Megan A. Cooper, MD, PhD

Research Interest

Metabolic Regulation

Islet Biology/Immunology

Category(ies) of Research

Translational

Descriptor of Research

Our lab has two areas of research in the field of diabetes/metabolism. First, we have an interest in understanding basic mechanisms of natural killer cell function. Our current studies, funded by an NIH-R01, focus on metabolic regulation of NK cell activation. We are using novel mouse models to determine the metabolic pathways critical for NK cell expansion, cytokine production, and killing in the context of viral infection. The second area of research in our lab focuses on primary immune dysregulation syndromes. We discovered a new human disease associated with gain-of-function germline variants in STAT3 leading to early onset autoimmunity, including neonatal and childhood type I DM. We are currently pursuing studies investigating how the immune response is altered with STAT3 GOF in patients and a mouse model of disease.