Contact Information: 

Office: 2130E ML
Faculty Profile

Brief description of current research:

As a physician-scientist in the division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, I am committed to better understanding how obesity influences the immune response in the setting of sepsis. Currently, we are focusing on the following areas: 1) Determining key signaling pathways that influence the pulmonary immune response to bacterial pneumonia in a diet-induced obesity murine model. We found obese mice with bacterial pneumonia have upregulation of pulmonary leptin-JAK2-STAT3 signaling pathway, which is associated with increased mortality and lung injury. 2) Identifying key pulmonary immune cells responsible for upregulation of these intricate signaling pathways and how they respond to different pathogens ex vivo and in vivo. Thus far we have found obese mice have an upregulation of STAT3 in alveolar macrophages. 3) Determine how the immune response is altered by maternal obesity in juvenile mice in the setting of bacterial pneumonia.

Most influential diabetes/obesity/metabolism publications:

• Bodilly L, Williamson L, Howell K, Alder M, Kaplan J. Obese Mice with Pneumonia Have Hyperleptinemia and Increased Pulmonary Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 Activation. Shock. 2023 Jan 5. doi: 10.1097/SHK.0000000000002050. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36597767.
• Ayalon I, Bodilly L, Kaplan J. The Impact of Obesity on Critical Illnesses. Shock. 2021 Nov 1;56(5):691-700. doi: 10.1097/SHK.0000000000001821. PMID: 34115724; PMCID: PMC8526384.

Quote:

My goal as a physician-scientist is to better understand the biologic mechanisms that influence morbidity and mortality in critically ill children and develop novel ways to target these mechanisms to improve outcomes. In order to do this work, we must have collaboration between science done at the bench and science done at the bedside.