Skip to main content
Explore URMC
menu

Terry W. Wright, Ph.D.

Contact Information

Phone Numbers

Office: (585) 275-4246

Faculty Appointments

Biography

Research

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 Pneumocystis 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.

Credentials

Education

1990
BS | Rochester Institute of Technology
Biotechnology

1992
MS | University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Microbiology and Immunology

1995
PhD | University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Microbiology and Immunology

Post-doctoral Training & Residency

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

Awards

1994
American Society for Microbiology Sustaining Membership Travel Award

Patents

Patent Title: Polypeptides and Immunogenic Conjugates Capable of Inducing Antibodies Against Pathogens, and Uses Thereof
Patent #: 7,815,918
Issue Date: Oct 19, 2010
Country: United States
Invented By: Francis Gigliotti, Constantine G Haidaris, Patricia J Simpson-Haidaris, Jesse Wells, Terry W Wright

Patent Title: Optimized Antigens of Pneumocystis and Use Thereof
Patent #: 9,512,189
Issue Date: Dec 06, 2016
Country: United States
Invented By: Francis Gigliotti, Constantine G Haidaris, Patricia J Simpson-Haidaris, Terry W Wright

Publications

Journal Articles

2018
Bhagwat SP, Gigliotti F, Wang J, Wang Z, Notter RH, Murphy PS, Rivera-Escalera F, Malone J, Jordan MB, Elliott MR, Wright TW. "Intrinsic Programming of Alveolar Macrophages for Protective Antifungal Innate Immunity Against Infection." Frontiers in immunology.. 2018 9:2131. Epub 2018 Sep 19.

12/2015
Zhang ZQ, Wang J, Hoy Z, Keegan A, Gigliotti F, Wright T. "Neither classical nor alternative macrophage activation is required for Pneumocystis clearance during immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome." Infection and immunity.. 2015 Dec; 83(12):4594-603. Epub 2015 Sep 14.

1/1/2014
Bello-Irizarry SN, Wang J, Johnston CJ, Gigliotti F, Wright TW. "MyD88 signaling regulates both host defense and immunopathogenesis during pneumocystis infection." The Journal of immunology : official journal of the American Association of Immunologists.. 2014 Jan 1; 192(1):282-92. Epub 2013 Nov 29.

Books & Chapters

2005
Chapter Title: Mechanisms of lung damage
Book Title: Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia
Author List: Wright TW, Harmsen AG, Gigliotti F
Edited By: Walzer PD, Cushion MT
Published By: Marcel Dekker, Inc. 2005 in New York, NY

2005
Chapter Title: Antibodies and other non-T cell defenses
Book Title: Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia
Author List: Gigliotti F, Haidaris CG, Harmsen AG, Wright TW
Edited By: Walzer PD, Cushion MT
Published By: Marcel Dekker, Inc. 2005 in New York, NY

2003
Chapter Title: Pneumocystis carinii
Book Title: Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Author List: Gigliotti F, Wright T
Published By: Churchill Livingstone 2003 in Philadelphia, PA

VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS