The CEEH Career Development and Mentoring Core welcomed Dr. Anne Manicone as a junior investigator early this year. Anne is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care. She will join the CEEH Cardiopulmonary & Metabolic Disease Collaborative Research Team (CRT) headed by Drs. Mike Rosenfeld and William Altemeier. Anne presented her research at the monthly CEEH Breakfast Club on January 28 in an informal talk titled Regulation of Macrophage Polarization: Implications in Lung Injury and Repair. She is currently focused on the role of MMP28 in regulating macrophage influx and activation, and the role of macrophage subpopulations in regulating lung injury and its resolution.
More specifically, Anne is characterizing the role of matrix metalloproteinase 28 (MMP28) in regulating the inflammatory response to tobacco smoke-induced emphysema in a mouse model. MMPs comprise a family of extracellular proteinases that function in various processes of innate immunity. MMP28 is one of the newest members of this family, and it is expressed by both macrophages and epithelial cells. Her work suggests that MMP28 inhibits inflammation and promotes reparative macrophage function. In her preliminary studies, MMP28 was shown to be protective in chronic emphysema from cigarette smoke; and her hypothesis is that this is mediated by MMP28-dependent effects on macrophage polarization. Ongoing work is aimed at uncovering the mechanism and substrates by which MMP28 functions.
Dr. Manicone's work is pertinent to Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease (COPD) and pulmonary fibrosis, conditions brought on by environmental exposures such as smoking, asbestos, and air pollution, as well as asthma and genetics. Anne indicates she is always interested in collaborations.
The Career Development and Mentoring Core (CDMC), directed by Mike Rosenfeld, works to ensure that the University of Washington recruits, supports, and retains for DEOHS and other Center-affiliated departments (Epidemiology, Genome Sciences, Pharmaceutics), a new generation of high-caliber EHS-focused investigators with a strong interest in gene-environment interactions. The CDMC provides mentorship to new and current CEEH junior faculty to ensure they achieve their full potential as scientists, teachers, and communicators, as well as provides unique career development opportunities and resources to advance their environmental science careers by incorporating a gene-environment approach into their research projects.
- Marilyn Hair