معرفی
Krystal Vail, DVM, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Tulane University. Her research focuses on host-pathogen interactions, particularly the role of the LRRK2 kinase in innate immunity and neuroinflammation caused by bacterial and viral infections. She holds dual doctoral degrees from Tuskegee University (DVM) and Texas A&M University (PhD in Biomedical Sciences).
Research interests include understanding how pathogens like Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Listeria monocytogenes interact with host immune pathways, and how peripheral infections influence the central nervous system. Current projects investigate LRRK2’s role in antiviral immunity using SIV as an HIV model, and the FMRP protein’s role in bacterial infection responses. The Vail Lab is based at the Tulane National Primate Research Center.
Funding: NIH ORIP grant supports studies on LRRK2’s role in HIV/SIV immunity. Lab members include Medical Research Technician Brittany Macha. Contact: kvail1@tulane.edu at 18703 Three Rivers Road, Covington LA.
Publications span topics from mycobacterial pathogenesis to anesthesiology in amphibians, reflecting expertise in comparative pathology and translational immunology.
