Sharmila Nair, Ph.D.

Education:

Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University, St. Louis, MO; August 2019
Ph.D., Department of Innate Immunity & Infection, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Germany; May 2014
M.Sc., Department of Virology, University of Bristol, United Kingdom; September 2010

Current Positions:

Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology

Contact Information:

Clinical & Translational Research Building, Room # 317
505 South Hancock Street
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY 40202

Phone:  (502) 852-6992
Email:  sharmila.nair@louisville.edu

Research Description:

Dr. Nair’s research interests are to advance oncolytic virotherapy for treatment of high grade solid brain tumors such as Glioblastoma Multiform (GBM), which are the most aggressive primary brain tumors. GBM stem cells (GSCs) are a subpopulation of tumor cells that are resistant standard care therapy such as radiation and chemotherapy. GSCs drive tumor initiation and are the primary cause for tumor relapses. Since 1990, no therapy has significantly improved surval outcomes for patients with GBM.

Dr. Nair’s lab harnesses the natural tropism of ZIKV to target and lyse GSCs as well investigates mechanisms of how ZIKV improves anti-tumor immune responses.  Her laboratory is interested in advancing the study of oncolytic viruses  with the intent to: (i) decipher what drives oncolytic lysis in specificity of ZIKV activity in GSCs; (ii) understand the immunological barriers in brain tumors that can be overcome with oncolytic ZIKV therapy; and (iii) identify and test novel immune therapies that complement ZIKV therapy.

Literature Cited:

  1. Nair S, Mazzoccoli L, Jash A, Govero J, Bais SS, Hu T, Fontes-Garfias CR,Shan C, Okada H, Shresta S, Rich JN, Shi PY, Diamond MS, Chheda MG.  Zika virus oncolytic activity requires CD8+ T cells and is boosted by immune checkpoint blockade.  JCI Insight 2021 Jan 11;6(1):e144619.  doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.144619.  PMID: 33232299.  PMCID: PMC7821591.
  2. Winkler ES, Bailey AL, Kafai NM, Nair S, McCune BT, Yu J, Fox JM, Chen RE, Earnest JT, Keeler SP, Ritter JH, Kang LI, Dort S, Robichaud A, Head R, Holtzman MJ, Diamond MS.  SARS-CoV-2 infection of human ACE2-transgenic mice causes severe lung inflammation and impaired function.  Nature Immunology 2020 Nov;21(11):1327-1335.  doi: 10.1038/s41590-020-0778-2.  Epub 2020 Aug 24.  Erratum in: Nature Immunology 2020 Sep 2.  PMID: 32839612.  PMCID: PMC7578095 .
  3. Winkler ES, Bailey AL, Kafai NM, Nair S, McCune BT, Yu J, Fox JM, Chen RE, Earnest JT, Keeler SP, Ritter JH, Kang LI, Dort S, Robichaud A, Head R, Holtzman MJ, Diamond MS.  SARS-CoV-2 infection in the lungs of human ACE2 transgenic mice causes severe inflammation, immune cell infiltration, and compromised respiratory function.  bioRxiv [Preprint] 2020 Jul 10:2020.07.09.196188.  doi: 10.1101/2020.07.09.196188.  PMID: 32676600.  PMCID: PMC7359522 .
  4. Thapa G, Nair S, Oetjen C.  Implementing an evidence-based, asthma decision support tool for children younger than 5 years old.  Journal of Pediatric Health Care 2019 May-Jun;33(3):296-308.  doi: 10.1016/j.pedhc.2018.10.003 .  Epub 2019 Feb 28.  PMID: 30826137.
  5. Zhang R, Kim AS, Fox JM, Nair S, Basore K, Klimstra WB, Rimkunas R, Fong RH, Lin H, Poddar S, Crowe JE Jr, Doranz BJ, Fremont DH, Diamond MS.  Mxra8 is a receptor for multiple arthritogenic alphaviruses.  Nature 2018 May;557(7706):570-574.  doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0121-3.  Epub 2018 May 16.  PMID: 29769725.  PMCID: PMC5970976 PMC5970976.
  6. Nair S, Huynh JP, Lampropoulou V, Loginicheva E, Esaulova E, Gounder AP, Boon ACM, Schwarzkopf EA, Bradstreet TR, Edelson BT, Artyomov MN, Stallings CL, Diamond MS.  Irg1 expression in myeloid cells prevents immunopathology during M. tuberculosis infection.  Journal of Experimental Medicine 2018 Apr 2;215(4):1035-1045.  doi: 10.1084/jem.20180118.  Epub 2018 Mar 6.  PMID: 29511063.  PMCID: PMC5881474.
  7. Nair S, Poddar S, Shimak RM, Diamond MS.  Interferon regulatory factor 1 protects against Chikungunya virus-induced immunopathology by restricting infection in muscle cells.  Journal of Virology 2017 Oct 27;91(22):e01419-17.  doi: 10.1128/JVI.01419-17.  PMID: 28835505.  PMCID: PMC5660487.
  8. Lampropoulou V, Sergushichev A, Bambouskova M, Nair S, Vincent EE, Loginicheva E, Cervantes-Barragan L, Ma X, Huang SC, Griss T, Weinheimer CJ, Khader S, Randolph GJ, Pearce EJ, Jones RG, Diwan A, Diamond MS, Artyomov MN.  Itaconate links inhibition of succinate dehydrogenase with macrophage metabolic remodeling and regulation of inflammation.  Cell Metabolism 2016 Jul 12;24(1):158-66.  doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2016.06.004.  Epub 2016 Jun 30.  PMID: 27374498.  PMCID: PMC5108454.
  9. Nair S, Diamond MS.  Innate immune interactions within the central nervous system modulate pathogenesis of viral infections.  Current Opinion in Immunology 2015 Oct;36:47-53.  doi: 10.1016/j.coi.2015.06.011.  Epub 2015 Jul 8.  PMID: 26163762.  PMCID: PMC4593735.
  10. Nair S, Michaelsen-Preusse K, Finsterbusch K, Stegemann-Koniszewski S, Bruder D, Grashoff M, Korte M, Köster M, Kalinke U, Hauser H, Kröger A.  Interferon regulatory factor-1 protects from fatal neurotropic infection with vesicular stomatitis virus by specific inhibition of viral replication in neurons.  PLoS Pathogens 2014 Mar 27;10(3):e1003999.  doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003999.  PMID: 24675692.  PMCID: PMC3968136.

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