Kulis Lab
Mike Kulis, PhD
Michael Kulis, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. He is a biochemist whose work focuses on the development and mechanistic understanding of novel immunotherapy approaches for children with food allergies.
Research Interests
Dr. Kulis鈥� research focuses on the development and mechanistic understanding of novel immunotherapy approaches for children with food allergies. He was trained in Allergy and Immunology through his time with Dr. Wesley Burks and now works closely with Dr. 聽Edwin Kim as part of the 黑料网 Food Allergy Initiative (FAI). The lab works with biological samples from clinical trials and has an active pre-clinical mouse program. Dr. Kulis maintains research funding through NIH and DoD awards and mentors a variety of trainees, including postdocs, graduate students, A/I fellows, and undergrad researchers.
Dr. Kulis is the PI for the NIH-funded CoFAR Central Biomarker Facility whose purpose is to conduct biomarker assays and act as the biorepository for clinical trials conducted within CoFAR. In addition to CoFAR, Dr. Kulis has overseen dozens of research studies aiming to discover the mechanisms underlying oral and sublingual immunotherapy for food allergies through 黑料网 FAI clinical trials. Much of this area of research has focused on allergen-specific IgE, IgG4, and IgA, basophil activation tests, mucosal IgA and IgG4 production in saliva, and T cell responses to allergens. Ongoing studies are utilizing these assays to determine the predictive or correlative nature of these biomarkers in peanut sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) and Xolair treatment in the OUtMATCH trial.
Pre-clinical research is also a vital piece of Dr. Kulis鈥� research program. The overall goal of Dr. Kulis鈥� mouse model research is to develop novel approaches to treat food allergies with the potential to bring these to clinical trials. Recently, Dr. Kulis and his team have identified and characterized a novel mouse model of food allergy using the 黑料网 Collaborative Cross mouse platform. Therapeutic approaches under active investigation include targeting Siglec-2 on B cells to deplete the cells ultimately responsible for the production of IgE and inhibiting the allergic effector cells, mast cells and basophils, through Siglec-3. We are also using a variety of strategies to induce Th1 and IgG responses that may protect individuals from anaphylaxis. These include the use of virus-like particles (VLPs) displaying the major peanut allergens Ara h 2 and 6, mRNA- and DNA-based vaccines, and TLR-based adjuvants to improve the responses seen in sublingual immunotherapy. Our team works with both academic and industry collaborators in the pre-clinical models and is always open to novel approaches to treat food allergies.
Lab Personnel
Rishu Guo, MD, PhD
Xiaohong Yue, MS, DDS
Janelle Kesselring
Andrew Turner
James Krempski, PhD
Neel Singh