Mitra Maz

Mitra is a 2016 graduate of Washington University in St. Louis where she earned a B.A. in Biology with Honors and minors in Anthropology and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Following her graduation, she was awarded the NIH Post-Baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award and worked in the Laboratory of Immunology at NIAID in Bethesda, Maryland studying regulatory T cell plasticity. She matriculated at the University of Michigan Medical Scientist Training Program in 2017 and joined the lab of Dr. Michelle Kahlenberg in 2020 to complete her dissertation work.

BSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a heterogenous autoimmune disease which disproportionately affects women and can affect nearly every organ in the body. Among the most common organs affected is the skin, and skin disease (called cutaneous lupus or CLE) is present in up to 70% of lupus patients. Though CLE itself refers to a heterogenous spectrum of disease, one of the most common features of CLE is photosensitivity, meaning that CLE lesions can be triggered by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. Importantly, while UV radiation can trigger flares of skin disease in lupus, they can also cause flares of systemic disease, leading to widespread and often debilitating organ damage. Thus, our lab works to understand 1) the mechanisms by which UV light triggers aberrant cutaneous inflammation in lupus skin, and 2) how cutaneous inflammation contributes to systemic flares of disease. Mitra's thesis work primarily focuses on this first question and uses a combination of mouse modeling and single-cell RNA sequencing of human tissue to map the early cutaneous immune response to UV light in lupus skin compared with healthy control. Through these methods, she has identified the early infiltration of highly activated and inflammatory myeloid dendritic cells in UV-exposed skin as likely drivers of photosensitive skin disease in lupus.

Flow cytometry, cell culture, Western blot, immunofluorescence microscopy, PCR

1.  “Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Reveals Cellular Drivers of UV-mediated Skin Injury in Cutaneous Lupus.” International Societies for Investigative Dermatology, Tokyo, Japan. May 2023. Oral presentation.
2. “CCL2 Drives Interferon-enhanced Monocytosis in UV-mediated Skin Injury in Murine Lupus.” American College of Rheumatology Annual Congress, Philadelphia, PA. Nov 2022. Poster presentation.
3. “Understanding UV-induced Innate Inflammation in Lupus-prone Murine Skin.” University of Michigan Medical Scientist Training Program Annual Retreat, Roscommon, MI. July 2022. Poster Presentation.
4. “Understanding UV-induced Innate Inflammation in Lupus-prone Murine Skin.” American Association of Immunologists Conference, Portland, OR. May 2022. Oral and Poster Presentations.
5. “Understanding UV-induced Innate Inflammation in Lupus-prone Murine Skin.” LEO Foundation Skin Immunology Research Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark. Apr 2022. Oral and Poster Presentations.
6. “Understanding the Role of Monocytes in UVB-mediated Acute Skin Injury in Lupus-Prone Mice.” University of Michigan Medical Scientist Training Program Virtual Retreat, Ann Arbor, MI. Aug 2021. Poster presentation.
7. “Understanding the Role of Monocytes in UVB-mediated Acute Skin Injury in Lupus-prone Mice” American Association of Immunologists Virtual Conference. May 2021. Poster presentation.
8. “Understanding UV Responses in Lupus-prone Skin.” National Cancer Institute Virtual Conference: Mouse Models of Lupus 10 Years Later, Frederick, MD. December 2020. Oral presentation.
9. “Understanding the Role of Monocytes in UVB-mediated Acute Skin Injury in Lupus-Prone Mice.” University of Michigan Medical Scientist Training Program Virtual Retreat, Ann Arbor, MI. Aug 2020. Oral presentation.
10. “Investigating the Contributions of Cdc25 Phosphatases to Viral-Induced NK Cell Proliferation.” Washington University Pediatric Student Research Program Symposium, St. Louis, MO. Aug 2015. Oral presentation.
11. “Toll-like Receptor Triggering and Interferon Regulatory Factor Expression in Circulating T cells of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients.” Lupus Foundation of    Minnesota Board of Directors Research Meeting, Rochester, MN. July 2014. Oral presentation.
12. “Targeting EZH2 with a novel Oncolytic Virus in treatment of Lung Cancer.” Parker B. Francis Foundation Research Day, Kansas City, KS. Jan 2014. Oral presentation.

National Institutes of Health Intramural Research Training Award (2016-2017)
Washington University Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Student Research Program scholarship (2015)
Lupus Foundation of Minnesota Summer Student Research Fellowship (2014)
Parker B. Francis Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Award (2013)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/14iujlBfbgYIOK/bibliography/public/

Outside the lab, Mitra is an avid runner and enjoys testing her endurance in Gallup Park when Michigan weather allows. She is also a lover of non-fiction reading and has recently been reading up on modern MidEast studies and intersectional feminism.