ANA-MARIA DRAGOI LAB

ANNOUNCEMENT- June, 2024
Ana-Maria Dragoi, MD, PhD was awarded an R01 grant totaling $1,788,500 over five years from the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for her project "Mechanism of macrophages colonization in gonorrhea." Funding from the NIH will allow Dr. Dragoi to study how Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that causes the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea, interacts with the immune system and avoids natural immune responses. Macrophages are white blood cells that play an important role in our immune system to detect and fight off disease. Understanding the relationship between the gonorrhea bacteria and the macrophages of the immune system is important to identify new ways to combat and treat gonorrhea, which is an urgent public health concern due to rising antibiotic resistance.

MAJOR PROJECTS:

Cancer research

1. Investigation into the mechanisms by which FLASH contributes to EMT.
2. Study on how tumor microenvironment shapes the EMT-TFs functions.

Host-pathogen interaction research

1. Transcriptional reprogramming of macrophages and N.g during bacterial replication in macrophages.     
2. The role of macrophages as a replicative niche for N.g during infection in vivo.
    

Reneau Youngblood

Maria Juarez Rodriguez, PhD

Nilu Dhungel

1. Abshire CF, Carroll JL, Dragoi AM.* “FLASH protects ZEB1 from degradation and supports cancer cells epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.” Oncogenesis, 2016 Aug 15;5(8):e254. PMCID: PMC5007829
2. Mohyeldin MM, Akl MR, Ebrahim HY, Dragoi AM, Dykes S, Cardelli JA, El Sayed KA. “The oleocanthal-based homovanillyl sinapate as a novel c-Met inhibitor.” Oncotarget. 2016 May 31;7(22):32247-73. 
3. Abu-Fayyad A, Kamal MM, Carroll JL, Dragoi AM, Cody R, Cardelli J, Nazzal S. Development and in-vitro characterization of nanoemulsions loaded with paclitaxel/γ-tocotrienol lipid conjugates. Int J Pharm. 2018 Jan 30;536(1):146-157. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2017.11.062. 
4. Senchenkova EY, Ansari J, Becker F, Vital SA, Al-Yafeai Z, Sparkenbaugh EM, Pawlinski R, Stokes KY, Carroll JL, Dragoi AM, Qin CX, Ritchie RH, Sun H, Cuellar-Saenz HH, Rubinstein MR, Han YW, Orr AW, Perretti M, Granger DN, Gavins FNE. Novel Role for the AnxA1-Fpr2/ALX Signaling Axis as a Key Regulator of Platelet Function to Promote Resolution of Inflammation. Circulation. 2019 Jul 23;140(4):319-335. 
5. Ivanov SS*, Youngblood R, Circu Magdalena, Dragoi AM*. “Neisseria gonorrhoeae subverts formin-dependent actin polymerization to colonize human macrophages”. bioRxiv. 2021 Jan 20:2021.01.20.427361. doi: 10.1101/2021.01.19.427361 (*, co-corresponding authors)
    

Post-doctoral Fellows

While we are not currently recruiting Post-doctoral Fellows, quality candidates will always be considered.  To enquire about opportunities, contact Dr. Dragoi at anamaria.dragoi@lsuhs.edu.

Graduate Students

Graduate students interested in conducting research in the Dragoi lab should review the current laboratory research directions and contact Dr. Dragoi at anamaria.dragoi@lsuhs.edu.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

We are not currently hiring any additional undergraduates. However, positions can become available during the summer.

Medical Students, Residents, and Fellows

The Dragoi laboratory has a number of research projects available for any Medical Students, Residents, and Fellows. Those interested in learning more about research opportunities in the Dragoi lab should contact Dr. Dragoi directly at anamaria.dragoi@lsuhs.edu.