Keywords:

Cellular Immunity, myeloid cells, Allergy, innate immunity, immune ontogeny, maternal-fetal communication, immune development, flow cytometry, human research , single cell sequencing, CD4+ T cells, epigenetics, maternal health, pregnancy

Justine Noel (she/her)

PhD Candidate, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Justine Noel is a PhD candidate within the Precision Immunology Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is mentored by Dr. M. Cecilia Berin, and her thesis aims to elucidate the immune mechanisms linking prenatal environmental exposures to enhanced risk of allergic disease. Justine has developed in vitro model systems to study the cord blood immune response related to prenatal farm and psychological stress exposure.  She is currently investigating how such responses can alter CD4+ differentiation, and using unique human birth cohorts, she will validate the impact of such exposures in-vivo. 

Justine completed her undergraduate degree at SUNY Stony Brook University where she majored in Biology under the Neuroscience track. While a student at Stony Brook she was awarded the NIH MARC fellowship and joined the lab of Dr. Howard Sirotkin, to identify proteins that regulate developmental signaling pathways. Using zebrafish as a model system and gene targeting techniques her work contributed to identifying the role of Churchill (chch) a zinc finger protein that regulates mesodermal development and early cell migration.

Following graduation Justine completed postbaccalaureate research as an NIH PREP scholar at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, within Dr. Ivan Marazzi’s laboratory. Here she investigated mechanisms that control chromatin-dependent cell response to pathogens and the implications in the progression of both immune related diseases and conditions associated with neurodegeneration. She is currently a PhD Candidate within Dr. M. Cecilia Berin’s Lab, investigating the impact prenatal environmental exposures have on maternal and infant immunity. You can stay up to date with all of her research publications by visiting her ORCID. 

In addition to research, Justine is Chair of Students for Equal Opportunity in Science (S.E.O.S.), a student run organization that promotes the recruitment and retention of underrepresented scholars in biomedical research. She started S.E.O.S.’s newsletter entitled “The Scoop” to provide a platform for members to share their voice and dismantle the stereotypes of what a scientist looks like. She also offers strategies and resources for high school and undergraduate students interested in pursuing PhD and MDPhD degrees. She has recently co-organized a symposium dedicated to underrepresented scholars, providing participants the opportunity to receive support and feedback as they apply to graduate programs. She is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Incorporated.