Leigh Howard, MD, MPH, is an assistant professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at VUMC and a core faculty member in the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health. She has extensive experience conducting clinical and observational research and vaccine clinical trials in domestic and international settings.
Her primary research focus is understanding host, environmental, and microbial dynamics associated with acute respiratory illness pathogenesis in children by conducting prospective cohort studies with detailed, longitudinal symptom surveillance and contact network evaluation. Specifically, her work explores the impact of interactions between respiratory viruses and viral interactions with Streptococcus pneumoniae in the pathogenesis of acute respiratory illness, as well as transmission patterns of respiratory viruses, bacteria, and antibiotic resistance markers in Peruvian children and their household contacts.
acute respiratory illness, pneumonia, respiratory viruses, vaccines, global health
Rheumatology, Immunology, and Pulmonary Critical Care
Dr. Celestine (Celly) Wanjalla is a physician scientist in the Division of Infectious Diseases. She earned her undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences with a distinction in research from Cornell University in Ithaca, and her MD PhD in Immunology and Microbial pathogenesis at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. She was awarded the Jefferson Graduate School Award in Translational Medicine. She completed residency and fellowship training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at VUMC. She was awarded a Vanderbilt Scholars in HIV and Heart, Lung, Blood and Sleep Research (V-SCHoLARS) K12 award during her postdoctoral training with Dr. John Koethe studying Adipose Tissue T cells and endothelial cell dysfunction in people living with HIV. Her current research seeks to comprehensively define the role of virus-specific immune cells in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and other diseases of aging. When she is not in the laboratory, she enjoys hiking with her family, trying out new recipes and traveling.
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death globally despite advancements in the detection and mitigation of risk factors. Though inherently multifactorial, chronic immune activation and inflammation are key mediators of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and other comorbidities. Persons living with HIV have twice the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Persistent exposure to HIV antigens and co-infection with chronic herpes viruses such as CMV or hepatitis B/C contribute to chronic inflammation in PWH and appear to be important in cardiovascular disease pathogenesis.
My lab has adopted a multidisciplinary approach to i) Define virus-specific innate and adaptive immune cells in the peripheral blood and coronary arteries of persons with cardiometabolic disease using existing multiparameter flow cytometry and single-cell techniques. ii) Optimize techniques to better understand the antigenic drivers of the adaptive immune response at the tissue level. Specifically, we design studies that link the viral reservoirs, virus-specific memory T cells, and epitope discovery. iii) Apply/Implement changes in cardiovascular disease risk assessment and therapeutic approaches to improve outcomes in patients.
Major research questions:
Virus-specific immune responses, chronic inflammation and aging
