Shelby Bradford

PhD Student

Organization:

West Virginia University School of Medicine

Department:

Microbiology, Immunology & Cell Biology

Classification:

Graduate Assistant

I am studying how the newborn immune system may affect the response to BCG, the vaccine against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Specifically, I study how a protein, called IL-27, causes suppression of the immune system by investigating how it affects one specific cell type, called dendritic cells. These cells are responsible for activating various components of the immune system, including the arm which will induce antibodies and long-lived memory cells. Early-life suppression affects how the immune system responds to vaccines as well as infections. Studying the role IL-27 plays during early-life vaccination could offer new development ideas for vaccines to improve their use in protecting infants against deadly infections. To do this, I am designing a neonatal vaccine model. Currently vaccines are tested in adults, both pre-clinically and clinically; this age group in people and animals do not have as high of IL-27 levels. This discrepancy makes it hard to gauge whether the vaccines work as well in infants as they do in adults. Using my model, I plan to explore what immune response is generated when animals are immunized with BCG. This vaccine is often given immediately after or shortly following birth, making it a relevant model. Ultimately, my research will help to extend our knowledge of how the newborn immune system functions during immunization.

Besides the bench science, I am also a scholar in the Cell Biology and Training Program and an active member in an emerging T32 program focused on immunotherapeutics, where I help lead a student group on all aspects of science wr