Amelia K Pinto, PhD

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Amelia.Pinto@uky.edu

760 Press Ave Room 617

Positions

Assistant Professor

College Unit(s)

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics

Biography and Education

Biography

My research primarily focuses on viral immunology, specifically investigating diseases caused by emerging viruses, including dengue, Zika, Rift Vally fever, Chikungunya, and SARS-CoV-2. My work involves developing murine models for studying viral disease and evaluating vaccine efficacy in at-risk populations. My research aims to enhance understanding of virus-host interactions, vaccine development, and immune response mechanisms.

Selected Publications

Stone ET, Pinto AK. T Cells in Tick-Borne Flavivirus Encephalitis: A Review of Current Paradigms in Protection and Disease Pathology. Viruses. 2023 Apr 13;15(4). doi: 10.3390/v15040958. Review. PubMed PMID: 37112938; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10146733.

Nasr MC, Geerling E, Pinto AK. Impact of Obesity on Vaccination to SARS-CoV-2. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022;13:898810. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.898810. eCollection 2022. Review. PubMed PMID: 35795152; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9252434.

Geerling E, Hameed M, Weger-Lucarelli J, Pinto AK. Metabolic syndrome and aberrant immune responses to viral infection and vaccination: Insights from small animal models. Front Immunol. 2022;13:1015563. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1015563. eCollection 2022. Review. PubMed PMID: 36532060; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9747772.

Stone ET, Hassert M, Geerling E, Wagner C, Brien JD, Ebel GD, Hirsch AJ, German C, Smith JL, Pinto AK. Balanced T and B cell responses are required for immune protection against Powassan virus in virus-like particle vaccination. Cell Rep. 2022 Feb 15;38(7):110388. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110388. PubMed PMID: 35172138; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8919300.

Geerling E, Pinski AN, Stone TE, DiPaolo RJ, Zulu MZ, Maroney KJ, Brien JD, Messaoudi I, Pinto AK. Roles of antiviral sensing and type I interferon signaling in the restriction of SARS-CoV-2 replication. iScience. 2022 Jan 21;25(1):103553. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103553. Epub 2021 Dec 3. PubMed PMID: 34877479; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8639477.

Geerling E, Stone ET, Steffen TL, Hassert M, Brien JD, Pinto AK. Obesity Enhances Disease Severity in Female Mice Following West Nile Virus Infection. Front Immunol. 2021;12:739025. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.739025. eCollection 2021. PubMed PMID: 34531877; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8439568.

Hassert M, Steffen TL, Scroggins S, Coleman AK, Shacham E, Brien JD, Pinto AK. Prior Heterologous Flavivirus Exposure Results in Reduced Pathogenesis in a Mouse Model of Zika Virus Infection. J Virol. 2021 Jul 26;95(16):e0057321. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00573-21. Epub 2021 Jul 26. PubMed PMID: 34076486; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8312874.

Hassert M, Geerling E, Stone ET, Steffen TL, Feldman MS, Dickson AL, Class J, Richner JM, Brien JD, Pinto AK. mRNA induced expression of human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in mice for the study of the adaptive immune response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. PLoS Pathog. 2020 Dec;16(12):e1009163. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009163. eCollection 2020 Dec. PubMed PMID: 33326500; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7773324.

Pinto AK, Brien JD, Lam CY, Johnson S, Chiang C, Hiscott J, Sarathy VV, Barrett AD, Shresta S, Diamond MS. Defining New Therapeutics Using a More Immunocompetent Mouse Model of Antibody-Enhanced Dengue Virus Infection. mBio. 2015 Sep 15;6(5):e01316-15. doi: 10.1128/mBio.01316-15. PubMed PMID: 26374123; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4600115.