Biography
Dr. Margaret Costanzo obtained her Ph.D. in Pathobiology from the University of Texas at El Paso, in El Paso, TX. Her work focused on mobilizing subdominant HIV-specific, cytotoxic T-lymphocytes as a novel vaccine strategy. Upon the completion of her Ph.D. she became a postdoctoral research fellow with U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) , in Silver Spring, MD. Here, she worked on Natural Killer cell engagement and T-cell immunodominance in acute HIV-1 infection. In 2017, she joined the Cellular Immune Monitoring Core (CIMC), within MHRP, as lead scientist to work on cellular mediated immunity (CMI) in response to HIV-1 vaccination.
Research
Dr. Costanzo’s interests focus on T-cell-mediated immunity and its functions, primarily against intracellular pathogens and in the context of vaccination. Her team supports and provides the infrastructure, trained personnel and GCLP, state-of-the-art assays for assessing cell-mediated immunity generated by vaccine products within the MHRP pipeline.
Building on RV144, MHRP’s long term goal is to develop a safe and effective HIV-1 vaccine that protects people worldwide from acquisition of the virus. Understanding cellular responses post vaccination is crucial for informing the development of such preventative and therapeutic vaccines.
Selected Publications
Costanzo MC, Kim D, Creegan M, Lal KG, Ake J, Currier JR, Streeck H, Robb ML, Michael NL, Bolton DL, Steers NJ, Eller MA. Transcriptomic signatures of NK cell function suggest impaired responsiveness in chronic HIV-1 infection and increased functional activity after vaccination. Nature Communications. 9 (1)1212. 1-16 doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-03618-w. Epub 23 Mar 2018.
Costanzo MC, Creegan M, Lal KG, Eller MA. OMIP-027: Functional analysis of human natural killer cells. Cytometry A. 2015 Sep;87(9):803-5. doi: 10.1002/cyto.a.22719. Epub 17 Jul 2015.
Lal KG, Kim D, Costanzo MC, Creegan M, Leeansyah E, Dias J, Paquin-Proulx D, Eller LA, Schuetz A, Phuang-Ngern Y, Krebs SJ, Slike BM, Kibuuka H, Maganga L, Nitayaphan S, Kosgei J, Sacdalan C, Ananworanich J, Bolton DL, Michael NL, Shacklett BL, Robb ML, Eller MA, Sandberg JK. Dynamic MAIT cell response with progressively enhanced innateness during acute HIV-1 infection. Nat Communications. 2020 Jan 14;11(1):272. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13975-9.
Naluyima P, Lal KG, Costanzo MC, Kijak GH, Gonzalez VD, Blom K, Eller LA, Creegan M, Hong T, Kim D, Quinn TC, Björkström NK, Ljunggren HG, Serwadda D, Katabira ET, Sewankambo NK, Gray RH, Baeten JM, Michael NL, Wabwire-Mangen F, Robb ML, Bolton DL, Sandberg JK, Eller MA. Terminal Effector CD8 T Cells Defined by an IKZF2+IL-7RTranscriptional Signature Express FcγRIIIA, Expand in HIV Infection, and Mediate Potent HIV-Specific Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity. J Immunol. 2019 Oct 15;203(8):2210-2221. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1900422. Epub 2019 Sep 13. PMID: 31519862
Kijak GH, Sanders-Buell E, Chenine AL, Eller MA, Goonetilleke N, Thomas R, Leviyang S, Harbolick E, Bose M, Pham P, Oropeza C, Poltavee K, O’Sullivan AM, Billings E, Merbah M, Costanzo MC, Warren J, Slike B, Hui L, Peachman K, Fischer W, Gao F, Cicala C, Arthos J, Eller LA, O’Connell RJ, Sinei S, Maganga L, Kibukka H, Nitayaphan S, Rao M, Marovich M, Krebs SJ, Rolland M, Korber BT, Shaw GM, Michael NL, Robb ML, Tovanabutra S, Kim JH. Correction: Rare HIV-1 transmitted/founder lineages identified by deep viral sequencing contribute to rapid shifts in dominant quasispecies during acute and early infection. PLoS Pathog 13(9): e1006620. doi: 10.1371/1006620. Epub 14 Sept 2017.
Eller MA, Goonetilleke N, Tassaneetrithep B, Eller LA, Costanzo MC, Johnson S, Betts MR, Krebs SJ, Slike BM, Nitayaphan S, Rono K, Tovanabutra S, Maganga L, Kibuuka H, Jagodzinski L, Peel S, Rolland M, Marovich MA, Kim JH, Michael NL, Robb ML, and Streeck H. Expansion of inefficient HIV-specific CD8 T cells during acute infection. Journal of Virology. 90 (8) 4005-4016; doi: 10.1128/JVI.02785-15 Epub 3 Feb 2016.
Xu W, Watts DM, Costanzo MC, Venegas LA, Jiao F, Tang X, Sette A, Sidney J, Sewell AK, Wooldridge L, Makino S, Morrill JC, Peters CJ, Kan-Mitchell J. The Nucleocapsid Protein of Rift Valley Fever Virus is a Potent Human CD8+ T Cell Antigen and Elicits Memory Responses. PLoS One. 2013;8(3): e59210. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059210. Epub 18 Mar 2013.