Isabel Risch
Program: Computational and Systems Biology
Current advisor: Malachi Griffith, PhD
Undergraduate university: Washington University
Research summary
Acute Anterior Uveitis (AAU) and Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) are autoimmune diseases associated with Human Leukocyte Antigen B27 (HLA-B27). Although this association was observed over 50 years ago, the mechanism remains unclear. Recent studies have implicated autoreactive CD8+ T cells in the pathogenesis of AAU and AS. Autoreactive CD8+ T cells share TCR sequences and antigen specificity, such as to the bacterial antigen YeiH and various autoantigens. The transcriptional landscape of this cell population, however, remains poorly defined. Moreover, whether healthy individuals may harbor pathogenic CD8+ T cells without developing AAU or AS is unknown. Using single-cell RNA-seq and TCR-seq and various computational and bioinformatics techniques, I am attempting to fill in the gaps in our knowledge about these cells and their role in disease.
Graduate publications