Faculty & Scientific Staff

Karen Cerosaletti

Karen Cerosaletti, PhD

Director, Center for Translational Immunology; Associate Member; Principal Investigator, Cerosaletti Lab
Cerosaletti Lab

Background Information

Dr. Cerosaletti received a bachelor’s degree in Biology from the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York. She worked in infectious disease research before obtaining her PhD in Immunology from the University of Rochester in 1990. After post-doctoral work in somatic cell genetics in the Molecular Medicine Program at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, she joined Benaroya Research Institute (BRI) in 1995. She is currently Director of the Center for Translational Immunology, Manager of the Genotyping Core, and an Associate Member at BRI.

Area of Research

Dr. Cerosaletti’s research is focused on the role of the adaptive immune system in the development and progression of immune mediated diseases and the response to treatment. Current research is examing the role of T cells in the development and progression of autoimmune type 1 diabetes (T1D) and the response to immunotherapy in T1D. The lab is identifying transcriptional and T cell receptor signatures of islet autoreactive CD4 T effector cells and regulatory T cells that are linked to disease course. Her lab is also examining the expansion of stem-like CD4 memory T cells in T1D which may serve as a reservoir of autoreactive T cells in T1D. Additionally, Dr. Cerosaletti has a longstanding research interest in the molecular genetics of immune disorders to establish functional links between genetic variants and alterations in the immune response leading to loss of tolerance, viral response, and response to therapy. Current work is focused on the impact of genetic variants in the response to peanut allergy immunotherapy.