Terry W. Wright, Ph.D.

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Dr. Wright's research interests are:

1) Pneumocystis carinii biology

2) Pathogenesis of lung injury during Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.

The rapid clearance of bacterial and fungal pathogens is essential to preserve the delicate structure and critical function of the lung. The opportunistic pathogen, Pneumocystis carinii, colonizes the alveolar epithelium of patients suffering from a variety of immunodeficiencies, including AIDS. Dr. Wright's laboratory uses an immunologically reconstituted scid mouse model of P. carinii pneumonia (PCP) to study the host response to infection. Scid mice lack functional lymphocytes and therefore develop active P. carinii infections. However, the adoptive transfer of congenic spleen cells, including CD4+ T lymphocytes, to P. carinii-infected scid mice results in inflammatory cell recruitment to sites of infection and organism clearance. They are now examining the earliest molecular signals (including cytokine and chemokine expression) produced at epithelial sites of P. carinii colonization, to determine which cell types and which soluble mediators are involved in targeting inflammatory cell recruitment. These studies will not only further our understanding of PCP, but may also provide insight into general mechanisms of lung defense.

In addition, they are examining the role of pulmonary inflammation in the pathology of PCP. As stated above, an intense CD4+ T lymphocyte-dependent inflammatory response is mounted at sites of infection in reconstituted scid mice. In many cases this inflammatory response is productive, and serves to resolve the infection. However, under certain circumstances the inflammatory response may actually contribute to the pulmonary injury and respiratory impairment observed in P. carinii pneumonia. They have begun studies using physiological and molecular measurements of lung injury to assess the in vivo role of P. carinii-driven inflammation in PCP. They also plan to test specific anti-inflammatory agents to manipulate various aspects of the inflammatory response to determine the effect on lung injury. These studies will help define the role of inflammation in PCP, and further our understanding of pulmonary immunology.

Specialty

Infectious Diseases

Current Appointments

• Associate Professor - Department of Pediatrics (SMD)
• Associate Professor - Department of Microbiology and Immunology (SMD)

Education
PhD Microbiology and Immunology	University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry	1995
MS Microbiology and Immunology	University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry	1992
BS Biotechnology	Rochester Institute of Technology	1990

Post-Doctoral Training & Residency
Pediatrics Postdoctoral Training, Division of Neonatology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY	1995 - 1997

Fellowship Awards
NIH Postdoctoral Training Grant PI: Dr. Richard Hyde. HL 72061 "Multidisciplinary Training in Pulmonary Research" Goals: Pre- and post-graduate training of MD and PhD scientists in Pulmonary Research (7/1/77 - 8/31/02).	1995 - 1997
NIH Predoctoral Training Grant PI: Dr. Barbara H. Iglewski. 5-T32 AIO7362 "Molecular Pathogenesis of Bacteria and Viruses" Goals: Predoctoral training of PhD scientists in molecular pathogenesis.	1992 - 1995

Awards and Honors
American Society for Microbiology Sustaining Membership Travel Award	1994