Mayara received a Teaching (2008) and a Bachelor degree (2009) with honors in Biology at the Estácio de Sá University, a specialist (2010), a Master’s (2012) and a Ph.D. degree (2017) in Sciences, concentration in Parasitology and Immunology at the Oswaldo Cruz Institute - FIOCRUZ (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation), Brazil. As a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Drs. Roberta Olmo Pinheiro and Euzenir Nunes Sarno, she discovered how Mycobacterium leprae evades host defense and immune mechanisms determining the clinical polarization of the disease and the onset of immunological reactions. Mayara’s doctoral work inspired her current research investigating genetic determinants of immunity to transplants. Mayara joined the Cascalho-Platt Laboratory in February 2017 as a post-doctoral fellow. She is currently investigating the contribution of TNFRS13B [codifies transmembrane activator and CAML interactor (TACI)] polymorphisms to the outcome of kidney and heart transplants.
Biography
Research Interests
Dr. Cascalho and colleagues discovered that TACI, a receptor expressed in B and T cells, controls plasma cell differentiation, B cell clonal expansion and affinity maturation of antibodies. I am currently investigating the contribution of TNFRS13B polymorphisms to the outcome of kidney and heart transplants in kidney transplant patients and a animal model of heart transplantation. We hypothesize that certain TACI alleles and alleles of genes that like TACI, control B cell differentiation determine outcomes organ allografts. The research proposed will test the hypothesis and aims at discovering an algorithm to optimize recipient-donor pairing, induction therapy and personalized immunosuppression regimens following transplantation.
Techniques
Cell culture (primary cells and cell lines), ELISA, ELISPOT, Flow cytometry, Immunofluorescence, Immunohistochemistry, Mouse models of B cell and plasma cell deficiency, PCR, Sequencing, Western Blotting
Awards
International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Annual Scientific Meeting Travel Grant Recipient (2018)
Recipient of the “American Society of Transplantation: Transplantation and Immunology Research Network (TIRN) Career Development Grants 2018 Fellowship Research Grant” (2018)
Immunology Mentor
