Haesun Park, Ph.D.

Biography

Haesun Park received a B.S. in Microbiology from Seoul National University in South Korea. She later attended the University of Michigan Medical School and received her Ph.D. from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in 1999. Dr. Park was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Microbiology of the University of Minnesota Medical School from 1999-2002, and worked as a Research Associate in the same institute until she joined the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute as a Research Assistant Professor in 2007.

Research Overview

Dr. Park’s research interest is focused on understanding molecular and cellular bases of Streptococcus pyogenes pathogenesis, especially host-pathogen interactions required for establishment of infection. S. pyogenes is the most common cause of clinically significant bacterial pharyngitis, and it is also responsible for many serious diseases such as rheumatic fever, heart disease, toxic shock, and skin infections. Her research is in three areas: identification of virulence factors and their pathogenic mechanisms, characterization of immune responses during infection, and development of effective vaccines for protection against streptococci.

Another major focus of her work is to understand how innate immunity can enhance vaccine-induced immune responses. One of the mechanisms by which the innate immune cells sense the invasion of pathogens is through Toll-like receptors (TLRs), a family of proteins that recognize microorganisms through pathogen-associated molecular patterns. Stimulation of TLRs triggers a signaling cascade that culminates in a specific transcriptional response of genes that are involved in initiation of both innate and adaptive immunity tailored to the type of pathogen encountered. A study is in progress to test whether stimulation of different TLRs enhances immunogenicity of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine protein and ultimately provides protection from infection by eliciting effective immune responses using an animal model. While a vaccine is the best approach to halt the HIV pandemic, HIV presents unique challenges to vaccine development. One is the lack of knowledge of the immune components required to protect the host from infection. Dr. Park’s research goal is to unravel the specific components of host innate and adaptive immunity that provide protection against pathogenic simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection in rhesus macaques and to rationally guide improved formulations of HIV vaccines.

Selected References

• Park, H.S., and Cleary, P.P. Streptococcal M protein upregulates β-1 integrin expression on host cells and promotes bacterial colonization. Manuscript submitted in J. Exp. Med.
  
  
• Park, H.S., and Cleary, P.P. Active and passive immunizations with the streptococcal surface protein C5a peptidase prevent infection of murine nasal-associated lymphoid tissue, a functional homologue of human tonsils. Infect. Immun. 73:7878-7886, 2005.
  
  
• Zimmerlein, B., Park, H.S., Li, S., Podbielski, A., and Cleary, P.P. The M protein is dispensable for maturation of streptococcal cysteine protease SpeB. Infect. Immun. 73: 859-864, 2005.
  
  
• Park, H.S., Costalonga, M., Reinhardt, R.E., Dombek, P.E., Jenkins, M.K., and Cleary, P.P. Primary induction of CD4 T cell responses in nasal associated lymphoid tissue during Group A streptococcal infection.  Eur. J. Immunol. 34: 2843-2853, 2004.
  
  
• Cleary, P. P., Zhang, Y, and Park, H.S. Nasal associated lymphoid tissue & M cells, a window to persistent streptococcal infections. Indian J. Med. Res. 119 (Suppl.): 55-58, 2004.
  
  
• Purushothaman, S.S., Park, H.S., and Cleary, P.P. C5a peptidase of Group A streptococcus promotes fibronectin independent invasion into epithelial cells. Indian J. Med. Res. 119 (Suppl.): 44-47, 2004.
  
  
• Park, H.S., Francis, K. P., Yu, J., and Cleary, P. P. Membranous cells in nasal-associated lymphoid tissue: a portal of entry for the respiratory mucosal pathogen Group A Streptococcus. J. Immunol 171: 2532-2537, 2003.