Keywords:

Immunity, reovirus, immunopathology, oral tolerance, type 1 immunity, tolerogenic, dendritic cells, flow cytometry, cell death, microscopy, RNA sequencing, 10x genomics

Elaine Kouame (she/her/hers)

PhD candidate at University of Chicago

Elaine is a fifth year PhD candidate in the committee on Immunology at the University of Chicago in the laboratory of Dr. Bana Jabri. Her PhD project focuses on understanding mechanisms by which enteric viruses can trigger immunopathology such as Celiac Disease (CD). Specifically, using reovirus as a model pathogen, she investigates mechanisms leading to inflammatory immune responses against dietary antigens as seen in CD.

Elaine completed her undergraduate degree in biological sciences at Temple University. She then was a postbaccalaureate research fellow at Indiana University Purdue University where she worked on several projects ranging from neuroimmunology studying microglia activation in the context of Alzheimer’s disease and mechanisms impacting stem cell engraftment in leukemia patients. In her current research, she uses a combination of mouse and viral genetics, adoptive T cell transfer model coupled with multicolor flow cytometry and RNA sequencing to phenotype CD4 T cells as well as dendritic cells responses in the small intestine. 

Outside of the lab, Elaine was the director of the graduate recruitment initiative team, a graduate student led organization working on recruitment of students and faculty of color to the University of Chicago and implementing policies aimed at building an inclusive environment in the biological sciences division. She was the University of Chicago community engagement grant recipient which allowed her to lead community STEM series in predominantly Black neighborhoods.