Robin Stephens

Background

About Robin Stephens

I am an immunologist focusing on malaria and COVID-19. My lab is NIH funded and focuses on two main areas: T cell memory, and neuroinflammation resulting from infection with the blood stage of Plasmodium chabaudi, a rodent model of malaria. We identified a pathway for differentiation of effector memory CD4 T cells in P. chabaudi, and have now shown the importance of effector T cells in protection. We work to understand the factors important in inducing and maintaining protective T cells in order to improve methods for malaria vaccination promoting long-lived protection. Longevity of protection is one of the major caveats of current approaches. Other interests include the role of inflammation-induced coagulation on the integrity of the glial-vascular unit during Plasmodium infection, the metabolism of T cells as they differentiate and protect, and the role of T/B cell collaboration in limitation of hyper-parasitemia. During the pandemic, we have focused on understanding immune-regulation of severity using mouse adapted SARS-CoV-2 and will seek to extend these studies to understand the immunopathology of COVID-19.