{"676013":{"#nid":"676013","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Defense by Erin Connolly","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDoctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003Ein the School of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EErin Connolly\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDefends her thesis:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EContributions of Immune Effector Cells to Cancer and Sex-Biased Aging\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWednesday, August 21, 2024\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E10:00am Eastern\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKrone Engineered Biosystems Building (EBB), Room #4029\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EZoom link: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/j\/92733365894\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/j\/92733365894\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThesis advisor:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Greg Gibson\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee members:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Zach Buchwald, Department of Radiation Oncology \u003Cem\u003EEmory University\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Julia Babensee, Department of Biomedical Engineering \u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. I. King Jordan, School of Biological Sciences \u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Denis Tsygankov,\u0026nbsp;Department of Biomedical Engineering \u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EThe immune system, a complex network of cells and molecules, is vital for defending the body against infections, malignancies, and other pathological conditions. Central to this system are immune effector cells, which play crucial roles in recognizing and eliminating pathogens and targeting cancerous cells. Despite their importance, the dynamics of these cells and their interactions with aging, cancer, and therapeutic interventions remain incompletely understood. This thesis aims to advance the understanding of immune effector cell dynamics by leveraging single-cell technologies to explore immune effector cell function and dysfunction in various contexts. To achieve this, we amalgamated publicly available scRNA-seq datasets, encompassing nearly four million cells from 90 studies and 2,606 donors. These comprehensive atlases provided a robust foundation for examining the transcriptional profiles and functional states of immune effector cells across different biological conditions and patient populations. First, we show that aging leads to a significant loss of cellular identity in effector immune cells, with sex-specific differences impacting their functional capabilities. These findings provide insights into the mechanisms driving immunosenescence and evaluate hypotheses that explain the observed patterns of age-related immune decline. Next, we identify a novel effector-stem CD8+ T cell population in tumor-draining lymph nodes, which mediates the synergistic effects of radiation therapy and anti-PD-L1 treatment, offering new avenues for improving cancer immunotherapy. Finally, we map the heterogeneity of plasma cells across various human tissues and cancers, identifying effector-like GZMA+ plasma cells as key players with cytotoxic and immunomodulatory transcriptional signatures, correlating with improved patient survival in certain cancers. These findings underscore the importance of context-specific analyses in understanding plasma cell biology and provide a framework for developing targeted immunotherapies. Overall, this thesis uncovers novel insights into immune effector cell dynamics, paving the way for innovative therapeutic strategies aimed at improving patient outcomes across a range of conditions, from aging-related immune decline to cancer\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EContributions of Immune Effector Cells to Cancer and Sex-Biased Aging\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Contributions of Immune Effector Cells to Cancer and Sex-Biased Aging"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2024-08-15 12:23:01","changed_gmt":"2024-08-15 12:23:31","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2024-08-21T10:00:14-04:00","event_time_end":"2024-08-21T12:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2024-08-21T12:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2024-08-21 14:00:14","gmt_time_end":"2024-08-21 16:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2024-08-21 16:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"Krone Engineered Biosystems Building (EBB), Room #4029","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"100811","name":"Phd Defense"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}