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• Karin Provost, DO

Karin Provost, DO

Research Assistant Professor

Thesis Project

Control of airway inflammation continues to be a major obstacle in the treatment of asthma. Th2 cells appear to be necessary for the development and persistence of disease. IL-4 and IL-13 produced by CD4 T cells in the respiratory tract, and through their actions on IL-4R and Stat6, stimulate multiple inflammatory pathways that lead to airway remodeling, persistent inflammation and disease progression. The contribution of IFN-γ to the development and activity of disease remains controversial. The goal of Dr. Provost’s research is to clarify how IFN-γ functions in the regulation of allergic airway inflammation. It is expected that the balance of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in the respiratory tract can either control disease or worsen symptoms. Understanding the specific pathways by which IFN-γ stimulates its anti- and pro-inflammatory effects in allergic airways disease and how these effects are co-regulated will help us to understand how disease may persist in a Th2-skewed environment and how therapies that modulate local immune responses will influence airway inflammation.

Publications

(before entry into Investigative Medicine Program)

1. Abstract (submitted for the American Thoracic Society Annual Meeting 2005, submitted October 20, 2004)
   Provost KA, Niu N, Elias JA, Homer RJ and Cohn LE. IFN–γ Inhibits Mucus, Eosinophilia and Chitinase Activity By Multiple Different Pathways.

Thesis Advisor

Lauren Cohn, MD (Graduate School Appointment)
Associate Professor of Medicine/Pulmonary and Critical Care

Thesis Committee Members

Jack Elias, MD
Professor of Internal Medicine
Chief, Pulmonary and Critical Care

Robert J. Homer, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology

Akiko Iwasaki, PhD (Graduate School Appointment)
Assistant Professor of Immunobiology

Kim Bottomly, PhD (Graduate School Appointment)
Professor of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellular & Development Biology