Sahar Lotfi-Emran, M.D., Ph.D.

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Summary

Dr. Lotfi-Emran completed her M.D. and Ph.D. at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. She then completed her internal medicine and rheumatology training in the physician-scientist training program at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. This training included a post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. David Masopust with a focus on tissue-resident memory T cells. Dr. Lotfi-Emran’s research studied the role of CD8+ T cell subsets and pathogen exposure on the development and expression of autoimmune arthritis.

She joined the Pediatric Translational Research Branch at NIAMS to more deeply evaluate the contribution of CD8+ T cells, other immunopathologic mechanisms, and pathogen exposure to spondyloarthropathies.

Research Statement

Recently, Dr. Lotfi-Emran's research has focused on immunopathologic mechanisms underlying autoimmune diseases with a particular focus on the role of tissue-resident CD8+ T cells, which lie at the intersection of local, tissue-specific immunity and the imprint of previous pathogen exposures such as viral infection. 

Since joining the Pediatric Translational Research Branch, Dr. Lotfi-Emran has mainly focused on the development of spondyloarthritis, mechanisms that lead to flares of spondyloarthritis, and early onset disease. She is a member of SPARTAN and contributes to the research committee.

Scientific Publications

Development of a proteomic signature associated with severe disease for patients with COVID-19 using data from 5 multicenter, randomized, controlled, and prospective studies.

Castro-Pearson S, Samorodnitsky S, Yang K, Lotfi-Emran S, Ingraham NE, Bramante C, Jones EK, Greising S, Yu M, Steffen BT, Svensson J, Åhlberg E, Österberg B, Wacker D, Guan W, Puskarich M, Smed-Sörensen A, Lusczek E, Safo SE, Tignanelli CJ
Sci Rep.
2023 Nov 20;
13(1).
doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-46343-1
PMID: 37985892

Developing A Baseline Metabolomic Signature Associated with COVID-19 Severity: Insights from Prospective Trials Encompassing 13 U.S. Centers.

Yang K, Kang Z, Guan W, Lotfi-Emran S, Mayer ZJ, Guerrero CR, Steffen BT, Puskarich MA, Tignanelli CJ, Lusczek E, Safo SE
Metabolites.
2023 Oct 24;
13(11).
doi: 10.3390/metabo13111107
PMID: 37999202

Depleting CD103+ resident memory T cells in vivo reveals immunostimulatory functions in oral mucosa.

Stolley JM, Scott MC, Joag V, Dale AJ, Johnston TS, Saavedra F, Gavil NV, Lotfi-Emran S, Soerens AG, Weyu E, Pierson MJ, Herzberg MC, Zhang N, Vezys V, Masopust D
J Exp Med.
2023 Jul 3;
220(7).
doi: 10.1084/jem.20221853
PMID: 37097449

Chronic antigen in solid tumors drives a distinct program of T cell residence.

Gavil NV, Scott MC, Weyu E, Smith OC, O'Flanagan SD, Wijeyesinghe S, Lotfi-Emran S, Shiao SL, Vezys V, Masopust D
Sci Immunol.
2023 Jun 8;
8(84).
doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.add5976
PMID: 37267383

Tissue-resident memory T cells trigger rapid exudation and local antibody accumulation.

Rosato PC, Lotfi-Emran S, Joag V, Wijeyesinghe S, Quarnstrom CF, Degefu HN, Nedellec R, Schenkel JM, Beura LK, Hangartner L, Burton DR, Masopust D
Mucosal Immunol.
2023 Feb;
16(1).
doi: 10.1016/j.mucimm.2022.11.004
PMID: 36657662

Education

University of Minnesota School of Medicine 
Internal Medicine Rheumatology (2016-2018, 2018-2022)

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine 
M.D. Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology (2007-2016) 

Vassar College 
B.A. in Sociology (2001-2005) 

Experience

Postdoctoral Fellowship 
University of Minnesota School of Medicine (2019-2022)

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