Carolina Lucas
Assistant ProfessorDownloadHi-Res Photo
Cards
Appointments
Immunobiology
Primary
Additional Titles
Assistant Professor, Immunobiology
Affiliated Faculty, Center for Infection and Immunity
Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health
Contact Info
Appointments
Immunobiology
Primary
Additional Titles
Assistant Professor, Immunobiology
Affiliated Faculty, Center for Infection and Immunity
Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health
Contact Info
Appointments
Immunobiology
Primary
Additional Titles
Assistant Professor, Immunobiology
Affiliated Faculty, Center for Infection and Immunity
Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health
Contact Info
About
Titles
Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor, Immunobiology; Affiliated Faculty, Center for Infection and Immunity; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health
Biography
Carolina Lucas PhD is an Assistant Professor of Immunobiology and a member of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Yale University. She received her Ph.D. from UFRJ/ETH in Brazil and Switzerland and completed her postdoctoral training at Yale in Dr. Akiko Iwasaki Lab studying emerging virus pathogenesis, including Zika virus, CHIKV and SARS-CoV-2. The Lucas Lab is dedicated to understanding basic immune mechanisms necessary for controlling emerging viral infections and to lay the groundwork for new therapeutic approaches and vaccination strategies. Specifically, the lab explores immune responses following vaccination or infection that contribute to both resistance and disease tolerance mechanisms across different age groups.
Appointments
Immunobiology
Assistant ProfessorPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Center for Infection and Immunity
- Immunobiology
- Immunology
- Janeway Society
- Yale Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS)
Research
Overview
Medical Research Interests
Adaptive Immunity; Aging; DNA Virus Infections; Immunity; Immunity, Innate; Immunity, Mucosal; Infectious Disease Medicine; RNA Virus Infections; Virology
Public Health Interests
Aging; Emerging Infectious Diseases; Global Health
ORCID
0000-0003-4590-2756
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Frequent collaborators of Carolina Lucas's published research.
Publications Timeline
A big-picture view of Carolina Lucas's research output by year.
Research Interests
Research topics Carolina Lucas is interested in exploring.
Akiko Iwasaki, PhD
Albert Ko, MD
Nathan Grubaugh, PhD
Chantal Vogels, PhD
Inci Yildirim, MD, PhD, MSc
Benjamin Goldman-Israelow, MD/PhD
20Publications
723Citations
Adaptive Immunity
Immunity
Immunity, Innate
Publications
2023
Cytokinopathy with aberrant cytotoxic lymphocytes and profibrotic myeloid response in SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine–associated myocarditis
Barmada A, Klein J, Ramaswamy A, Brodsky N, Jaycox J, Sheikha H, Jones K, Habet V, Campbell M, Sumida T, Kontorovich A, Bogunovic D, Oliveira C, Steele J, Hall E, Pena-Hernandez M, Monteiro V, Lucas C, Ring A, Omer S, Iwasaki A, Yildirim I, Lucas C. Cytokinopathy with aberrant cytotoxic lymphocytes and profibrotic myeloid response in SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine–associated myocarditis. Science Immunology 2023, 8: eadh3455-eadh3455. PMID: 37146127, PMCID: PMC10468758, DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.adh3455.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsMRNA vaccinesSARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccinesSARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccinationC-reactive protein levelsB-type natriuretic peptidePeripheral blood mononuclear cellsCardiac tissue inflammationDeep immune profilingSerum soluble CD163Vaccine-associated myocarditisCohort of patientsBlood mononuclear cellsCytotoxic T cellsLate gadolinium enhancementHypersensitivity myocarditisElevated troponinMRNA vaccinationImaging abnormalitiesNK cellsImmune profilingKiller cellsMyeloid responseNatriuretic peptideHumoral mechanismsInflammatory cytokinesEnhanced inhibition of MHC-I expression by SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants
Moriyama M, Lucas C, Monteiro V, Initiative Y, Iwasaki A, Chen N, Breban M, Hahn A, Pham K, Koch T, Chaguza C, Tikhonova I, Castaldi C, Mane S, De Kumar B, Ferguson D, Kerantzas N, Peaper D, Landry M, Schulz W, Vogels C, Grubaugh N. Enhanced inhibition of MHC-I expression by SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2023, 120: e2221652120. PMID: 37036977, PMCID: PMC10120007, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2221652120.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsMHC-I expressionBreakthrough infectionsSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variantsMajor histocompatibility complex class I expressionCell-mediated immunityInfluenza virus infectionSARS-CoV-2 VOCsMHC-I upregulationClass I expressionSARS-CoV-2T cell recognitionVirus infectionMHC II expressionSpike proteinEnhanced inhibitionInfectionCell recognitionCommon mutationsReinfectionE proteinAntibodiesViral genesSubvariantsExpressionNonsystematic Reporting Biases of the SARS-CoV-2 Variant Mu Could Impact Our Understanding of the Epidemiological Dynamics of Emerging Variants
Petrone M, Lucas C, Menasche B, Breban M, Yildirim I, Campbell M, Omer S, Holmes E, Ko A, Grubaugh N, Iwasaki A, Wilen C, Vogels C, Fauver J. Nonsystematic Reporting Biases of the SARS-CoV-2 Variant Mu Could Impact Our Understanding of the Epidemiological Dynamics of Emerging Variants. Genome Biology And Evolution 2023, 15: evad052. PMID: 36974986, PMCID: PMC10113931, DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evad052.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricSARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines decouple anti-viral immunity from humoral autoimmunity
Jaycox J, Lucas C, Yildirim I, Dai Y, Wang E, Monteiro V, Lord S, Carlin J, Kita M, Buckner J, Ma S, Campbell M, Ko A, Omer S, Lucas C, Speake C, Iwasaki A, Ring A. SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines decouple anti-viral immunity from humoral autoimmunity. Nature Communications 2023, 14: 1299. PMID: 36894554, PMCID: PMC9996559, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36686-8.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsVaccine-associated myocarditisAutoimmune patientsAutoantibody reactivitySARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccinationVaccine-related adverse effectsSARS-CoV-2 immunitySARS-CoV-2 infectionAcute COVID-19Development of autoantibodiesCOVID-19 patientsAnti-viral immunityVirus-specific antibodiesCOVID-19 vaccineCOVID-19Humoral autoimmunityMRNA vaccinationAutoantibody responsePost vaccinationAutoantibody developmentAutoimmune diseasesHumoral responseHealthy individualsPatientsAntigen profilingAdverse effectsPolyvalent mRNA vaccination elicited potent immune response to monkeypox virus surface antigens
Fang Z, Monteiro V, Renauer P, Shang X, Suzuki K, Ling X, Bai M, Xiang Y, Levchenko A, Booth C, Lucas C, Chen S. Polyvalent mRNA vaccination elicited potent immune response to monkeypox virus surface antigens. Cell Research 2023, 33: 407-410. PMID: 36879038, PMCID: PMC9988199, DOI: 10.1038/s41422-023-00792-5.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricPD-1highCXCR5–CD4+ peripheral helper T cells promote CXCR3+ plasmablasts in human acute viral infection
Asashima H, Mohanty S, Comi M, Ruff W, Hoehn K, Wong P, Klein J, Lucas C, Cohen I, Coffey S, Lele N, Greta L, Raddassi K, Chaudhary O, Unterman A, Emu B, Kleinstein S, Montgomery R, Iwasaki A, Dela Cruz C, Kaminski N, Shaw A, Hafler D, Sumida T. PD-1highCXCR5–CD4+ peripheral helper T cells promote CXCR3+ plasmablasts in human acute viral infection. Cell Reports 2023, 42: 111895. PMID: 36596303, PMCID: PMC9806868, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111895.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsAcute viral infectionTph cellsViral infectionCXCR3 expressionClinical outcomesHelper TSevere viral infectionsB cell helpBetter clinical outcomesProtective humoral immunityT cell-B cell interactionsKey immune responsesPlasmablast expansionB cell differentiationCell subsetsHumoral immunityCell helpImmune responseInterferon γPlasmablast differentiationB cellsPlasmablastsCell responsesInfectionCD4
2022
Bivalent mRNA vaccine booster induces robust antibody immunity against Omicron lineages BA.2, BA.2.12.1, BA.2.75 and BA.5
Fang Z, Monteiro VS, Hahn AM, Grubaugh ND, Lucas C, Chen S. Bivalent mRNA vaccine booster induces robust antibody immunity against Omicron lineages BA.2, BA.2.12.1, BA.2.75 and BA.5. Cell Discovery 2022, 8: 108. PMID: 36220819, PMCID: PMC9552143, DOI: 10.1038/s41421-022-00473-4.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricDistinguishing features of Long COVID identified through immune profiling.
Klein J, Wood J, Jaycox J, Lu P, Dhodapkar RM, Gehlhausen JR, Tabachnikova A, Tabacof L, Malik AA, Kamath K, Greene K, Monteiro VS, Peña-Hernandez M, Mao T, Bhattacharjee B, Takahashi T, Lucas C, Silva J, Mccarthy D, Breyman E, Tosto-Mancuso J, Dai Y, Perotti E, Akduman K, Tzeng TJ, Xu L, Yildirim I, Krumholz HM, Shon J, Medzhitov R, Omer SB, van Dijk D, Ring AM, Putrino D, Iwasaki A. Distinguishing features of Long COVID identified through immune profiling. MedRxiv 2022 PMID: 35982667, DOI: 10.1101/2022.08.09.22278592.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchHeterotypic vaccination responses against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2
Fang Z, Peng L, Lucas C, Lin Q, Zhou L, Yang L, Feng Y, Ren P, Renauer PA, Monteiro VS, Hahn AM, Park JJ, Zhou X, Grubaugh N, Wilen C, Chen S. Heterotypic vaccination responses against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2. Cell Discovery 2022, 8: 69. PMID: 35853867, PMCID: PMC9295082, DOI: 10.1038/s41421-022-00435-w.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricNo evidence of fetal defects or anti-syncytin-1 antibody induction following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination
Lu-Culligan A, Tabachnikova A, Pérez-Then E, Tokuyama M, Lee HJ, Lucas C, Monteiro V, Miric M, Brache V, Cochon L, Muenker MC, Mohanty S, Huang J, Kang I, Dela Cruz C, Farhadian S, Campbell M, Yildirim I, Shaw AC, Ma S, Vermund SH, Ko AI, Omer SB, Iwasaki A. No evidence of fetal defects or anti-syncytin-1 antibody induction following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination. PLOS Biology 2022, 20: e3001506. PMID: 35609110, PMCID: PMC9129011, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001506.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsCOVID-19 mRNA vaccinationMRNA vaccinationEarly pregnancyFetal sizeCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mRNA vaccinationSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2Acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2Respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2Maternal antibody statusAdverse neonatal outcomesSyndrome coronavirus 2Birth defectsPolyinosinic-polycytidylic acidCrown-rump lengthGross birth defectsUnvaccinated adultsMaternal illnessNeonatal outcomesVaccinated adultsAntibody statusTLR3 agonistEarly immunizationMurine pregnancyAntibody inductionCoronavirus 2
News
News
- May 05, 2023Source: Stat News
What explains rare heart condition among young men after Covid vaccines? A new study offers clues
- June 16, 2022
Discoveries & Impact (June 2022)
- July 06, 2021Source: Yale News
Sex-specific Immune Response in COVID-19 Linked to Cellular Metabolism
- February 14, 2021
Researchers Connect Spinal Fluid Autoantibodies to Neurological Symptoms in COVID-19 Patients