Silke Paust, PhD

Professor Adjunct

Department of Immunology and Microbiology

Research Focus

Members of the Paust laboratory are interested in the development and testing of novel immunotherapies that elicit clinically relevant Natural Killer cell-mediated anti-pathogen or anti-tumor immunity. Our research program is centered on the discovery that subsets of NK cells are long-lived and capable of antigen-specific immunological memory to viruses and altered self, giving precedence to investigations that seek to exploit NK cell activity to prevent or cure disease. Currently, we are pursuing three specific scientific goals: 1) Identification of the mechanisms by which subsets of murine and human NK cells mediate antigen-specific immunological memory responses; 2) Identification of NK cell-specific immune correlates of protection from infection or malignancy; 3) Development of effective, host-protective vaccine or therapeutic approaches that elicit potent NK cell-mediated recall responses in vivo. To enable our studies, we routinely utilize mouse models, xenograft models, and clinical samples for the immunological analyses of innate and adaptive NK cell-mediated immune responses.

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Awards & Professional Activities

Select Publications

Angelo, Laura S.; Bimler, Lynn H.; Nikzad, Rana; Aviles-Padilla, Kevin; Paust, Silke CXCR6 NK Cells in Human Fetal Liver and Spleen Possess Unique Phenotypic and Functional Capabilities. 2019, 10, 469.
You, Ran; DeMayo, Francesco J.; Liu, Jian; Cho, Su N.; Burt, Bryan M.; Creighton, Chad J.; Casal, Roberto F.; Lazarus, Donald R.; Lu, Wen; Tung, Hui- Y.; Yuan, Xiaoyi; Hill-McAlester, Andrea; Kim, Myunghoo; Perusich, Sarah; Cornwell, Loraine; Rosen, Daniel; Song, Li- Z.; Paust, Silke; Diehl, Gretchen; Corry, David; Kheradmand, Farrah IL17A Regulates Tumor Latency and Metastasis in Lung Adeno and Squamous SQ.2b and AD.1 Cancer. 2018, 6, 645-657.
Vogt, Megan B.; Lahon, Anismrita; Arya, Ravi P.; Kneubehl, Alexande R.; Spencer Clinton, Jennifer L.; Paust, Silke; Rico-Hesse, Rebecca Mosquito saliva alone has profound effects on the human immune system. 2018, 12, e0006439.
Moreno-Smith, Myrthala; Lakoma, Anna; Chen, Zaowen; Tao, Ling; Scorsone, K A.; Schild, Linda; Aviles-Padilla, Kevin; Nikzad, Rana; Zhang, Yankai; Chakraborty, Rikhia; Molenaar, Jan J J.; Vasudevan, S A.; Sheehan, Vivien; Kim, Eugene S.; Paust, Silke; Shohet, Jason M.; Barbieri, Eveline p53 Nongenotoxic Activation and mTORC1 Inhibition Lead to Effective Combination for Neuroblastoma Therapy. 2017, 23, 6629-6639.
Paust, Silke; Blish, C A.; Reeves, R K. Redefining Memory: Building the Case for Adaptive NK Cells. 2017, 91.
Decker, William K.; da Silva, Rodrigo F.; Sanabria, Mayra H.; Angelo, Laura S.; Guimarães, Fernando; Burt, Bryan M.; Kheradmand, Farrah; Paust, Silke Cancer Immunotherapy: Historical Perspective of a Clinical Revolution and Emerging Preclinical Animal Models. 2017, 8, 829.

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