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Sladjana Skopelja-Gardner, PhD

Title(s)
Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Assistant Professor of Medicine

Department(s)
Microbiology and Immunology
Medicine

Education
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Ph.D., 2017
Dartmouth College, B.A., 2011

Programs
Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Programs

Websites
https://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/sg-lab/

Contact Information

One Medical Center Dr
Borwell 608W
Lebanon NH 03756

Email: Sladjana.Skopelja-Gardner@Dartmouth.edu


Professional Interests

Our research aims to identify how innate immune pathways drive the development of autoimmunity and contribute to disease pathogenesis. We are addressing these questions in models of skin sterile inflammation that are relevant to autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and dermatomyositis (DM), as well as in primary human tissues. With the goal to identify novel therapeutic targets, we are investigating the regulation of type I interferon response as well as neutrophil migration and function.


Selected Publications

 

Cystic fibrosis-related kidney disease-emerging morbidity and disease modifier.
Hart M, Kumar M, Goswami HB, Harris WT, Skopelja-Gardner S, Swiatecka-Urban A
Pediatr Nephrol. 2025 Mar 17; doi: 10.1007/s00467-025-06715-3. Epub 2025 Mar 17.
PMID: 40095037

Targeting cell-surface VISTA expression on allospecific naive T cells promotes tolerance.
Koehn BH, Nowak EC, Skopelja-Gardner S, Saha A, Zaiken MC, Allred J, Peng Y, Davis WL 3rd, Le Mercier I, Schwertner N, Molloy MJ, Rothstein J, Carriere C, Riddle MJ, Eide CR, Tolar J, Panoskaltsis-Mortari A, Smith KD, Hippen KL, Kim TK, Noelle RJ, Blazar BR
Blood. 2025 Apr 10;145(15):1687-1700. doi: 10.1182/blood.2024025884.
PMID: 39919264

Lung-kidney axis in cystic fibrosis: Early urinary markers of kidney injury correlate with neutrophil activation and worse lung function.
Rosner GM, Goswami HB, Sessions K, Mendyka LK, Kerin B, Vlasac I, Mellinger D, Gwilt L, Hampton TH, Graber M, Ashare A, Harris WT, Christensen B, Stanton BA, Swiatecka-Urban A, Skopelja-Gardner S
J Cyst Fibros. 2025 Jan 2; pii: S1569-1993(24)01858-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jcf.2024.12.007. Epub 2025 Jan 2.
PMID: 39753455

Lung-Kidney Axis in Cystic Fibrosis: Early Urinary Markers of Kidney Injury Correlate with Neutrophil Activation and Worse Lung Function.
Rosner GM, Goswami HB, Sessions K, Mendyka LK, Kerin B, Vlasac I, Mellinger D, Gwilt L, Hampton TH, Graber M, Ashare A, Harris WT, Christensen B, Stanton BA, Swiatecka-Urban A, Skopelja-Gardner S
medRxiv. 2024 Sep 19; pii: 2023.11.10.23298378. doi: 10.1101/2023.11.10.23298378. Epub 2024 Sep 19.
PMID: 39371147

Spatial characterization of interface dermatitis in cutaneous lupus reveals novel chemokine ligand-receptor pairs that drive disease.
Shakiba S, Haddadi NS, Afshari K, Lubov JE, Raef HS, Li R, Yildiz-Altay Ü, Daga M, Refat MA, Kim E, de Laflin JG, Akabane A, Sherman S, MacDonald E, Strassner JP, Zhang L, Leon M, Baer CE, Dresser K, Liang Y, Whitley JB, Skopelja-Gardner S, Harris JE, Deng A, Vesely MD, Rashighi M, Richmond J
bioRxiv. 2024 Jan 6; pii: 2024.01.05.574422. doi: 10.1101/2024.01.05.574422. Epub 2024 Jan 6.
PMID: 38260617

Immune complex-driven neutrophil activation and BAFF release: a link to B cell responses in SLE.
Wang T, Vasconcellos A, Marken J, Skopelja-Gardner S, Lood C, Giltiay NV
Lupus Sci Med. 2022 Jul;9(1) doi: 10.1136/lupus-2022-000709.
PMID: 37938805

Role of the cGAS-STING pathway in systemic and organ-specific diseases.
Skopelja-Gardner S, An J, Elkon KB
Nat Rev Nephrol. 2022 Sep;18(9):558-572. doi: 10.1038/s41581-022-00589-6. Epub 2022 Jun 22.
PMID: 35732833

Differential Enhancement of Neutrophil Phagocytosis by Anti-Bactericidal/Permeability-Increasing Protein Antibodies.
Theprungsirikul J, Skopelja-Gardner S, Wierzbicki RM, Sessions KJ, Rigby WFC
J Immunol. 2021 Aug 1;207(3):777-783. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2100378. Epub 2021 Jul 16.
PMID: 34272233

Killing three birds with one BPI: Bactericidal, opsonic, and anti-inflammatory functions.
Theprungsirikul J, Skopelja-Gardner S, Rigby WFC
J Transl Autoimmun. 2021;4:100105. doi: 10.1016/j.jtauto.2021.100105. Epub 2021 May 28.
PMID: 34142075

Bactericidal/Permeability-Increasing Protein Preeminently Mediates Clearance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa In Vivo via CD18-Dependent Phagocytosis.
Theprungsirikul J, Skopelja-Gardner S, Burns AS, Wierzbicki RM, Rigby WFC
Front Immunol. 2021;12:659523. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.659523. Epub 2021 Apr 26.
PMID: 33981306

View more publications on PubMed