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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

 

Mucosal-associated invariant T cells support IL-15-dependent Treg response in skin injury and promote resolution of skin inflammation.
Crossland GE, Armero A, Chavez V, Peters ZT, Ostendorf L, Kannan S, Mendyka LK, Brooker OF, Dowling K, Goswami HB, Barton D, Leach S, Kolling FW, Rosato PC, Sundrud MS, Lu TT, Rao DA, Constantinides MG, Skopelja-Gardner S
bioRxiv. 2026 Jul 1; pii: 2026.06.28.735088. doi: 10.64898/2026.06.28.735088. Epub 2026 Jul 1.
PMID: 42427786

Circulating and brain-resident memory CD8+ T cells seed distinct bystander T (RM) -like populations in glioblastoma.
Kleist SA, Chen T, Musial SC, DiBlasi NR, Degefu HN, Berman SC, Ford MA, Isaacs JF, Cruz Rivera A, Sclar AJ, Angeles CV, Lin CC, Simmons NE, Evans LT, Skopelja-Gardner S, Turk MJ, Skorput AGJ, Leach SM, Rosato PC
bioRxiv. 2026 Jun 24; pii: 2026.06.19.733403. doi: 10.64898/2026.06.19.733403. Epub 2026 Jun 24.
PMID: 42395421

Keratinocyte VISTA attenuates UV light-induced skin injury by suppressing cutaneous type I interferon (IFN-I) response.
Peters ZT, Mendyka LK, Blake J, Goswami HB, Cortez AN, Crossland GE, Shan S, Nowak EC, Mrinal S, Johann EG, Burns CM, Barton DT, Blazar BR, Curiel TJ, Mabaera R, Werth VP, Kalus A, Elkon K, Noelle RJ, Skopelja-Gardner S
bioRxiv. 2025 Dec 9; pii: 2025.12.04.692370. doi: 10.64898/2025.12.04.692370. Epub 2025 Dec 9.
PMID: 41573829

Diagnosis and Emerging Biomarkers of Cystic Fibrosis-Related Kidney Disease (CFKD).
Yavuz H, Kumar M, Goswami HB, Erdbrugger U, Harris WT, Skopelja-Gardner S, Graber M, Swiatecka-Urban A
J Clin Med. 2025 Aug 7;14(15) doi: 10.3390/jcm14155585. Epub 2025 Aug 7.
PMID: 40807208

The role of VISTA engagement in limiting neutrophil-mediated inflammation.
Nowak EC, Li J, Peters ZT, Mendyka LK, ElTanbouly MA, Davis WL 3rd, Sergent P, Lines JL, Smits NC, Mabaera R, Rajanna S, Carriere C, Koehn B, Allred J, Blazar BR, Burns CM, Noelle RJ, Skopelja-Gardner S
J Immunol. 2025 Sep 1;214(9):2385-2396. doi: 10.1093/jimmun/vkaf132.
PMID: 40574311

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 Dec;40(12):3605-3614. 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 May;24(3):613-620. doi: 10.1016/j.jcf.2024.12.007. Epub 2025 Jan 3.
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, Romano P, Vongvirath J, 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. 2025 May 22; pii: 2024.01.05.574422. doi: 10.1101/2024.01.05.574422. Epub 2025 May 22.
PMID: 38260617

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