Sladjana Skopelja-Gardner, PhD
PhD / Program in Experimental and Molecular Medicine
I graduated from Dartmouth College in 2011 with a BS in Biochemistry. Throughout my undergraduate studies, I worked in the lab of Dr. Nicholas Shworak, where I investigated the role of proteoglycans in antithrombin-mediated anti-inflammatory processes in atherosclerosis. After graduating, I spent a year as the research assistant at the biotech company Celdara Medical, in Lebanon, NH, where I continued working on the project in collaboration with Dr. Shworak. In 2012, I joined the Program in Experimental and Molecular Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. After three rotations, in molecular neuroscience, immunology, and biomedical engineering, I decided to pursue my PhD in Dr. William Rigby's lab in the department of Immunology and Microbiology. I completed my qualifying exam in 2014, entitled: "The Effect of the Tumor Microenvironment on MiRNA-155 in CD8+ TILs". In the lab, I am pursuing two main projects: 1) The role of trogocytosis in anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody function in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) B cells, and 2) Development of autoimmunity in cystic fibrosis.
Selected Publications
Mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-3 (MKP-3) in the surgical wound is necessary for the resolution of postoperative pain in mice.
Skopelja-Gardner S, Saha M, Alvarado-Vazquez PA, Liponis BS, Martinez E, Romero-Sandoval EA
J Pain Res. 2017;10:763-774. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S129826. Epub 2017 Mar 28.
PMID: 28405172
HS3ST1 genotype regulates antithrombin's inflammomodulatory tone and associates with atherosclerosis.
Smits NC, Kobayashi T, Srivastava PK, Skopelja S, Ivy JA, Elwood DJ, Stan RV, Tsongalis GJ, Sellke FW, Gross PL, Cole MD, DeVries JT, Kaplan AV, Robb JF, Williams SM, Shworak NW
Matrix Biol. 2017 Nov;63:69-90. doi: 10.1016/j.matbio.2017.01.003. Epub 2017 Jan 23.
PMID: 28126521
The role for neutrophil extracellular traps in cystic fibrosis autoimmunity.
Skopelja S, Hamilton BJ, Jones JD, Yang ML, Mamula M, Ashare A, Gifford AH, Rigby WF
JCI Insight. 2016 Oct 20;1(17):e88912. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.88912. Epub 2016 Oct 20.
PMID: 27777975
Induction of interleukin-6 production by rituximab in human B cells.
Jones JD, Hamilton BJ, Skopelja S, Rigby WF
Arthritis Rheumatol. 2014 Nov;66(11):2938-46. doi: 10.1002/art.38798.
PMID: 25080282
Spinal mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-3 (MKP-3) is necessary for the normal resolution of mechanical allodynia in a mouse model of acute postoperative pain.
Saha M, Skopelja S, Martinez E, Alvarez DL, Liponis BS, Romero-Sandoval EA
J Neurosci. 2013 Oct 23;33(43):17182-7. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5605-12.2013.
PMID: 24155322