B-cell Immunobiology Lab Members
Members of the B-cell Immunobiology Lab have been engaged in pioneering investigations that have advanced our understanding of autoimmune disease.
Principal Investigator
Gregg Silverman, MD
The Mamdouha S. Bobst Professor of Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine
Professor, Department of Pathology
Since 1985, and the start of his fellowship at the Scripps Research Foundation in the laboratory of Dennis Carson, Dr. Silverman has studied B-cell immunobiology and autoimmunity. These studies initially focused on clinical samples with monoclonal rheumatoid factors from the Rockefeller Institute laboratory of Henry Kunkel, the father of modern clinical immunology. These efforts have included analysis of antibody gene usage in human rheumatoid factors from patients with essential mixed cryoglobulinemia, hepatitis C, rheumatoid arthritis, and Sjogren’s syndrome. These studies then evolved into investigations of mechanisms responsible for the diversification of the human B-cell repertoire, B-cell superantigens, and more recently the interplay between the microbiome and host immunity.
In earlier collaborative studies with members of the laboratory of Joseph Witztum (University of California, San Diego, UCSD), we characterized the immunomodulatory properties of autoantibodies relevant to atherogenesis, and discovered these represent a novel class of protective autoantibodies to apoptotic cell membrane determinants that may oppose the development of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
Recent investigations in the human gut microbiome at NYU have led to the identification of a candidate pathobiont, linked to the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis, a major cause of morbidity and mortality.
Since the early 1990s, Dr. Silverman has served as the Director of an annual course on phage display and recombinant antibody technology hosted by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories. We all recently celebrated the 2018 Nobel Prize of George P. Smith, the inventor of phage display technology, which we teach in the course.
Dr. Silverman is also a practicing rheumatologist with a special interest in caring for patients with lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and related conditions. After more than two decades on the faculty at UCSD, in 2011 Dr. Silverman moved to NYU School of Medicine where he leads an NIH-funded basic and translational research group.
Societies and Honors
- Alpha Omega Alpha, 1980
- American College of Rheumatology, Master, 2022
- American Association of Immunologists
- Henry Kunkel Society, Rockefeller University, 2000
- American Society for Clinical Investigation, Member, 2001
Lab Members
Doua Azzouz, PhD
Senior Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Azzouz earned her PhD in immunology from the Faculty of Sciences at Aix-Marseille University, where she studied immune-genetic and autoantibodies as biomarkers. While studying Systemic Sclerosis, she characterized the HLA shared epitope background and assessed for possible associations with clinical disease features. She also studied the roles and the influence of microchimerism in Systemic Sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Since joining the B-cell Immunobiology Lab, she has studied the clinical and immunologic features of lupus erythematous, which has included autoantibody expression, dysbiosis in the gut microbiome, and potential roles in disease pathogenesis.
Abhimanyu Amarnani, MD, PhD
Rheumatology Fellow
Abhi attended the University of California, Los Angeles for college, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University for medical school and graduate school, and the University of Southern California for internal medicine residency. During his PhD training in molecular biology, he also gained extensive experience in immunology, microscopy, and computational data analysis. Abhi's expertise also includes short-read RNA sequencing differential gene expression and mass-spectrometry-based quantitative protein abundance data analysis. Abhi has become a dedicated physician-scientist who is now completing his rheumatology fellowship at NYU.
Andy Lee, BS
Research Technician
Andy graduated with a BS in Human Biology from the UC, Irvine. During his undergraduate years, he was involved in a neuro-critical care lab under Dr. Akbari, and he was involved in investigating the role of glial cells on neurological outcomes after global cerebral ischemia. His involvement in neuroimmunology fueled his interest in studying rheumatology at the Silverman Lab, where he led studies of murine model systems of pathobiont-induced lupus flares. Andy will be attending medical school in the fall.
Kate Trujillo, MS
Masters Student Research Technician
In 2020, Kate graduated with a BS in Biology from SUNY Binghamton. She then joined the Silverman Lab where she completed her research thesis work, which was part of her Master's degree work awarded by the Department of Biology at the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Her research has focused on autoimmune diseases, particularly Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). She is committed to advancing her skills as both a scientist and a physician.
In the fall, Kate will be attending medical school at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse.
Tyler Weinstein, BS
Project Coordinator
In 2023, Tyler graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor’s Degree in the Biological Sciences. While there, he authored two publications on misconceptions surrounding traumatic brain injury in the Journal of Combat Sports Medicine. His work has emphasized the need to increase and spread knowledge of the risks and consequences of Sports-associated concussion injuries for athletes, trainers, and coaches. In both 2021 and 2022, Tyler presented his findings at the Annual Conference of the Association of Ringside Physicians. He also works with the Association of Ringside Physicians as a Student Researcher on a team investigating the safety of mixed martial arts. Tyler’s past endeavors in Sports Medicine, Orthopedics, and neurodegenerative diseases have inspired him to pursue rheumatology research in the Silverman Lab. Tyler plans to attend medical school in the near future.
Lab Alumni
Jing Deng, PhD
Former Research Scientist
Jing led efforts to understand the in vivo influences of a gut pathobiont on host immune responses in the C57BL/6 mouse. She is not working in a venture capital firm in NYC. (Silverman et al. 2022)
Emily Radke, MS
Former Research Scientist
Emily completed her PhD thesis work in our lab which focused on the effect of Staphylococcal toxins on host immunity, and moved to New England to work at Adimab, a premier contract antibody synthesis group.
(Radke et al. 2021) (Radke et al. 2018)
Hanane el Bannoudi, PhD
Former Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Contributed to the generation of high complexity transcript-based human peripheral B cell repertoires in healthy adults and SLE patients.
Adam J Pelzek, PhD
Former Graduate Researcher
Adam completed his PhD thesis studies in the laboratory, in studies documenting an analytic approach to assessing how biological therapies affect the underlying autoimmune condition in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. (Silverman and Pelzek 2014; Pelzek et al. 2017) (Pelzek et al. 2018)
Lelise Getu, BS
Former Research Technician
Growing up in Ethiopia, after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry from Middlebury College in 2013 Lelise joined the Silverman laboratory as a Research Technician and later served as the Laboratory Manager. She later completed the M.P.A.-Health Policy and Management program at the NYU Wagner School of Public Service. Lelise hopes to play a leading role in developing policies and research-based solutions that aim to advance health equity both locally and internationally.
David Hernandez, PhD
Former Graduate Researcher
Led efforts to develop and apply gene fragment phage display libraries for the characterization of minimal B cell epitopes. (Hernandez et al. 2020a) (Hernandez et al. 2020b)
Patryk Krzesaj
Former Research Technician
Aided in the generations and interrogations of staphylococcal gene fragment epitope libraries, working closely with Mr. Hernandez
John Murray
Former Staph Contract Administrator
While helping to coordinate work within our research group, John completed an MBA and current is currently working in a position in Administration at Pfizer.
Alejandro Ulloa-Morales, PhD
Former Graduate Researcher
Received a Master’s degree from the NYU Department of Biology, completing his research thesis on the molecular basis of B-cell superantigen properties, working in the Silverman laboratory. He later received his PhD from the NYU Vilcek School of Biomedical Studies Afterward he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology (2019 - 2021). He is currently a supervising Microbiologist at the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Natalie Erichsen, BS
Former Research Technician
Nicole Ferstler, BS
Former Research Technician
Jessica Rosario
Former Administrative Assistant
References from website pages
Azzouz DF, Chen Z, Izmirly PM, Chen LA, Li Z, Zhang C, Mieles D, Trujillo K, Heguy A, Pironti A et al. 2023. Longitudinal gut microbiome analyses and blooms of pathogenic strains during lupus disease flares. Ann Rheum Dis 82: 1315-1327.
Deacy AM, Gan SK, Derrick JP. 2021. Superantigen Recognition and Interactions: Functions, Mechanisms and Applications. Front Immunol 12: 731845.
Frost SD, Murrell B, Hossain AS, Silverman GJ, Pond SL. 2015. Assigning and visualizing germline genes in antibody repertoires. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 370.
Goodyear CS, Corr M, Sugiyama F, Boyle DL, Silverman GJ. 2007. Cutting Edge: Bim is required for superantigen-mediated B cell death. J Immunol 178: 2636-2640.
Graille M, Stura EA, Corper AL, Sutton BJ, Taussig MJ, Charbonnier JB, Silverman GJ. 2000. Crystal structure of a Staphylococcus aureus protein A domain complexed with the Fab fragment of a human IgM antibody: structural basis for recognition of B-cell receptors and superantigen activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 97: 5399-5404.
Graille M, Stura EA, Housden NG, Beckingham JA, Bottomley SP, Beale D, Taussig MJ, Sutton BJ, Gore MG, Charbonnier JB. 2001. Complex between Peptostreptococcus magnus protein L and a human antibody reveals structural convergence in the interaction modes of Fab binding proteins. Structure 9: 679-687.
Hernandez DN, Tam K, Shopsin B, Radke EE, Kolahi P, Copin R, Stubbe FX, Cardozo T, Torres VJ, Silverman GJ. 2020a. Unbiased Identification of Immunogenic Staphylococcus aureus Leukotoxin B-Cell Epitopes. Infect Immun 88.
Hernandez DN, Tam K, Shopsin B, Radke EE, Law K, Cardozo T, Torres VJ, Silverman GJ. 2020b. Convergent Evolution of Neutralizing Antibodies to Staphylococcus aureus gamma-Hemolysin C That Recognize an Immunodominant Primary Sequence-Dependent B-Cell Epitope. mBio 11.
Pelzek AJ, Gronwall C, Rosenthal P, Greenberg JD, McGeachy M, Moreland L, Rigby WFC, Silverman GJ. 2017. Persistence of Disease-Associated Anti-Citrullinated Protein Antibody-Expressing Memory B Cells in Rheumatoid Arthritis in Clinical Remission. Arthritis Rheumatol 69: 1176-1186.
Pelzek AJ, Shopsin B, Radke EE, Tam K, Ueberheide BM, Fenyo D, Brown SM, Li Q, Rubin A, Fulmer Y et al. 2018. Human Memory B Cells Targeting Staphylococcus aureus Exotoxins Are Prevalent with Skin and Soft Tissue Infection. mBio 9.
Radke EE, Brown SM, Pelzek AJ, Fulmer Y, Hernandez DN, Torres VJ, Thomsen IP, Chiang WK, Miller AO, Shopsin B et al. 2018. Hierarchy of human IgG recognition within the Staphylococcus aureus immunome. Sci Rep 8: 13296.
Radke EE, Li Z, Hernandez DN, El Bannoudi H, Kosakovsky Pond SL, Shopsin B, Lopez P, Fenyo D, Silverman GJ. 2021. Diversity of Functionally Distinct Clonal Sets of Human Conventional Memory B Cells That Bind Staphylococcal Protein A. Front Immunol 12: 662782.
Sasso EH, Silverman GJ, Mannik M. 1989. Human IgM molecules that bind staphylococcal protein A contain VHIII H chains. J Immunol 142: 2778-2783.
-. 1991. Human IgA and IgG F(ab')2 that bind to staphylococcal protein A belong to the VHIII subgroup. J Immunol 147: 1877-1883.
Silverman GJ, Deng J, Azzouz DF. 2022. Sex-dependent Lupus Blautia (Ruminococcus) gnavus strain induction of zonulin-mediated intestinal permeability and autoimmunity. Front Immunol 13: 897971.
Silverman GJ, Pelzek A. 2014. Rheumatoid arthritis clinical benefits from abatacept, cytokine blockers, and rituximab are all linked to modulation of memory B cell responses. J Rheumatol 41: 825-828.
Taki S, Meiering M, Rajewsky K. 1993. Targeted insertion of a variable region gene into the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus. Science 262: 1268-1271.
