• Duke University, B.S., Zoology, 1983 (Phi Beta Kappa)
• Johns Hopkins University Medical School, PhD, Molecular Biology and Genetics (Immunology), 1989
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Postdoctoral study, Immunology, 1994

Achsah Dorsey Keegan, Ph.D. is Professor Emerita in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and a member of the Center for Vascular and Inflammatory Diseases (CVID) and the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

Dr. Keegan is well-recognized for her contributions to understanding the mechanism by which two cytokines, Interleukin-4 (IL-4) and Interleukin-13 (IL-13), control Type II inflammatory responses that occur in allergic disease. Her group characterized the basic mechanisms of IL-4 and IL-13 signaling through their receptor complexes, including the first description of the relative contributions of the STAT6 and insulin receptor substrate pathways. Furthermore, she examined the contribution of these cytokines and their signaling pathways to tumor cell survival.  Additional work studied the regulation of innate immune cell development and function in the context of allergic asthma identifying the contribution of IL-4-activated macrophage differentiation to the severity of allergic asthma. 

cytokines, signal transduction, IL-4, IL-13, receptors, STAT6, macrophages, allergy, asthma

Ford, A.Q., Dasgupta, P., Mikhailenko, I., Smith, E.P., Noben-Trauth, N., and Keegan, A.D. 2012. Adoptive transfer of IL-4Ra+ macrophages is sufficient to support Th2-driven alternative macrophage activation and to enhance eosinophilic inflammation in a mouse model of allergic lung inflammation. BMC- Immunol. 13: 6. PMCID: PMC3118960.

Porter, H.A., Tran, N.L., and Keegan, A.D. 2013. IRS-1 is highly expressed in estrogen receptor a positive breast tumors and regulates the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to chemotherapy, while IRS-2 is expressed in high grade, invasive breast tumors. Cancer Letters. 338(2): 239-48. NIHMS 472531

Dasgupta, P., Dorsey, N.J., Li, J., Qi, X., Smith, E.P., and Keegan, A.D. 2016. Insulin Receptor Substrate (IRS)-2 negatively regulates alternative macrophage activation and allergic lung inflammation. Science Signaling. 9(433):ra63. doi:10.1126/scisignal.aad6724.

Nakahara, M., Ito, H., Skinner, J., Lin, Q., Tamosiuniene, R., Nicolls, M. R., Keegan, A. D., Johns R.A., and Yamaji-Kegan, K., 2021. The inflammatory role of dysregulated IRS2 in pulmonary vascular remodeling under hypoxic conditions. American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. 321: L416- L428.

Fink, M., Qi, X., Shirey, K.A., Fanaroff, R., Chapoval, S., Viscardi, R.M., Vogel, S.N., and Keegan, A.D. 2022. Mice expressing co-segregating single nucleotide polymorphisms (D298G and N397I) in TLR4 (TLR4- SNP) have enhanced responses to house dust mite allergen. Journal of Immunology. 208(9): 2085-2097.

Chapoval, S.P., Gao, H., Fanaroff, R., and Keegan, AD. 2024. Plexin B1 controls Treg numbers, limits allergic airway inflammation, and regulates mucins. Front Immunol. 2024 14:1297354.

Villanueva, L.M., Ito, H., Qi, X., Chapoval, S.P., Viscardi, R.M., Vogel, S.N., and Keegan, A.D. 2026.  Absence of insulin receptor substrate 2 (IRS2) in myeloid cells results in enhanced hypoxia-induced remodeling of the heart with little effect on allergic lung inflammation. ImmunoHorizons. 10(7):vlag028. doi: 10.1093/immhor/vlag028. PMID: 42525479.          

Achsah Keegan's Additional Publications