Division of Trauma, Critical Care and BurnDepartment of Surgery
Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity
TMRF 270, 420 W 12th Ave, Columbus, OH 43210
Office: 614-366-8900
Email: meihong.deng@osumc.edu
Dr. Deng’s research focuses on the mechanisms underlying immune dysregulation during sepsis and trauma. Major areas of emphasis in her lab include the role of DNA-sensing in innate immunity and the immunoregulatory role of fibroblastic reticular cells.
Dr. Deng’s lab is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of how DNA-sensing pathways regulate the pathogenesis of sepsis and trauma in a cell type-specific manner. Dr. Deng’s lab has found that experimental therapies in mice using Tlr9-deficient FRCs have successfully improved the therapeutic efficacy of FRC-based therapy by reducing mortality from an intra-abdominal infection model (Xu et al. JCI 2019). Her team will continue studying how cell-specific DNA-sensing controls the body’s response to overwhelming inflammation. The findings from these studies will identify ways to improve the effectiveness of experimental cell-based therapies, which will help us move closer to finding new treatments for sepsis in humans that will reduce morbidity and mortality.
Education
- MD: University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany, 2010
Research Interests
- TLR9 DNA-sensing
- cGAS-STING DNA-sensing
- Fibroblastic reticular cell biology
- Cell-based therapies
- Innate Immunity
PubMed articles