Rachel H. Bonami, PhD

Rachel Bonami PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology and Immunology

Research Description

Autoimmune diseases are frequently marked by autoantibodies, which signal immune tolerance checkpoint breach by autoreactive B cells. We do not fully understand the immune system “glitches” that push B lymphocytes to inappropriately respond to autoantigens, engage autoreactive T cells, and/or morph into autoantibody-secreting cells. Dr. Bonami’s translational research program takes advantage of access to several  unique clinical cohorts (e.g. Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet and Myositis, Scleroderma Treatment Initiative Center (MYSTIC)) and cutting-edge hybridoma and single-cell RNAseq/CITEseq/BCRseq technology to address these critical questions. Her laboratory is also applying these techniques to investigate a new autoimmune syndrome resembling Sjogren’s syndrome that can occur in cancer patients treated with checkpoint inhibitors. Her lab interweaves wet-lab experimental approaches with computational analyses to define B cell phenotypic and immune repertoire changes associated with these autoimmune processes.
 
Autoantibodies are used clinically to predict or diagnose many autoimmune diseases. Autoantibodies can be directly pathologic and/or signal interactions between autoantigen-specific B and T cells that underly tissue damage. Dr. Bonami’s research program focuses on identifying autoantigen-specific B cells to define their phenotypic and functional attributes in people at risk for type 1 diabetes, patients with spontaneous autoimmune diseases such as myositis and Sjogren’s syndrome, and patients who develop autoimmunity following immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Our goals are to: Develop approaches to harness autoreactive B cells as more selective biomarkers; and identify pathways to target to limit autoreactive B cell survival and function.
Email
rachel.h.bonami@vumc.org