Thesis Advisor
Entering Year
Research: My research explores how IL-15 enhances adaptive immunity following Plasmodium vaccination in a C57BL/6 mouse model. As liver tissue resident memory (Trm) cells are critical for liver stage immunity and liver Trm cell development is dependent on IL-15, we tested if IL-15 complex (IL-15C; IL-15 combined with IL-15Rα) boosts liver Trm cell formation and survival in a mouse model of GAP vaccination. IL-15C increases the number of CD8 and CD4 Trm cells and the number of IFN-γ+ T cells in the liver at a memory time point. We found that IL-15C treatment decreases liver parasite burden following challenge with sporozoites.
