Rekha R. Rapaka, MD, PhD

Stanford University, B.S., A.B.(Biological Sciences-Honors; Philosophy-History and Philosophy of Science) 2001

University of Pittsburgh Medical Scientist Training Program, Ph.D. (Immunology), 2008; M.D., 2010

Johns Hopkins University Bayview Medical Center, Internal Medicine Residency, 2014

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Adult Infectious Diseases Fellowship (ABIM Research Pathway), 2018

Vaccinology Fellowship (NIH T32) University of Maryland Center for Vaccine Development 2016-2018

I have approached science and medicine with the aim of addressing gaps in our ability to effectively prevent or treat infectious diseases.   During my Ph.D., in the laboratory of Jay Kolls, I studied how antibodies and cell wall carbohydrate antigens are involved in host defense pathways against fungal infections.  My Ph.D. thesis led to the discovery that natural IgM antibodies against conserved fungal carbohydrates link innate and adaptive immune host defense mechanisms against fungal pathogens.   In my Vaccinology fellowship, in the laboratory of Marcelo Sztein, we have studied how biologic differences between the major strains of invasive Salmonella impact T cell memory immune responses in humans.  These studies have involved use of samples derived from a controlled challenge infection with Salmonella Typhi in human volunteers.  

There are no vaccines against some of the most important strains of invasive Salmonella, and there is increasing antimicrobial resistance against these infections.  I am interested in how innate and adaptive immune responses intersect in humans, and how improved understandings of the very earliest steps in  innate immune programming , by cells specializing in the recognition and processing of bacteria, could help us design better vaccines against invasive Salmonella.  A project focusing on early human immune cell programming against invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella is the focus of my NIAID K08 Career Development Award. 

I am currently site Principal Investigator for the NIAID Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT), which investigated different agents for potential benefit in the treatment of COVID-19 among patients hospitalized with moderate or severe COVID-19.   Additionally I am a Co-Investigator on COVID-19 mRNA vaccine trials and an adjuvanted COVID-19 protein vaccine. 

I am also an Infectious Diseases Attending at the University of Maryland Medical Center, where I help to care for adult patients suffering from a variety of different infectious diseases. 

Rapaka RR, Hammershaimb EA, Neuzil KM. Are some COVID vaccines better than others? Interpreting and comparing estimates of efficacy in trials of COVID-19 vaccines. Clin Infect Dis. 2021 Mar 6:ciab213. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciab213. Epub ahead of print.

Rapaka RR, Ricks DM, Alcorn JF, Chen K, Khader SA, Zheng M, Plevy S, Bengten E, Kolls JK.  Conserved natural IgM antibodies mediate innate and adaptive immunity against the opportunistic fungus Pneumocystis murina. Journal of Experimental Medicine. 2010;207(13):2907-19.  (Faculty 1000 rating-10- Exceptional)

Rapaka RR, Dai G, Zheng M, and Kolls JK. CD4+ T Cell Regulation of Antibodies Cross-Reactive with Fungal Cell Wall-Associated Carbohydrates after Pneumocystis murina Infection. Infection and Immunity. 2019;87(7).

Rapaka RR, Fischer M, Finucane TE, and Mwakingwe A. Bigger Foot: Kaposi's Sarcoma. American Journal of Medicine. 2015;128(9):959-62.

Gopal R, Rapaka RR, and Kolls JK. Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome associated with pulmonary pathogens. European Respiratory Review. 2017;26(143).

Steele C, Rapaka RR, Metz A, Pop SM, Williams DL, Gordon S, Kolls JK, Brown GD.  The beta-glucan receptor dectin-1 recognizes specific morphologies of Aspergillus fumigatus. PLoS Pathogens. 2005;1(4):e42.

Zheng M, Ramsay AJ, Robichaux MB, Kliment C, Crowe C, Rapaka RR, Steele C, McAllister F, Shellito JE, Marrero L, Schwarzenberger P, Zhong Q, Kolls JK. CD4+ T cell-independent DNA vaccination against opportunistic infections. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2005;115(12):3536-44