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Joao H.F. Pedra, PhD

Academic Title:

Professor

Primary Appointment:

Microbiology and Immunology

Administrative Title:

Director of Faculty Mentoring

Location:

685 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

Phone (Primary):

410-706-7343

Fax:

410-706-6970

Education and Training

1998                B.Sc., Biological Sciences, Universidade Federal de Vicosa, Brazil

2000                M.Sc., Agricultural Chemistry, Universidade Federal de Vicosa, Brazil       

2004                Ph.D., Entomology, Purdue University, Mentor: Barry R. Pittendrigh

2004 - 2007     Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Yale University School of Medicine, Mentor: Erol Fikrig, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

2007 - 2009     Associate Research Scientist, Yale University School of Medicine, Mentor: Erol Fikrig, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Biosketch

I completed my college and Master of Science degrees in Biology and Chemistry in Brazil. Then, I immigrated to the United States and received a doctoral degree in Entomology at Purdue University where I was mentored by Dr. Barry Pittendrigh. My post-doctoral training was focused on microbial pathogenesis and immunology at Yale University under the supervision of Dr. Erol Fikrig (Chief of Infectious Diseases/HHMI Investigator). In 2009, I joined the University of California at Riverside as an independent investigator. In 2013, I relocated to the University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Medicine.

Research/Clinical Keywords

Tick-borne diseases; Arthropod Immunology; Skin Immunology; Immunometabolism; Neuroimmunology

Highlighted Publications

Bacterial reprogramming of tick metabolism impacts vector fitness and susceptibility to infection. Samaddar, S., Rolandelli, A., O’Neal, A.J., Laukaitis-Yousey, H.J., Marnin, L., Singh, N., Wang, X., Butler, L.R., Rangghran, P., Kitsou, C., Cabrera Paz, F.E. Valencia, L., Ferraz, C.R., Munderloh, U.G., Khoo, B., Cull, B., Rosche, K.L., Shaw, D.K., Oliver, J., Narasimhan, S., Fikrig, E., Pal, U., Fiskum, G.M., Polster, B.M., Pedra J.H.F. Nature Microbiology. 2024 9:2278-2291. 

 

An atlas of human vector-borne microbe interactions reveals pathogenicity mechanisms. Hart, T.M., Sonnert, N.D., Tang, X., Chaurasia, R., Allen, P.E., Hunt, J.R., Read, C.B., Johnson, E.E., Arora, G., Dai, Y., Cui, Y., Chuang, Y-M., Yu, Q., Rahman, M.S., Mendes, M.T., Rolandelli, A., Singh, P., Tripathi, A.K., Ben Mamoun, C., Caimano, M.J., Radolf, J.D., Lin, Y-P., , Roy, C.R., Lin, Y. Fingerle, V., Margos, G., Pal, U., Johnson, R.M., Pedra, J.H.F., Azad, A.F., Salje, J., Dimopoulos, G., Vinetz, J.M., Carlyon, J.A., Palm, N.W., Fikrig, E., Ring, A.M. Cell 2024 187(15):4113-4127

 

Tick hemocytes have pleiotropic roles in microbial infection and arthropod fitness. Rolandelli, A., Laukaitis-Yousey, H.J., Bogale, H.N., Singh, N., Samaddar, S., O’Neal, A.J., Ferraz, C.R, Butnaru M., Mameli, E., Xia, B. Mendes, M.T., Butler, L.R., Marnin, L., Cabrera Paz, F.E., Valencia, L.M., Rana, V.S., Skerry, C., Pal, U., Mohr, S.E., Perrimon, N., Serre, D., Pedra, J.H.F. Nature Communications 2024 15(1): 2117.

 

Genetic manipulation of an Ixodes scapularis cell line. Singh, N., Rolandelli, A., O’Neal, A.J., Butler, L.R., Samaddar, S., Laukaitis-Yousey, H., Butnaru, M., Mohr, S.E., Perrimon, N., Pedra, J.H.F. mBio 2024 e0247923.

 

A ticking time bomb hidden in plain sight. Narasimhan, S., Fish, D., Pedra, J.H.F., Pal, U., Fikrig, E. Science Translational Medicine 2023 15:eadi7829.

 

Cholesterol contributes to risk, severity, and machine learning-driven diagnosis of human Lyme disease. Forrest, I.S., O’Neal A.J., Pedra, J.H.F., Do R. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2023 77:839-847.

 

Croquemort elicits activation of the immune deficiency pathway in ticks. O’Neal AJ, Singh N, Rolandelli A, Laukaitis  HJ, Wang X, Shaw DK, Young BD, Narasimhan S, Dutta S, Snyder GA, Samaddar S, Marnin L, Butler LR, Mendes MT, Paz FEC, Valencia LM, Sundberg EJ, Fikrig E, Pal U, Weber DJ, Pedra JHF. PNAS 2023 120:e2208673120.

 

Dome1-JAK-STAT signaling shared between parasite and host integrates vector immunity and development. Rana VS, Kitsou C, Dutta S., Ronzetti MH, Zhang M, Bernard Q, Smith AA, Tomas-Cortazar J, Yang X, Wu M-J, Kepple O, Li W, Dwyer JE, Matias J., Baljinnyam B, Oliver JD, Rajeevan N, Pedra JHF, Narasimhan S, Wang Y, Munderloh U, Fikrig E, Simeonov A, Anguita J, Pal U. Science 2023 379:eabl3837

 

Tick extracellular vesicles enable arthropod feeding and promote distinct outcomes of bacterial infection. Oliva Chávez AS, Wang X, Marnin L, Archer N, , Hammond HL, McClure Carroll EE, Shaw DK, Tully BG, Buskirk AD, Ford SL, Butler LR, Shahi P, Morozova K, Clement CC, Lawres L, O’Neal AJ, Ben Mamoun C, Mason KL, Hobbs BE, Scoles GA, Barry EM, Sonenshine DE, Pal U, Valenzuela JG, Sztein MB, Pasetti MF, Levin ML, Kotsyfakis M, Jay SM, Huntley JF, Miller L, Santambrogio L, Pedra JHF. Nature Communications 2021 12 (1): 3696. 

 

Interactions between Borrelia burgdorferi and ticks. Kurokawa C, Lynn GE, Pedra JHF, Pal U, Narasimhan S, Fikrig. Nature Reviews Microbiology 2020 18(10):587-600.

 

Ticks resist skin commensals with immune factor of bacterial origin. Cell 2020 183: 1562–1571. Hayes BM, Radkov AD, Yarza F, Flores S, Kim J, Zhao Z, Lexa KW, Marnin L, Biboy J, Bowcut V, Vollmer W, Pedra JHF, Chou S. Cell 2020 183: 1562–1571.

 

p47 licenses activation of the immune deficiency pathway in the tick Ixodes scapularis. McClure Carroll EE, Wang X, Shaw DK, O'Neal AJ, Oliva Chávez AS, Brown LJ, Boradia VM, Hammond HL, Pedra JHF. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Jan 2;116(1):205-210. 

 

Engineering of obligate intracellular bacteria, challenges and paradigms. McClure EE, Chávez ASO, Shaw DK, Carlyon JA, Ganta RR, Noh SM, Wood DO, Bavoil PM, Brayton KA, Martinez JJ, McBride JW, Valdivia RH, Munderloh UG, Pedra JHF. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2017.

 

Infection-derived lipids elicit an immune deficiency circuit in arthropods. Shaw DK, Wang X, Brown LJ, Chávez AS, Reif KE, Smith AA, Scott AJ, McClure EE, Boradia VM, Hammond HL, Sundberg EJ, Snyder GA, Liu L, DePonte K, Villar M, Ueti MW, de la Fuente J, Ernst RK, Pal U, Fikrig E, Pedra JHF. Nature Communications 2017 8:14401.

Research Interests

The Tick Immune System

Over the past decade, the increased knowledge observed for arthropod-microbe interactions can be directly correlated to multiple technological advancements, including the sequencing of vector genomes and the ability to manipulate their gene expression. Comparative immune analysis and genome editing techniques have provided important insights towards insect immunity. However, extrapolating this approach to non-insect arthropods, such as  Ixodes scapularis, sometimes constitutes a problem because of philosophical biases that define a scientific paradigm. We discovered a non-canonical immune deficiency (IMD) pathway in I. scapularis that mounts a response against the Gram-negative spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi and the rickettsial agent Anaplasma phagocytophilum. We are currently developing new technologies to study the immune system of the tick I. scapularis. We are also investigating the plasticity of the tick immune system during microbial and metabolic changes. We focus on resistance and tolerance to infection. These conceptual and technical advances should help to define which genes and metabolites are important for tick-microbe interactions, delineate correlates that ensure stability between interspecies relationships and uncover mechanisms that are critical for microbial perturbations in the arthropod vector.

 

Tick-Host Interactions

Tick saliva has intrigued investigators with their anti-hemostatic, anesthetic, and anti-inflammatory properties for over a century. From the pioneering work of Luigi Sabbatani in 1899 depicting the “ferment” anticoagulant of  Ixodes ricinus, to the influential scientific paper of Johnston and Bancroft in 1918 demonstrating tick resistance in cattle, to the classical article by William Trager in 1939 displaying tick acquired immunity in guinea pigs, the field of vector biology has changed as new technologies developed. In the past, we discovered underlying mechanisms by which tick salivary proteins inhibit Toll-like receptor (TLR) and Nod-like receptor (NLR) activation in immune cells; thus, facilitating microbial transmission to the mammalian host. Recently, we became interested in deciphering how tick salivary proteins are transported during blood-feeding to the mammalian host and their interactions with skin immune cells and peripheral sensory neurons called nociceptors. As ticks and other arthropods transmit many human pathogens, solving these intriguing scientific questions will provide critical insights to the entomology, microbiology and immunology communities.

 

Awards and Affiliations

2006-2007       Brown-Coxe Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Yale University

2007-2011       Mentored Public Health Research Scientist Development Award (K01), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2022                Dr. Mark E. Shirtliff PhD Student Mentor Award, Graduate Program in Life Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore

2024                Purdue University College of Agriculture Distinguished Alumnus Award. Awarded for the outstanding contributions in the field of medical entomology.

 

Affiliations

2006-present   General Member, American Society for Rickettsiology

2011-present   General Member, American Society for Microbiology

2011-present   General Member, American Association of Immunologists

 

In the News

 

 

Links of Interest

http://www.pedralab.com