Kristen Noble
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, IN·Microbiology & Immunology·Early-career
During pregnancy, the immune system in the uterus has two jobs at once. It must fight infection, yet it must also tolerate and protect the fetus.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
Group B Streptococcus
reproductive immunology
pregnancy
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2028
What they work on
- Define gene programs activated by Group B Streptococcus infection in gestational tissues at different stages of pregnancy, using single-cell sequencing.
- Map where key GBS-induced immune responses occur within intrauterine tissues using ultra-high-level multiplex immunofluorescence, which stains many proteins in the same tissue section.
- Determine how maternal-derived and fetal-derived macrophages, pathogen-engulfing immune cells, each contribute to defense against GBS and to pregnancy outcomes, using specialized mouse models.
More about the research
These defenses shift as pregnancy progresses. That shift may explain why the same bacterial infection can have very different outcomes at different points in gestation. Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a bacterium that can infect pregnant women and harm pregnancies. Yet there are currently no early diagnostic signs of this kind of infection.
Why it matters
GBS infection during pregnancy can lead to poor outcomes for mothers and babies, and there are no early diagnostic indicators of intrauterine infection. Defining how immune responses change with gestational age could reveal early markers of infection. It could also point to ways of reducing poor pregnancy outcomes after GBS infection.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Sean Harris
University of Michigan, MI·Pharmacology
Assess how TCE and PCE breakdown products affect the microbe-fighting functions of primary decidual macrophages. These are immune cells in the uterine lining that are key defenders against infection.
Mana M Parast
University of California-San Diego, CA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether villitis of unknown etiology (VUE) linked to fetal growth restriction has a distinct cellular profile of chronic immune responses and trophoblast or endothelial damage, using mass cytometry on banked placental tissue.
Willy Hugo
University of California-Los Angeles, CA·Microbiology & Immunology
Test whether long-term glioblastoma survivors after ATL-DC vaccination have more stem-like, progenitor-exhausted TCF7+ PD1+ CD8 T cells in their tumors, using spatial transcriptomics and high-plex immunofluorescence.
The school
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis: 25 labs on PI Pages, $89M a year on research, 120 research doctorates a year.
More about Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis
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