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Paula Paula Oliver

Primary Investigator. Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Biography information here.
Allison Allison Beal

My work is focused on understanding how CD4+ T cells maintain tolerance to environmental antigens. I have concentrated my efforts thus far on how the E3 ubiquitin ligase adaptor Ndfip1 limits T cell responses to allergens, such as food antigens. I have found that TGF-ß induces the expression of Ndfip1 to block IL-4 production during inducible regulatory T cell (iTreg) differentiation. In the absence of Ndfip1, T cells are unable to become iTregs following oral antigen exposure. Additionally, in collaboration with Hilda Ramon, a former graduate student in the lab, I determined that TH2 cytokines indirectly promote TH17 differentiation. I recently expanded these efforts to look at how Ndifp1 limits allergic responses in innate cells.
Chris Chris Riling

I study the molecular mechanisms of how Ndfip proteins potentiate Nedd4 family E3 ligase activity.
Claire Claire O'Leary

I am currently a Cell and Molecular Biology (CAMB) graduate student in the Cell Biology and Physiology (CBP) subgroup. I am determining how Ndfip1 and Ndfip2 regulate ubiquitin pathways and how these pathways impact T cell function. In particular, I am attempting to identify synergistic, redundant, and unique functions for these two proteins in the events that direct peripheral T cell differentiation and effector function. We are using both T cell culture (in vitro) and disease models (in vivo) to piece together the underlying biochemistry of how Ndfip1 and Ndfip2 promote ubiquitin ligation to regulate T cell biology.
Erin Erin Dekleva

Erin graduated from Penn State with an MS in 2010 and joined the Oliver lab as a research technician. She assists graduate students with experiments pertaining to their projects, helps maintain the mouse colony, works on genotyping using flow cytometry and performs experiments investigating Nedd4. In addition, Erin does most of the RNA and qPCR work for the lab.
Vanessa Vanessa Kurzweil

I'm a pre-doctoral student in the Cell and Molecular Biology (CAMB) Program. My project focuses on how Ndfip1 regulates CD8+ T cell activation and effector differentiation. I am also interested in the role of dietary and bacterial antigens in driving intestinal inflammation in mice that lack Ndfip1.