Justin Moroney
Ph.D. Student
My research focuses on the transcriptional identity of human memory B cells and its intersect with epigenetic regulatory mechanisms mediated by chromatin remodeling and non-coding RNAs. In turn, these molecular processes shape the functionality and phenotype of switched memory B cells and contribute to human health and disease. By understanding the critical factors involved in the functionality and persistence of human memory B cells, we believe we can leverage these findings to improve vaccine efficacy and durability and thus significantly impact human health.
Education
B.S., University of Pittsburgh
Awards
2017 Selected for oral presentation at the 6th Annual Vaccine Development Center of San AntonioConference
2018 Awarded first place oral presentation at the 2018 Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics Annual Retreat Conference
2018 Awarded a T32 slot position in the Graduate Research in Immunology Program (GRIP) (NIH T32 AI138944)
2018 Selected for oral presentation at the 7th Annual Vaccine Development Center of San AntonioConference
2019 Selected for oral presentation at AAI’s Immunology 2019, San Diego, CA
2019 Awarded for 2019 AAI Trainee Abstract Travel Award
2019 Awarded for Spring 2019 MIMG Department Travel Award
2019 Re-awarded T32 trainee slot in the Graduate Research in Immunology Program (GRIP) (NIH T32 AI138944)
2019 Awarded position in UT Health’s Interprofessional Leadership Programs
2020 Conference assistant at the B cell Keystone conference 2020, Banff, Canada
2020 Awarded B cell Keystone symposia Travel Award
2020 Selected for oral presentation at AAI’s Immunology 2020, Honolulu, HI
2020 Awarded 2020 AAI Trainee Abstract Travel Award
2020 Awarded for Spring 2020 MIMG Department Travel Award
2020 Awarded for Spring 2020 GSBS Travel Award
Publications
Moroney, Justin & Vasudev, Anusha & Pertsemlidis, Alexander & Zan, Hong & Casali, Paolo. (2020). Integrative analysis of coding, non-coding transcriptome and chromatin accessibility reveals a distinct gene expression and epigenetic landscape in human memory B cells. Nat. Commun.In Review.
Yan, Hui & Fernandez, Maria & Wang, Jingwei & Wu, Shuai & Wang, Rui & Lou, Zheng & Moroney, Justin & Rivera, Carlos & Taylor, Julia & Gan, Huoqun & Zan, Hong & Kolvaskyy, Dmytro & Liu, Dongfang & Casali, Paolo & Xu, Zhenming. (2020). B Cell Endosomal RAB7 Promotes TRAF6 K63 Polyubiquitination and NF-κB Activation for Antibody Class-Switching. The Journal of Immunology. ji1901170. 10.4049/jimmunol.1901170.
Sanchez, Helia & Moroney, Justin & Gan, Huoqun & Shen, Tian & Im, John & Li, Tianbao & Taylor, Julia & Zan, Hong & Casali, Paolo. (2020). B cell-intrinsic epigenetic modulation of antibody responses by dietary fiber-derived short-chain fatty acids. Nature Communications. 11. 10.1038/s41467-019-13603-6.
Hsu, Shu-Hao & Delgado, Evan & Otero, Anthony & Teng, Kun-yu & Kutay, Huban & Meehan, Kolin & Moroney, Justin & Monga, Jappmann & Hand, Nicholas & Friedman, Joshua & Ghoshal, Kalpana & Duncan, Andrew. (2016). MicroRNA-122 Regulates Polyploidization in the Murine Liver. Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.). 64. 10.1002/hep.28573.