Download BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH NAME: Paust, Silke eRA COMMONS

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
NAME: Paust, Silke
eRA COMMONS USER NAME (credential, e.g., agency login): SILKEPAUST
POSITION TITLE: Assistant Professor of Immunology
EDUCATION / TRAINING
DEGREE
Completion
INSTITUTION AND LOCATION
(if applicable)
Date
MM/YYYY
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI
B.S.
05/1997
FIELD OF
STUDY
Biochemistry
Washington University, St. Louis, MO
M.S.
01/2000
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Ph.D.
06/2005
Biomedical
Sciences
Immunology
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Instructor
01/2012
Immunology
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Assistant
Professor
09/2013
Immunology
A.
PERSONAL STATEMENT
My post-doctoral work demonstrated that subsets of Natural Killer cells are long-lived adaptive
immune cells capable of antigen-specific immunological memory to viruses and altered self (Nature
Immunology 2010 & 2011, cited > 400 times). These important findings open the door for the
development of novel Natural Killer cell-based vaccines and therapeutics. Thus, the efforts in my
laboratory are focused on three specific goals as the cornerstones of my NIH funded research
program: (i) the identification of the molecular mechanism(s) of immunological memory in murine
and human NK cells (ii) the development of novel vaccination strategies that elicit adaptive
immunity in murine and human NK cells for the prevention of viral infection, and (iii) the development
and efficacy testing of novel NK cell-based therapeutics to treat malignancy.
B. POSITIONS AND HONORS
Positions and Employment
2013 - present: Assistant Professor, Center for Human Immunobiology, Department of Pediatrics,
Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.
2012 - 2013: Instructor, Division of Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology,
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
2012: Member of the local organizing committee, AIDS vaccine 2012, Boston, MA.
Honors
2004: The Hauser Fellowship, Harvard University, for outstanding achievements in scientific
research and teaching throughout their graduate school training.
2007-09: Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Cancer Research Institute, New York, NY.
2010-12: Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT & Harvard, Boston, MA.
2012-13:T32 Transfusion Biology and Cellular Therapies NIH training grant.
2014: Women & Diversity Paper of the Year Award from the Society of Leukocyte Biology & FASEB,
for the most highly cited publication in innate immunity of the past five years.
C. CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE
1. My graduate studies and collaborative work I performed as an Instructor at Harvard Medical
School, focused on the regulation of T cell mediated inflammatory responses in the context of
autoimmune disease, and mechanisms of T cell regulation by cell-intrinsic and extrinsic pathways,
including thymic selection, regulatory T cell-mediated suppression and dendritic cell and neuronal
regulation of T cell mediated immune responses:
I. Plas DR, Williams CB, Kersh GJ, White LS, White JM, Paust S, Ulyanova T, Allen PM, and
Thomas ML. The tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 regulates thymocyte positive selection. Journal of
immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950). 1999; 162(10):5680-4. PMID:10229799.
II. Paust S, Lu L, McCarty N, Cantor H. Engagement of B7 on effector T cells by regulatory T cells
prevents autoimmune disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United
States of America (PNAS). 2004; 101(28):10398-403. PMID:15235129.
III. McCarty N, Paust S, Ikizawa K, Dan I, Li X, and Cantor H. Signaling by the kinase MINK is
essential in the negative selection of autoreactive thymocytes. Nature Immunology. 2005;
6(1):65-72. PMID:15608642.
IV. Riol-Blanco L, Ordovas-Montanes J, Perro M, Naval E, Thiriot A, Alvarez D, Paust S, Wood JN,
and von Andrian UH. Nociceptive sensory neurons drive interleukin-23-mediated psoriasiform
skin inflammation. Nature. 2014; 510(7503):157-61. PMID: 24759321
2. Discovery of antigen-specific anti-viral immunological memory mediated by Natural Killer
cells. My post-doctoral work was first to discover a subset of murine NK cells capable of
immunological memory responses to viral antigens, such as Influenza A derived Matrix Protein 1 and
Human Immunodeficiency Virus encoded group antigen and envelope. This potent anti-viral NK
immunological memory is distinct from that described for CMV. It occurs to a multitude of viral
antigens that are distinguished by memory NK, which protect the vaccinated host from severe
disease.
3. Discovery of the critical role for the chemokine receptor CXCR6 in NK cell-mediated
antigen-specific memory. My post-doctoral further work discovered the only memory-associated
marker for non-CMV viral antigen-specific murine memory NK cells, called CXCR6. In mice, memory
of haptens and viruses depended on CXCR6, a chemokine receptor on hepatic NK cells required for
long-term survival and memory function of antigen-primed NK cells, but not for antigen recognition.
I. Paust S, Gill HS, Wang BZ, Flynn MP, Moseman EA, Senman B, Szczepanik M, Telenti
A, Askenase PW, Compans RW, von Andrian UH. Critical role for the chemokine
receptor CXCR6 in NK cell- mediated antigen-specific memory of haptens and viruses.
Nature Immunology. 2010 (12): 1127-35. PMID: 20972432; PMCID: PMC2982944
II. Majewska-Szczepanik M*, Paust S*, von Andrian U.H., Askenase P.W. and
Szczepanik M. NK cell mediated contact sensitivity develops rapidly and depends on
IFN-α, IFN-γ AND IL-12. Immunology 2013 May 10; * equal contribution PMID:
23659714; PMCID: PMC3809710
III. Paust S, Senman B, von Andrian UH. Adaptive immune responses mediated by
natural killer cells. Immunological Reviews. 2010 May; 235(1): 286-96. PMID:
20536570; PMCID: PMC2911633
IV. Paust S, von Andrian UH. Natural killer cell memory. Nature Immunology 2011 Jun;
12(6): 500-8. PMID: 21739673
Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/silke.paust.1/bibliography/47563634/public/?sort=date&direc
tion=ascending
3. Report of Technological Innovations
Year Title
2011 MODULATION OF NK CELL ANTIGEN SPECIFIC EFFECTOR ACTIVITY BY MODULATION
OF CXCR6 (CD186) International Application No.: PCT/US2010/05856
ONGOING RESEARCH SUPPORT
1R01 AI116282-01A1 - Paust (PI)
02/01/2014 – 01/31/2020
Sponsor: NIH
Harnessing NK Memory To Protect Against HIV Infection
3.0 cal. mo.
5R01AI099483-02 PI - Rico-Hesse; Role: Co-I
Sponsor: NIH
Mosquito Saliva in Dengue Virus Pathogenesis
1.8 cal. mo.
12/12/2012 – 11/3/2017
P30 AI036211-20 CFAR Pilot Award - Paust (PI) 05/01/2015 – 04/31/2016
Sponsor: NIH
Curing Chronic HIV Infection With Adoptive Natural Killer Cell Immunotherapy
0.6 cal. mo.
DLDCC Award - Paust (PI)
06/15/2015 – 04/31/2016
Sponsor: Dean L Duncan Cancer Center
Adoptive Natural Killer Cell Mediated Lung Cancer Immunotherapy
0.6 cal. mo.
ASH Bridge Award - Paust (PI)
Sponsor: American Society of Hematology
Molecular Origin of NK memory
0.6 cal. mo.
06/15/2015 – 04/31/2016
SPORE Developmental Projects - Paust (PI)
06/15/2015 – 04/31/2016
1.2 cal. mo.
Sponsor: NCI
Targeting Tumor Associated Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells With Adoptive Natural Killer Cell
Immunotherapy For The Treatment Of Lymphoma And Solid Tumors.
COMPLETED RESEARCH SUPPORT
30-DK079638 - PI: Paust
07/15/2014 – 07/14/2015
Sponsor: Pilot/Feasibility Program of the Diabetes Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine
with National Participation.
Harnessing iPSC-derived pancreatic β islets & humanized mice to fight type 1diabetes
The goal of this research is to cure type 1 diabetes by β islet transplantation and prevention of graft
rejection.
07/01/2014 – 06/30/2015
Pediatrics Pilot Award - PI: Paust
Sponsor: Baylor College of Medicine
Evaluation of a novel oral HIV vaccine
The goal of this project is to evaluate antigen presentation and lymphocyte activation by a novel
pollen-based oral HIV vaccine in mice.
Alkek Pilot Award - Paust (PI)
09/01/2014 - 08/31/2015
Sponsor: Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation, Houston, TX
Harnessing M2e-Specific Monoclonal Antibodies As Influenza A Therapeutics
The objective of this proposal is to develop and characterize novel patentable and clinically relevant
influenza A matrix protein 2 extracellular domain-specific monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics for
the treatment of Influenza A infection.