About

Amy E Baxter, D.Phil, is a Research Assistant Professor of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. She serves as the Director of Research and Development in Immune Health within the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics. Her research expertise encompasses immune oncology, immunology, and virology, with a focus on understanding how the immune system responds to persistent threats such as chronic viral infections and tumor cells. Baxter's work aims to define immune diversity in large populations, investigating how immune health changes over time and how it impacts responses to cancer, infection, autoimmune conditions, and therapeutics. Her laboratory employs cutting-edge technologies to characterize immune responses, contributing to the advancement of immune health research.

Research topics

• Immunology
• Medicine
• Biology
• Virology
• Pathology
• Genetics
• Computer Science
• Internal medicine
• Computational biology

Selected publications

• Serotonin reduction in post-acute sequelae of viral infection

  Cell · 2023 · 352 citations

  • Biology
  • Virology
  • Immunology
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Signaling Through FcγRIIA and the C5a-C5aR Pathway Mediate Platelet Hyperactivation in COVID-19

  Frontiers in Immunology · 2022 · 54 citations

  • Medicine
  • Immunology
  • Internal medicine

  platelet activation. Mechanistically, blocking the signaling of the FcγRIIa-Syk and C5a-C5aR pathways on platelets, using antibody-mediated neutralization, IgG depletion or the Syk inhibitor fostamatinib, reversed this hyperactivity driven by COVID-19 plasma and prevented platelet aggregation in endothelial microfluidic chamber conditions. These data identified these potentially actionable pathways as central for platelet activation and/or vascular complications and clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients. In conclusion, we reveal a key role of platelet-mediated immunothrombosis in COVID-19 and identify distinct, clinically relevant, targetable signaling pathways that mediate this effect.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• mRNA vaccines induce durable immune memory to SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern

  Science · 2021 · 929 citations

  • Immunology
  • Biology
  • Virology

  T cell responses correlated with long-term humoral immunity. Recall responses to vaccination in individuals with preexisting immunity primarily increased antibody levels without substantially altering antibody decay rates. Together, these findings demonstrate robust cellular immune memory to SARS-CoV-2 and its variants for at least 6 months after mRNA vaccination.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• CD8+ T cells contribute to survival in patients with COVID-19 and hematologic cancer

  Nature Medicine · 2021 · 512 citations

  • Medicine
  • Immunology
  • Internal medicine
  DOI

• Comprehensive mapping of immune perturbations associated with severe COVID-19

  Science Immunology · 2020 · 799 citations

  • Biology
  • Virology
  • Immunology

  Although critical illness has been associated with SARS-CoV-2-induced hyperinflammation, the immune correlates of severe COVID-19 remain unclear. Here, we comprehensively analyzed peripheral blood immune perturbations in 42 SARS-CoV-2 infected and recovered individuals. We identified extensive induction and activation of multiple immune lineages, including T cell activation, oligoclonal plasmablast expansion, and Fc and trafficking receptor modulation on innate lymphocytes and granulocytes, that distinguished severe COVID-19 cases from healthy donors or SARS-CoV-2-recovered or moderate severity patients. We found the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio to be a prognostic biomarker of disease severity and organ failure. Our findings demonstrate broad innate and adaptive leukocyte perturbations that distinguish dysregulated host responses in severe SARS-CoV-2 infection and warrant therapeutic investigation.

  DOI

• Deep immune profiling of COVID-19 patients reveals distinct immunotypes with therapeutic implications

  Science · 2020 · 1652 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Virology
  • Biology

  Immune profiling of COVID-19 patients Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected millions of people globally, yet how the human immune system responds to and influences COVID-19 severity remains unclear. Mathew et al. present a comprehensive atlas of immune modulation associated with COVID-19. They performed high-dimensional flow cytometry of hospitalized COVID-19 patients and found three prominent and distinct immunotypes that are related to disease severity and clinical parameters. Arunachalam et al. report a systems biology approach to assess the immune system of COVID-19 patients with mild-to-severe disease. These studies provide a compendium of immune cell information and roadmaps for potential therapeutic interventions. Science , this issue p. eabc8511 , p. 1210

  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• E. John Wherry

  University of Pennsylvania

  276 shared

• Josephine R. Giles

  University of Pennsylvania

  202 shared

• Laura A. Vella

  Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

  110 shared

• Divij Mathew

  University of Pennsylvania

  110 shared

• Jennifer E. Wu

  Translational Therapeutics (United States)

  109 shared

• Allison R. Greenplate

  Translational Therapeutics (United States)

  97 shared

• Oliva Kuthuru

  University of Pennsylvania

  79 shared

• Zeyu Chen

  Shenyang University

  78 shared

Labs

• Systems Pharmacology and Translational TherapeuticsPI

Education

• D.Phil, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology

  University of Oxford

  2013

• B.A. M.Sci, Natural Sciences (Biochemistry)

  University of Cambridge

  2009

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