Department of Immunology

Elia Tait Wojno, Ph.D.

Dr. Elia Tait Wojno, Assistant Professor of Immunology, University of Washington

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, IMMUNOLOGY

Dr. Tait Wojno graduated with a B.A. in Biology from Drew University. She received her Ph.D. in 2011 from the University of Pennsylvania, completing her thesis work with Dr. Chris Hunter. She completed postdoctoral training with Dr. David Artis at the University of Pennsylvania and Weill Cornell Medicine and went on to join the faculty of Cornell University as an Assistant Professor in 2015. Dr. Tait Wojno joined the University of Washington Department of Immunology as an Assistant Professor in 2019 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2022.

 

CONTACT

Department of Immunology
University of Washington
Box 358059, Office E-573
750 Republican St.
Seattle, WA 98109

Phone: 206.543.4167
Fax: 206.685.7120
Email: etwojno@uw.edu

RESEARCH AREAS

Mucosal immunology
Innate immunity
Adaptive immunity
Type 2 inflammation

LAB MEMBERS

Postdoctoral Scholars:
Shuchi Smita, shuchi@uw.edu

Graduate Students:
Tighe Christopher, tighec@uw.edu
Alejandra Lopez, alopezes@uw.edu
Lindsey Warner, lindswar@uw.edu

Laboratory Staff:
Bridget Mooney, bmm13@uw.edu

Undergraduate Researchers:
Pavithra Sundaravaradan, pavitsun@uw.edu
Ananya Nandula, ananyan@uw.edu

LAB

Tait Wojno Lab Website

ACCEPTING NEW STUDENTS: YES

PUBMED

Tait Wojno on PubMed

 

RESEARCH

Research in the Tait Wojno laboratory studies how immune responses and inflammation are regulated during helminth infection and allergic disease. Intestinal helminth parasite infection and allergic disease affect billions of humans worldwide, causing significant morbidity. Following helminth infection, mammals mount a Type 2 inflammatory response that is host-protective and helps to expel parasites and repair parasite-induced tissue damage. Allergic disease features a similar Type 2 immune response that causes pathological inflammation in response to environmental allergens. Type 2 inflammation is characterized by activation of innate immune cells, including basophils and innate lymphoid cells, the polarization of CD4+ T cells to the T helper Type 2 (Th2) fate, and production of Type 2 cytokines. These immune cell activities direct changes to epithelial cell function that result in increased mucus secretion and epithelial cell turnover, leading to worm expulsion during helminth infection or pathological inflammation during allergy. Current paradigms emphasize the role of cytokines in these events, but other biochemical factors and cell-cell interactions regulate immune and epithelial gene transcription and cellular function during infection and allergy.

Ongoing studies in the laboratory aim to dissect cellular and molecular pathways that control the innate, adaptive, and epithelial network that orchestrates the Type 2 immune response. Current projects investigate: 1) the role of cytokines and prostaglandin lipids in innate and adaptive (T cell)-driven inflammation in the intestine and lung during helminth infection and allergy, 2) how the Notch signaling pathway regulates basophil gene regulation and function in the helminth-infected intestine, and 3) how helminth, bacterial, and viral infection and regulation of gene transcription shape immunity to infection. Our work leverages murine models of disease and analysis of primary human samples, seeking to understand how helminth-induced and allergic inflammation is regulated in tissues such as the lung, intestine, and skin. Ultimately, this research will inform the development of new therapies and management strategies to decrease the global public health burden of helminth parasite infection and allergic disease.

PUBLICATIONS

  1. Oyesola, O.O., M.T. Shanahan, M. Kanke*, B.M. Mooney*, L.M. Webb, S.Smita, M.K. Matheson, P. Campioli, D. Pham, S.P. Frϋh, J.W. McGinty, M.J. Churchill, J.A. Cahoon, P. Sundaravaradan, B.A. Flitte, K. Mouli, M.S. Nadjsombat, E. Kamynina, S.A. Peng, R.L. Cubit, K. Gronert, J.D. Lord, I. Rauch, J. von Moltke, P. Sethupathy, and E.D. Tait Wojno. 2021. PGD2 and CRTH2 oppose Type 2 cytokine-elicited intestinal epithelial responses to helminth infection. Journal of Experimental Medicine 218(9):e20202178. *These authors contributed equally.
  2. Früh, S.P., M. Saikia, J. Eule, C.A. Mazulis, J.E. Miller, J.M. Cowulich, O.O. Oyesola, L.M. Webb, S.A. Peng, R.L. Cubitt, C.G. Danko, W.H. Miller, and E.D. Tait Wojno. 2020. Elevated circulating Th2 but not group 2 innate lymphoid cell responses characterize canine atopic dermatitis. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology 221;110015, doi: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2020.110015.
  3. Oyesola, O.O., C. Duque, L.C. Huang, E.M. Larson, S.P. Früh, L.M. Webb, S.A. Peng, and E.D. Tait Wojno. 2020. The prostaglandin D2 receptor CRTH2 promotes IL-33-induced ILC2 accumulation in the lung. Journal of Immunology 204(4):1001-1011.
  4. Webb, L.M. and E.D. Tait Wojno. 2019. Notch signaling orchestrates helminth- induced type 2 inflammation. Trends in Immunology 40(6):538-552.
  5. Tait Wojno, E.D., C. Hunter, and J.S. Stumhofer. 2019. The immunobiology of the interleukin-12 family: Room for discovery. Immunity 50(4):851-870.
  6. Webb, L.M., O.O. Oyesola*, S.P. Früh*, E. Kamynina, K.M. Still, R. Patel, S.A. Peng, R.L. Cubitt, A. Grimson, J.K. Grenier, T.H. Harris, C.G. Danko, and E.D. Tait Wojno. 2019. The Notch signaling pathway promotes basophil responses during helminth-induced type 2 inflammation. The Journal of Experimental Medicine 216(6):1268-1279. *These authors contributed equally.
  7. Webb, L.W. and E.D. Tait Wojno. 2017. The role of rare innate immune cells in type 2 immune activation against parasitic helminths. Parasitology 144(10):1288-1301.
  8. Tait Wojno, E.D., L.A. Monticelli, S.V. Oberdorf, T. Alenghat, L.C. Osborne, J.J. Thome, A. Budelsky, D.L. Farber, and D. Artis. 2015. The prostaglandin D2 receptor CRTH2 regulates accumulation of group 2 innate lymphoid cells in the inflamed lung. Mucosal Immunology 8(6):1313-1323.
  9. Noti, M.*, E.D. Tait Wojno*, B.S. Kim, M.C. Siracusa, P.R. Giacomin, M.G. Nair, A.J. Benitez, K.R. Ruymann, A.B. Muir, D.A. Hill, K.R. Chikwava, A.E. Moghaddam, Q.J. Sattentau, A. Alex, C. Zhou, J.H. Yearley, P. Menard-Katcher, M. Kubo, K. Obata-Ninomiya, H. Karasuyama, M.R. Comeau, T. Brown-Whitehorn, R. de Waal Malefyt, P.M. Sleiman, H. Hakonarson, A. Cianferoni, G.W. Falk, M.-L. Wang, J.M. Spergel, and D. Artis. 2013. TSLP-elicited basophil responses promote eosinophilic esophagitis. Nature Medicine 19(8):1005-1013. *These authors contributed equally.
  10. Stumhofer, J.S.*, W.J. Quinn III*, E.D. Tait*, N. Hosken, B. Spudy, R. Goenka, C.A. Fielding, A.C. O’Hara, Y. Chen, M.L. Jones, C.J. Saris, S. Rose-John, D.J. Cua, S.A. Jones, M.M. Elloso, J. Grötzinger, M.P. Cancro, S.D. Levin, and C.A. Hunter. 2010. A role for IL-27p28 as an antagonist of gp130-mediated signaling. Nature Immunology 11(12):1119-1126. * These authors contributed equally.