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Catherine Blish is a translational immunologist and professor at Stanford University. Her lab works on clinical immunology and focuses primarily on the role of the innate immune system in fighting infectious diseases like HIV, dengue fever, and influenza. Her immune cell biology work characterizes the biology and action of Natural Killer (NK) cells and macrophages.

For her previous and ongoing work fighting HIV/AIDS, Blish was awarded the 2018 Avant-Garde Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Contributions to immunology

Natural Killer cell immune memory

A key concept in the adaptive immune system, and the foundational science behind vaccines, is that some elements of the immune system recognizes antigens it has seen before in a process called as immunological memory. Dr. Blish and colleagues have identified a potential mechanism through which NK cells may also display immune memory. This is unusual and shifts the accepted paradigm because NK cells are typically considered part of the innate immune system, not the adaptive immune system. Dr. Blish and colleagues demonstrate antigen-specific recognition, and memory of viruses and viral antigens by NK cells in mice and primates.

Key papers

The papers authored or co-authored by Dr. Blish that have been cited ~100 or more times are:

• "Genetic and environmental determinants of human NK cell diversity revealed by mass cytometry," Science Translational Medicine.
• "Intrinsic retroviral reactivation in human preimplantation embryos and pluripotent cells," Nature.
• "Breadth of neutralizing antibody response to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 is affected by factors early in infection but does not influence disease progression," Journal of Virology.
• "Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 superinfection occurs despite relatively robust neutralizing antibody responses," Journal of Virology.
• "Human NK cell repertoire diversity reflects immune experience and correlates with viral susceptibility," Science Translational Medicine.
• "Enhancing exposure of HIV-1 neutralization epitopes through mutations in gp41," PLOS Medicine.
• "HIV-1 subtype A envelope variants from early in infection have variable sensitivity to neutralization and to inhibitors of viral entry," AIDS.

COVID-19

In 2020, Dr. Blish's lab pivoted to work on SARS-CoV-2 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With colleagues, the Blish lab is scrutinizing ways chloroquine interferes with the viral life cycle.

Honors

• Chan Zuckerberg Investigator (2017), Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
• National Institute of Health Director's New Innovator Award (2013)

References list

1. "Catherine Blish: Immunology is on the trail of a killer". Stanford School of Engineering. 2020-04-27. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
2. "NIDA's 2018 Avant-Garde awards highlight immune response and killer cells". National Institutes of Health (NIH). 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
3. Immunobiology 5 : the immune system in health and disease. Janeway, Charles. (5th ed.). New York: Garland Pub. 2001. ISBN 978-0-8153-3642-6. OCLC 45708106.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
4. Paust S, Blish CA, Reeves RK (October 2017). Pierson TC (ed.). "Redefining Memory: Building the Case for Adaptive NK Cells". Journal of Virology. 91 (20): e00169–17, e00169–17. doi:10.1128/JVI.00169-17. PMC 5625515. PMID 28794018.
5. Horowitz A, Strauss-Albee DM, Leipold M, Kubo J, Nemat-Gorgani N, Dogan OC, et al. (October 2013). "Genetic and environmental determinants of human NK cell diversity revealed by mass cytometry". Science Translational Medicine. 5 (208): 208ra145. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.3006702. PMC 3918221. PMID 24154599.
6. Grow EJ, Flynn RA, Chavez SL, Bayless NL, Wossidlo M, Wesche DJ, et al. (June 2015). "Intrinsic retroviral reactivation in human preimplantation embryos and pluripotent cells". Nature. 522 (7555): 221–5. Bibcode:2015Natur.522..221G. doi:10.1038/nature14308. PMC 4503379. PMID 25896322.
7. Piantadosi A, Panteleeff D, Blish CA, Baeten JM, Jaoko W, McClelland RS, Overbaugh J (October 2009). "Breadth of neutralizing antibody response to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 is affected by factors early in infection but does not influence disease progression". Journal of Virology. 83 (19): 10269–74. doi:10.1128/JVI.01149-09. PMC 2748011. PMID 19640996.
8. Blish CA, Dogan OC, Derby NR, Nguyen MA, Chohan B, Richardson BA, Overbaugh J (December 2008). "Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 superinfection occurs despite relatively robust neutralizing antibody responses". Journal of Virology. 82 (24): 12094–103. doi:10.1128/JVI.01730-08. PMC 2593335. PMID 18842728.
9. Strauss-Albee DM, Fukuyama J, Liang EC, Yao Y, Jarrell JA, Drake AL, et al. (July 2015). "Human NK cell repertoire diversity reflects immune experience and correlates with viral susceptibility". Science Translational Medicine. 7 (297): 297ra115. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aac5722. PMC 4547537. PMID 26203083.
10. Blish CA, Nguyen MA, Overbaugh J (January 2008). "Enhancing exposure of HIV-1 neutralization epitopes through mutations in gp41". PLOS Medicine. 5 (1): e9. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050009. PMC 2174964. PMID 18177204.
11. Blish CA, Nedellec R, Mandaliya K, Mosier DE, Overbaugh J (March 2007). "HIV-1 subtype A envelope variants from early in infection have variable sensitivity to neutralization and to inhibitors of viral entry". AIDS. 21 (6): 693–702. doi:10.1097/qad.0b013e32805e8727. PMID 17413690. S2CID 25982588.
12. "Coronavirus: Repurposing drugs to protect human cells". The Mercury News. 2020-04-30. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
13. Zhang S (2020-03-23). "Why a Tiny Colorado County Can Offer COVID-19 Tests to Every Resident". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
14. Goldman, Author Bruce (2020-05-05). "How chloroquine, coronavirus duke it out inside a dish". Scope. Retrieved 2020-07-12. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
15. Kaiser, Jocelyn (8 February 2017). "Chan Zuckerberg Biohub funds first crop of 47 investigators". Science | AAAS. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
16. "A Push for Biomedical Innovation: Three Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Stories". Department of Medicine. Stanford University. Archived from the original on 2019-02-04. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
17. "NIH Announces 2013 High-Risk, High-Reward Research Awards". National Institutes of Health (NIH). 2015-08-05. Retrieved 2020-09-13.

External links

• Catherine Blish publications indexed by Google Scholar

• Women immunologists
• American women scientists
• Stanford University faculty
• Living people
• Cell biologists
• American virologists
• 21st-century American women
• University of California, Davis alumni