As a postdoctoral trainee at the University of Massachusetts, I conducted work that led to the discovery of an immunoregulatory role of natural killer (NK) cells. This training — along with my interactions with friends suffering from autoimmune disease — fueled my current research interests.
At Cincinnati Children’s, I study viruses and diseases associated with viral infections, vaccines, autoimmune disease, inflammatory disease, innate immunity, immune regulation and cellular immunotherapy.
The goals of my research are three-fold:
Building on my early NK cell work, our lab has shown that NK cell regulatory activity constrains vaccine-induced immune responses and could be targeted to permit the development of effective vaccines. We have also been working on a cellular immunotherapy, which shows promise for the treatment of autoimmune disease.
I am a standing member of the National Institutes of Health HIV Immunopathogenesis and Vaccine Development Study Section. In 2014, I received the National Institute on Drug Abuse Avante-Garde Award for HIV/AIDS research. I have also received the Dr. Ralph and Marian Falk Medical Research Trust Catalyst Award.
BA: St. Mary's College of Maryland, St. Mary's City, MD, 2000.
PhD: University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 2007.
Post Doc: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA.
Viral immunology; natural killer cells; immunoregulation; vaccines; autoimmunity; immune dysfunction in aging.
Genomics
Progressive accumulation of hyperinflammatory NKG2Dlow NK cells in early childhood severe atopic dermatitis. Science Immunology. 2024; 9:eadd3085.
Targeting natural killer cells to enhance vaccine responses. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences. 2021; 42:789-801.
Immunomodulatory effects of cytokine-induced expansion of cytotoxic lymphocytes in a mouse model of lupus-like disease. Cytotherapy (Informa). 2021; 23:37-45.
The Promise and Peril of Natural Killer Cell Therapies in Pulmonary Infection. Immunity. 2020; 52:887-889.
Therapeutic Targeting of Follicular T Cells with Chimeric Antigen Receptor-Expressing Natural Killer Cells. Cell Reports Medicine. 2020; 1.
IL-33 promotes type 1 cytokine expression via p38 MAPK in human NK cells. Journal of Leukocyte Biology. 2020; 107:663-671.
Dynamic Changes in Natural Killer Cell Subset Frequencies in the Absence of Cytomegalovirus Infection. Frontiers in Immunology. 2019; 10:2728.
Affinity Maturation Is Impaired by Natural Killer Cell Suppression of Germinal Centers. Cell Reports. 2018; 24:3367-3373.e4.
Generation of cellular immune memory and B-cell immunity is impaired by natural killer cells. Nature Communications. 2015; 6:6375.
Stephen N. Waggoner, PhD, Gurjit "Neeru" Khurana Hershey, MD, PhD2/9/2024
Stephen N. Waggoner, PhD, Hermine I. Brunner, MD, MSc, MBA5/11/2020