Catherine “Lynn” Hedrick, Ph.D. and her laboratory focus on the involvement of myeloid cells in cardiovascular disease, cancer, and the long-term vascular consequences of COVID-19. Specifically, they study monocytes and neutrophils, as these are white blood cells that rapidly respond to viral infections, tumor cells, and early vascular changes in cardiovascular disease. Recent work by her laboratory has shown that a distinct subclass of monocytes termed “nonclassical monocytes” fight tumor metastasis. These nonclassical monocytes also prevent long-term vascular perturbations in recovered COVID-19 patients. They use high-dimensional methods such as CyTOF mass cytometry and single-cell RNA-sequencing to characterize these processes and identify novel myeloid cell types that may be important in treating or preventing disease.
