Lauren B. Rodda, Ph.D. (she/her)

  • Assistant Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Rodda is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Oregon Health and Science University. She received her Ph.D. in Dr. Jason Cyster’s lab at the University of California, San Francisco for her work using confocal microscopy, two-photon microscopy and single cell RNA sequencing to reveal niche-associated stromal cell heterogeneity directing the precise organization of and supporting the functions of mouse lymph node niches that enable the selection of antigen-specific B cells to become protective effector cells. She subsequently pursued postdoctoral training in Dr. Marion Pepper’s lab at the University of Washington to study human immune memory to infection. There, she developed tools and pipelines to characterize human SARS-CoV-2-specific B cells with high-parameter flow cytometry and to isolate them for functional analysis on their monoclonal antibodies. Using these tools, she helped lead a multi-lab collaboration to determine that infection-induced human SARS-CoV-2-specific immune memory was multifaceted and lasting and that the initial type of exposure, infection or vaccination, durably imprints distinct features on SARS-CoV-2-specific memory lymphocytes.

Dr. Rodda opened her independent research lab in 2023 to study how tissue resident memory B cells and plasma cells provide rapid protection from respiratory infections including RSV, SARS-CoV-2 and influenza. Understanding the niche interactions that enable protection without causing damaging inflammation will improve vaccine efficacy against these pathogens and may reveal new therapeutic targets for lung pathologies.

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • B.S., 2011, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Ph.D., 2017, University of California, San Francisco

  • Fellowship

    • Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Washington, 2018-2023

Memberships and associations:

  • American Association of Immunologists, 2021-Present

Areas of interest

  • Immunology, Infectious Disease, Immune Memory

Publications

Selected publications

  • Rodda LB, Morawski PA, Pruner KB, Fahning ML, Howard CA, Franko NM, Logue JK, Eggenberger J, Stokes C, Golez I, Hale M, Gale Jr M, Chu HY, Campbell DJ and Pepper M. Imprinted SARS-CoV-2-specific memory lymphocytes define hybrid immunity. Cell. 185(9):1588-1601.e14 (2022).
  • Rodda LB, Netland J, Shehata L, Pruner KB, Morawski PA, Thouvenel CD, Takehara KK, Eggenberger J, Hemann EA, Waterman HR, Fahning ML, Chen Y, Hale M, Rathe J, Stokes C, Wrenn S, Fiala B, Carter L, Hamerman JA, King NP, Gale Jr M, Campbell DJ, Rawlings DJ and Pepper M. Functional SARS-CoV-2-specific immune memory persists after mild COVID-19. Cell. 184, 169-183.E17 (2020).
  • Klebanoff SD, Rodda LB et al. Diminished responses to mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis on immune modifying therapies. JCI Insight. 8(15). (2023).
  • Phan JM, Layton ED, Yu KKQ, Aguilar MS, Golez I, Franko NM, Logue JK, Rodda LB, Howard CA, Pepper M, Gale M, Chu HY and Seshadri C. Cytotoxic T cells targeting spike glycoprotein are associated with hybrid immunity to SARS-CoV-2. J Immunol. 210, 1236-1246 (2023).
  • Liu D, Duan L, Rodda LB, Lu E, Xu Y, An J, Qiu L, Liu F, Looney M, Yang Z, Allen CDC, Li Z, Marson A and Cyster JG. CD97 promotes spleen dendritic cell homeostasis through the mechanosensing of red blood cells. Science. 375, 6581 (2022).
  • Hale M, Netland J, Chen Y, Thouvenel CD, Smith KN, Rich L, Vanderwall E, Miranda M, Eggenberger J, Hao L, Watson M, Mundorff C, Rodda LB et al. IgM antibodies derived from memory B cells are potent cross-variant neutralizers of SARS-CoV-2. J Exp Med. 219 (2022).
  • Rodda LB, Lu E, Bennett ML, Sokol CL, Wang X, Luther SA, Barres BA, Luster AD, Ye CJ and Cyster JG. Single-cell RNA sequencing of lymph node stromal cells reveals niche-associated heterogeneity. Immunity. 48, 1014-1028 (2018).
  • Reboldi A, Arnon TI, Rodda LB, Atakilit A, Sheppard D and Cyster JG. IgA production requires B cell interaction with subepithelial dendritic cells in Peyer’s patches. Science. 352, 6287 (2016).
  • Rodda LB, Bannard O, Ludewig B, Nagasawa T and Cyster JG. Phenotypic and Morphological Properties of Germinal Center Dark Zone Cxcl12-expressing Reticular Cells. J Immunol. 195, 4781-91 (2015).
  • Wang X, Rodda LB, Bannard O and Cyster JG. Integrin-mediated interactions between B cells and follicular dendritic cells influence germinal center B cell fitness. J. Immunol. 192, 4601-4609 (2014).
  • Rosowski EE, Lu D, Julien L, Rodda L, Gaiser RA, Jensen KDC and Saeij JPJ. Strain-specific activation of the NF-κB pathway by GRA15, a novel Toxoplasma gondii dense granule protein. J. Exp. Med. 208, 195-212 (2011).

Publications