Alexander Ethridge

Alexander earned a degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with Honors at Michigan State University in 2015. During his time at Michigan State, he worked in a diverse set of labs exploring his research interests. After participating in the NSF S-STEM Scholar program through Lyman Briggs College, he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Linda S. Mansfield studying how the gastrointestinal microbiome may increase susceptibility to disease after Campylobacter jejuni infection. After graduating from Michigan State, he helped as senior lab technician to establish a newly independent research lab studying the cell biology of intraepithelial lymphocytes within the gastrointestinal tract using advanced microscopy techniques. He joined the University of Michigan in 2018 for his graduate studies in Immunology and plans to also obtain a Masters in Bioinformatics, concurrently with his PhD.

Outside of the lab, Alexander is a multimedia artist with acrylics as his primary medium. He often combines scientific iconography with portraiture in his work. He is also an avid foodie who loves cooking various cuisines and baking in his spare time.

The wealth of microbiome studies has expanded due to recent advances in sequencing technologies. Difficult to culture microbes can now be profiled during different disease states. Every organ system has been shown to be directly impacted by the microbiome and in turn the microbiome is impacted by the health of the host. During allergic disease, the immune system of the organism and microbiome can be altered in both the lung and gastrointestinal tract. The consequences of these changes have been relatively understudied. 

Through co-mentorship by Dr. Nicholas W. Lukacs and Dr. Gary B. Huffnagle, Alexander plans on studying how changes in the gastrointestinal microbiome after Respiratory Syncytial Virus during neonatal development may increase susceptibility and severity of lung allergy or asthma later on in life.

Flow cytometry, Microbiome transfer models, Cockroach allergen models, 16S rRNA microbiome profiling

Michigan State University, Honors College, Professorial Assistantship, 2011-2013

Michigan State University, Lyman Briggs College, NSF S-STEM Scholar, 2013-2015

Michigan State University, Outstanding Biochemistry Undergraduate Award, 2015

University of Michigan, Bernard Maas Fellowship, 2018

University of Michigan, Immunology Program, Research Training in Experimental Immunology (T32) Trainee, 2019

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Ethridge+AD

Hu, M. D., Ethridge, A. D., Lipstein, R., Kumar, S., Wang, Y., Jabri, B., Turner, J. R., Edelblum, K. L. (2018). Epithelial IL-15 Is a Critical Regulator of gammadelta Intraepithelial Lymphocyte Motility within the Intestinal Mucosa. J Immunol 201(2): 747-756.

Pardee, A. D., Yano, H., Weinstein, A. M., Ponce, A. A., Ethridge, A. D., Normolle, D. P., Vujanovic, L., Mizejewski, G. J., Watkins, S. C., Butterfield, L. H.(2015). Route of antigen delivery impacts the immunostimulatory activity of dendritic cell-based vaccines for hepatocellular carcinoma. J Immunother Cancer 3: 32.