Samantha Krysa, PhD
W.M. Keck Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Brestoff Lab
- Email: krysa@nospam.wustl.edu
Division
- Laboratory and Genomic Medicine
Lab Website
Education
- Bachelors of Arts in Biochemistry & Spanish, Augustana College, Rock Island, IL (Aug 2011-May 2015)
- Doctorate of Philosophy in Molecular Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (Aug 2017-June 2022)
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO (July 2022- present)
Research Interests
- Neutrophil biology, non-infectious roles of neutrophils, immunometabolism, intercellular mitochondria transfer, signaling, basic cell biology.
Research Statement
I am driven to understand how interactions between the immune system and metabolic organs function to maintain metabolic homeostasis, and how aberrances in these processes provoke metabolic defects that cause disease. In my graduate work, I became particularly fascinated with neutrophils due to their idiosyncratic lifespan and metabolic characteristics. My postdoctoral project in Dr. Jonathan Brestoff’s laboratory further expands on my research interests by investigating the role of neutrophils in regulating adipose tissue function and metabolic homeostasis. Intriguingly, I have identified a distinct subset of neutrophils in the brown adipose tissue (BAT) and antibody-mediated depletion of neutrophils in vivo significantly decreases BAT mass, indicating a potential role for neutrophils in regulating BAT physiology. My work has determined that BAT neutrophils are induced during specific metabolic stressors, including cold challenge, and further seeks to understand how adipose tissue neutrophil subsets may interact with adipose tissue and other organs to maintain metabolic homeostasis.
Recent Awards
- 2023 W. M. Keck Fellowship Awardee