Discovering the Immunologic Mechanism of Ascaris-induced Allergic Airway Disease.

简介：Weatherhead博士是儿科热带医学和传染病助理教授 贝勒医学院（Baylor College of Medicine）的一位教授，也是免疫寄生虫学领域的一位医生兼科学家。她的职业生涯 目标是成为寄生虫健康差异方面的专家，并进行高质量的基础科学研究， 改善贫困儿童的健康。生活贫困的儿童感染寄生虫的风险很高 例如蛔虫病，它感染了8亿多儿童，并与高发病率有关， 过敏性气道疾病Weatherhead博士旨在剖析宿主对蛔虫素的复杂免疫反应 为了强调迫切需要采取新的干预措施来预防贫困儿童的发病率。 她独特的技能将使她成为实验室发现和现场实施之间的联系， 新开发的驱虫目标。为了实现这些目标，Weatherhead博士开发了一种 全面的职业发展计划，将全面的辅导和培训活动结合起来， 她的基础和转化研究项目她将与她的投资者安排会议， 导师团队，大卫科里博士，在分子免疫学和过敏性气道疾病的权威，和博士。 Peter Hotez是寄生虫学和疫苗开发领域的全球领导者。韦瑟黑德博士将获得额外的 从她的科学咨询委员会获得关于微生物-宿主免疫界面的专家级指导。 指导研究将辅以正式的培训活动，包括研究生水平的课程， 参加国家科学会议，教授科学交流和学术 领导她的职业发展计划得到了世界一流的科学环境的支持， 为初级教师的发展提供充足的机会，并提供实现她的职业生涯所需的所有资源 目标. Weatherhead博士的研究将评估先天和适应性免疫机制， 蛔虫幼虫肺移行诱发过敏性气道疾病。第一个目标是确定分子途径 参与肺蛔虫病期间的先天免疫激活。第二个目标将决定何时和为 蛔虫诱导的适应性免疫导致宿主丧失外周免疫耐受的时间 activation.这两个目标都将在存在和不存在蛋白酶活性的情况下评价免疫途径。 该建议中所提出的问题对热带医学和寄生虫学领域具有重要意义 有可能改变我们对复杂的寄生虫与宿主关系的理解，为人类提供支持 蛔虫素是地方性地区过敏性气道疾病的主要原因的假说。这项建议会 促进对蛔虫引起的过敏性气道疾病的机制途径的理解， 提供了对哮喘的治疗见解，提出了新的干预目标， 需要预防儿童发病。本报告建议的辅导职业发展活动 申请将允许Weatherhead博士发展成为免疫寄生虫学的独立研究者。

Summary: Dr. Weatherhead is an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and a physician-scientist in the area of immunoparasitology. Her career goal is to be an expert in parasitic health disparities and perform high-quality basic science research that improves the health of children living in poverty. Children living in poverty are at high risk of parasitic infections such as ascariasis, which infects over 800 million children and is associated with significant morbidity including allergic airway disease. Dr. Weatherhead aims to dissect the complex host immune response to ascariasis in order to highlight novel interventions that are urgently needed to prevent morbidity in children living in poverty. Her unique skill set will allow her to serve as a link between laboratory discovery and field implementation of newly developed anthelminthic targets. To accomplish these goals, Dr. Weatherhead has developed a comprehensive career development plan which combines thorough mentoring and training activities integrated into her basic and translational research program. She will have scheduled meetings with her invested mentorship team, Dr. David Corry, an authority in molecular immunology and allergic airway disease, and Dr. Peter Hotez, a global leader in parasitology and vaccine development. Dr. Weatherhead will receive additional expert-level mentorship on the microbial-host immune interface from her scientific advisory committee. Mentored research will be supplemented with formal training activities including graduate-level coursework, participation in national scientific meetings and instruction in scientific communication and academic leadership. Her career development plan is supported by a world-class scientific environment which offers ample opportunities for junior faculty development and provides all the resources needed to achieve her career goals. Dr. Weatherhead's research will evaluate the innate and adaptive immunologic mechanism by which Ascaris larval lung migration induces allergic airway disease. The first aim will define the molecular pathway involved in innate immune activation during pulmonary ascariasis. The second aim will determine when and for how long the host loses peripheral immune tolerance as a result of Ascaris-induced adaptive immune activation. Both aims will evaluate the immune pathways in the presence and absence of protease activity. Questions outlined in this proposal are highly significant to the field of tropical medicine and parasitology having the potential to shift our understanding of the complex parasite-host relationship, lending support to the hypothesis that ascariasis is a leading cause of allergic airway disease in endemic regions. This proposal will advance the comprehension of the mechanistic pathways of Ascaris-induced allergic airway disease as well as provide therapeutic insight into asthma in general, suggesting novel interventional targets that are critically needed to prevent morbidity in children. The mentored career development activities proposed in this application will allow Dr. Weatherhead to evolve as an independent investigator in immunoparasitology.