Studying the Immunological Implications of Lactate

Nikita Mani, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Samuel Weinberg, ’19 MD, ’19 PhD, assistant professor of Pathology in the Division of Experimental Pathology. 

After studying physiology and neurobiology at the University of Maryland, Mani came to Feinberg to complete her PhD in the Driskill Graduate Program. Now, she continues her thesis work and studies the immunological implications of lactate, which can be found in high level tumors and virus-infected lungs. 

Where is your hometown?  

I was born in Denmark but then moved with my family to the US when I was five or six, first to Maryland and then to Connecticut. I also ended up going back down to University of Maryland for undergrad and then back up to Connecticut to work as a research assistant at Yale, so both states are home to me. 

What led you to Northwestern?  

I came here for grad school – I was actually in DGP in Deyu Fang’s lab in Pathology and defended last year. One of the bigger reasons I chose Northwestern for grad school was because Chicago felt like a much more financially supportive city for a grad student than other cities I was looking at (i.e. northeast coast cities) while maintaining highly competitive research. I ended up staying at Northwestern to do my postdoc with Sam Weinberg also in Pathology because the work I’m doing in his lab is exciting and transitioned well from my thesis work. 

What are you currently working on?  

In the Weinberg lab I’m exploring the mechanisms behind how lactate, which can be found in high levels in a lot of inflammatory contexts like tumors and virus-infected lungs, seems to strengthen the activity of a certain subset of T-cells called regulatory T-cells. These cells, which are normally supposed to help prevent autoimmunity, get co-opted to effectively block our immune responses to the diseases and thereby exacerbate symptoms and disease progression. If we can find the specific pathways that connect lactate directly to this phenotype, then others can use that information to develop more specific and effective immunotherapeutics. It’s been really exciting to work on this because as a grad student I discovered that immunometabolism is a relatively new but flourishing area of research and now I get to explore it more deeply and help drive this field forward. 

How does your work support the research enterprise at Feinberg?  

Well, I conduct research, and now as a postdoc, and especially due to the current financial climate, I’ve been writing as many grants as possible to try to support the infrastructure of our lab and research. I’m also an active member of my department and of the Center for Human Immunobiology (CHI) and just generally try help other researchers, especially other trainees, wherever I can. 

Why do you enjoy working at Northwestern? 

Northwestern has been my home for eight years and I’ve grown significantly as a scientist, mentor, and person in general because of the community here that has challenged and supported me through every phase. I’m excited to see what my next chapter as a postdoc brings.