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<!DOCTYPE html>
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<h1> Katie Gostic </h1>
<h2> Disease ecologist </h2>
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<div class="topnav_container">
<ul class="topnav">
<li><a href="aboutme.html">About me</a></li>
<li><a href="research.html">Research</a></li>
<li><a href="publications.html">Publications</a></li>
<li><a href="cv.htlm">CV</a></li>
<li><a href="press.html">Press Coverage</a></li>
<li><a href="https://kgostic.github.io/traveller_screening/">[COVID-19 Travel Screening]</a></li>
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<p> I am a <a href = "https://www.jsmf.org/programs/cs/"> McDonnell Foundation Postdoc </a> working with <a href=""> Sarah Cobey </a> and <a href=""> Patrick Wilson </a> at the University of Chicago. Previously, I received my PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from UCLA, supervised by <a href="https://www.eeb.ucla.edu/Faculty/lloydsmith/"> Jamie Lloyd-Smith</a>, and an AB in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University. </p>
<p> I use mathematical and computaional models to study how infectious diseases emerge and spread. </p>
<p> One focus of my reserach is understanding how early childhood influenza exposures shape lifelong immune memory. Individuals seem to gain particularly strong, lifelong protection against influenza viruses on the same branch of the genetic tree as the virus that caused their first infection in childhood. But this strong memory may come at the expense of equally strong protection against influenza viruses encountered later in life, if those viruses fall on a different branch of the genetic tree. My PhD research showed that birth year-specific differences in immune imprinting predictably impact which cohorts are at greatest risk of severe cases during influenza outbreaks. As a postdoc, I am working to understand how these birth year-specific biases in immune memory develop, and how they interact with influenza vaccination.</p>
<p> I am broadly interested in modeling research with applications in the realm of public health or wildlife disease. Working with collaborators, I have helped build bespoke models to analyze experimental infection data. These projects have helped us unsderstand how best to assess the transmissibility of emerging avian influenza viruses, and why <i>Leptopspira</i> (a bacterial pathogen) infects some but not all people living in contaminated environments. I have also helped develop theory to assess the potential effectiveness of traveler sceeening during infectious disease outbreaks. </p>
<h2 class = "research"> Most influenza immunity provides narrow protection </h2>
<p> As a result, humans can be repeatedly infected over a lifetime. Influenza viruses can perpetually evolve to outrun population immunity, and we must constantly update the seasonal influenza vaccine to keep pace with this antigenic drift. Furthermore, narrow immunity leaves most humans relatively unprotected against animal-origin influenza viruses, which can spill over into humans and cause severe, global pandemics. </p>
<h2 class = "research"> Broader influenza immunity is possible </h2>
<p> Efforts to develop universal influenza vaccines aim to solve many of the problems of narrow influenza immunity by directing the immune response toward more conserved (invariant) parts of the virus. In theory, this could induce broad cross protection against the full diversity of known influenza viruses, thus avoiding the need for regular vaccine updates, and facilitating vaccine-driven protection against pandemic influenza viruses. My published dissertation work shows that broadly protective influenza immunity already acts strongly in human populations in certain epidemic contexts, and that this broadly protective immunity is predictably tied to a person's birth year. </p>
<h2 class = "research"> Ongoing dissertation research </h2>
<p> The remainder of my dissertation asks how broadly protective immune memory develops across childhood, and what promotes the strongest, broadly protective influenza immunity later in life. Other ongoing projects aim to identify the epidemiologial contexts in which we should or should not expect broadly protective immunity to be expressed against influenza, and to determine whether this kind of immunity prevents disease entirely, or merely reduces disease severity. </p>
<h2 class = "research"> Postdoctoral plans </h2>
<p> As a postdoc, I plan to focus on the underlying immune dynamics of B cell selection, which determine whether broadly neutralizing antibodies are expressed against influenza, HIV and other viral pathogens. To support this work, I recently received a letter of intent to fund from the <a href = "https://www.jsmf.org/apply/fellowship/"> James S. McDonnell Foundation </a> and I am now seeking a host lab. </p>
<p> Details on my work on emerging influenza viruses can be found on my <a href = "research.html"> research page </a>. </p>
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<img src = "katie_river.jpeg" style = "width:35em; height:25em;"></img>
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I am a PhD candidate in the <a href = "https://www.eeb.ucla.edu/Faculty/lloydsmith/">Lloyd-Smith Lab</a> at <a href = "https://www.eeb.ucla.edu/">UCLA</a> <br>
<b>email: [email protected]</b>
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