Konstantina Alexandropoulos, PhD

Konstantina Alexandropoulos, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Department of Medicine/Division of Clinical Immunology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Head of the T-cell-mediated Autoimmunity and Inflammation Laboratory. Research in the laboratory focuses on understanding the mechanisms that regulate T cell tolerance and how disturbances in this process result in organ-specific autoimmunity. The laboratory has uncovered mechanisms that regulate T cell tolerance through elimination of autoreactive T cells in the thymus, as well as tolerogenic mechanisms that supress self-reactive T cells in peripheral organs. Ongoing collaborative projects are exploring how the gut microbiota regulates T cell self-reactivity and inflammation in the liver and colon. Studies in preclinical mouse models and human specimens are in progress to identify immune cell profiles that promote development of liver and colon autoimmune diseases, elucidate the mechanisms of disease pathogenesis and develop strategies to combat organ-specific autoimmune inflammation.