Dr. Damo earned her PhD in Bioengineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Immunobiology at Yale University. She joined the Faculty of the University of Chicago as Assistant Professor in October 2023. Here, she runs a research laboratory focused on understanding how immune checkpoint receptors expressed by T cells contribute to immunological tolerance under physiological settings and how immunotherapy with checkpoint blockade causes immune-related Adverse Events (irAEs) in cancer patients. The goals of her research are to find pathways of T cell tolerance that are druggable and bioengineer targeted therapies for inducing or preventing tolerance, depending on disease setting, as well as developing therapeutic approaches for preventing or limiting irAEs in cancer patients.
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Instructor
2023
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Postdoctoral fellowship
2022
Swiss federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)
Switzerland
PhD
2016
KLF2 maintains lineage fidelity and suppresses CD8 T cell exhaustion during acute LCMV infection.
KLF2 maintains lineage fidelity and suppresses CD8 T cell exhaustion during acute LCMV infection. Science. 2025 Jan 02; 387(6735):eadn2337.
PMID: 39946463
Intestinal tuft cell immune privilege enables norovirus persistence.
Intestinal tuft cell immune privilege enables norovirus persistence. Sci Immunol. 2024 03 22; 9(93):eadi7038.
PMID: 38517952
PD-1 maintains CD8 T cell tolerance towards cutaneous neoantigens.
PD-1 maintains CD8 T cell tolerance towards cutaneous neoantigens. Nature. 2023 Jul; 619(7968):151-159.
PMID: 37344588
Clonal lineage tracing reveals mechanisms skewing CD8+ T cell fate decisions in chronic infection.
Clonal lineage tracing reveals mechanisms skewing CD8+ T cell fate decisions in chronic infection. J Exp Med. 2023 01 02; 220(1).
PMID: 36315049
Novel Mouse Models for Cancer Immunology.
Novel Mouse Models for Cancer Immunology. Annu Rev Cancer Biol. 2022 Apr; 6(1):269-291.
PMID: 36875867
Neoantigen-driven B cell and CD4 T follicular helper cell collaboration promotes anti-tumor CD8 T cell responses.
Neoantigen-driven B cell and CD4 T follicular helper cell collaboration promotes anti-tumor CD8 T cell responses. Cell. 2021 12 09; 184(25):6101-6118.e13.
PMID: 34852236
A reservoir of stem-like CD8+ T cells in the tumor-draining lymph node preserves the ongoing antitumor immune response.
A reservoir of stem-like CD8+ T cells in the tumor-draining lymph node preserves the ongoing antitumor immune response. Sci Immunol. 2021 Oct; 6(64):eabg7836.
PMID: 34597124
Soluble N-Acetylgalactosamine-Modified Antigens Enhance Hepatocyte-Dependent Antigen Cross-Presentation and Result in Antigen-Specific CD8+ T Cell Tolerance Development.
Soluble N-Acetylgalactosamine-Modified Antigens Enhance Hepatocyte-Dependent Antigen Cross-Presentation and Result in Antigen-Specific CD8+ T Cell Tolerance Development. Front Immunol. 2021; 12:555095.
PMID: 33746941
Inducible de novo expression of neoantigens in tumor cells and mice.
Inducible de novo expression of neoantigens in tumor cells and mice. Nat Biotechnol. 2021 01; 39(1):64-73.
PMID: 32719479
Synthetically glycosylated antigens induce antigen-specific tolerance and prevent the onset of diabetes.
Synthetically glycosylated antigens induce antigen-specific tolerance and prevent the onset of diabetes. Nat Biomed Eng. 2019 10; 3(10):817-829.
PMID: 31358881