Members

Jeffrey Bednarski is a bone marrow transplant physician specializing in the care of children with inborn errors of immunity. He leads our sites clinical trial studies as part of the Primary Immune Deficiency Treatment Consortium, which is focused on improving therapies for children with inherited disorders of the immune system. He directs a research program focused on understanding how B cells, immune cells that make antibodies, mature and acquire full function. Bednarski is a part of the center’s advisory committee.

Tarin Bigley is a pediatric rheumatologist who specializes in the care of patients with rheumatologic disease and inborn errors of immunity. His research is focused on identifying the role of viral infections in immune dysregulation.

Megan Cooper is a pediatric rheumatologist specializing in the care of children with inborn errors of immunity. Her laboratory focuses on basic mechanisms of immune cell activation and regulation. She investigates defects of the immune system that lead to pediatric autoimmunity and immune deficiency, using genetic sequencing to uncover novel molecular mechanisms of pediatric disease. Discoveries from her lab have led to the identification of new diseases and clinical trials to target therapies for patients.

Irem Eldem, MD, is an enthusiastic clinician-scientist who works as a pediatric hematologist at WashU-SLCH. Her focus is hematologic disorders of childhood, including immune cytopenia, bleeding and clotting disorders, bone marrow failure syndromes and hereditary anemias.

David Hunstad is the Arnold W. Strauss, MD, Endowed Professor for Mentoring and Chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at WUSM. His research focuses on sex differences in pathogenesis and host response in urinary tract infections.

Maleewan Kitcharoensakkul is a pediatric rheumatologist, immunologist, and allergist. She directs the fellowship program in pediatric rheumatology, and educational efforts within our clinical immunology group. Kitcharoensakkul is a part of the center’s advisory committee.

Melissa Mavers is a Pediatric Hematology-Oncology physician-scientist focused on hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The Mavers Lab aims to elucidate the biological mechanisms underlying immune regulation of graft-versus-host disease and develop GVHD cellular therapies.

Orvedahl is a pediatric infectious diseases physician-scientist interested in the host response to pathogens, in particular the potentially fatal cytokine storm syndrome (CSS). The Orvedahl lab uses in vitro and in vivo genetic approaches to identify and study host factors that modulate CSS, with a focus on the role of autophagy and cytokine-induced cell death of macrophages.

The Rosen Lab is interested in the pediatric immune response to Gram-negative infection and glycoconjugate immunizations. They are actively studying potential vaccine components to combat the global leading cause of neonatal sepsis and death in children: Klebsiella pneumoniae.phys

Ron Rubenstein is a pediatric pulmonologist whose research focuses on cystic fibrosis. His present interests include development of novel therapies for CF, basic mechanisms of protein and epithelial ion channel trafficking, mechanisms underlying the development of cystic fibrosis related diabetes and aminoglycoside-related ototoxicity.

Brigida Rusconi received her PhD from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) with a focus in Microbiology. During her PhD she expanded her skills in Bioinformatics and Immunology to study the interactions between the gut microbiota and the intestinal immune system in early life. Her work is focusing on immune populations that are uniquely imprinted in early life and contribute to maternal protection in the next generation.

Erica Schmitt is a pediatric rheumatologist and cares for patients in a specialty rheumatology/immunology clinic. Her research is focused on understanding the fundamental mechanisms of immune cell activation, immune dysregulation and immunological tolerance in pediatric inborn errors of immunity.

Laura Schuettpelz, MD, PhD, is a professor of pediatrics and developmental biology. She received her MD and PhD degrees from Northwestern University prior to coming to Washington University in St. Louis in 2005 to complete her clinical training in pediatrics and pediatric hematology and oncology. Her research focuses on understanding how inflammation regulates hematopoietic stem cells and immune system function. Outside of the lab, Schuettpelz treats children with leukemias and lymphomas. She is also co-leader of the Siteman Hematopoietic Development and Malignancy Program.

The Steed laboratory investigates the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which the host antiviral response is influenced by both commensal and pathogen interactions. Research focuses on using a combination of molecular and cell biologic approaches, in concert with in vitro and animal modeling systems, to establish an understanding of host-commensal-pathogen interactions.