the underlying mechanisms of specific host-microbe interactions drive or protect against disease. This approach has led us to investigate how dietary fatty acids and microbes stimulate certain macrophage populations via the TLR pathway to promote inflammation in adipose tissue and decrease systemic insulin sensitivity, leading to onset of metabolic disease.

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Jose R. Pittaluga, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Education:

Ph.D., University of Buenos Aires

Languages Spoken: Spanish

Dr. Pittaluga joined the Nita-Lazar lab in the fall of 2024 to investigate the role of AOAH in neutrophil responses to LPS from various bacterial species. His research focuses on how AOAH modulates inflammation, utilizing a combination of approaches, including proteomics, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the pathways involved, with the ultimate goal of identifying key regulatory mechanisms...

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Sandhini Saha, Ph.D.

Exchange Visitor/Postdoctoral Fellow

Education:

Ph.D., Biotechnology, Regional Centre for Biotechnology, India

Languages Spoken: Bengali, Hindi

My research centers on advanced mass spectrometric techniques, combining relative and absolute quantification to explore complex cellular processes like growth, differentiation, and stress responses in disease biology. I am particularly focused on understanding disruptions in proteome homeostasis within the context of immunity, infection, and inflammation. My work aims to uncover proteome-wide...

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Sung Hwan Yoon, Ph.D.

Staff Scientist (Core)

Education:

Ph.D., University of Arizona

B.S., Seoul National University

Languages Spoken: Korean

Majored in analytical chemistry and my specialties are mass spectrometry, instrumentation, and proteomics.

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Former Research Group Members

Virginie Sjoelund, Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow. Currently Associate Director of the Proteomics Core at the Barnett Institute, Northeastern University, Boston, MA.

Eunkyung An, Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow. Currently Program Manager in the Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research (OCCPR) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH.

Marijke Koppenol-Raab, Postdoctoral IRTA Fellow. Currently Pharmaceutical Scientist, FDA.

Casey Daniels, Postdoctoral IRTA Fellow. Currently at DanceJam Productions.

Mohd M. Khan, Graduate Student (Graduate Partnership Program with the University of Maryland). Currently Manager (Cell & Gene Therapies Commercialization) at Deloitte Consulting US.

Thunnicha Ondee, Graduate Student (Graduate Partnership Program with Chulalongkorn University, Thailand). Currently Postdoctoral Fellow at Chulalongkorn University.

Sebastian Montalvo, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow. Currently Business Strategy Senior Consultant Business Strategy Senior Consultant at Deloitte Consulting US.

Pauline Kaplan, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow. Currently Medical Student, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, and Second Lieutenant, US Army.

Noah Kelner, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow. Currently Graduate Student at the University of Rochester.

Caleb Bridgwater, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow. Currently Graduate Student at Georgetown University.

Matthew Scandura, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow. Currently Research Technician at Northern Arizona University.

Arthur Nuccio, Research Technician. Currently Scientist at Novartis.

Trisha Tucholski, Postdoctoral IRTA Fellow. Currently Scientific Officer at the National Academies.

Deepali Rathore, Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow. Currently Field Applications Scientist, Proteomics - Mid-Atlantic at Bruker.

Joseph G. Gillen, Postdoctoral IRTA Fellow. Currently Science Teacher for the Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia.

Matthew James Marino, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow. Currently Graduate Student, University of Delaware.
 

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