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Biography

Dr. Shenoy received her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology with Departmental and College Honors from the University of Washington. She went on to pursue a PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) under the mentorship of Dr. Susan Lynch, a world-renowned expert in the human microbiome. Dr. Shenoy identified respiratory and intestinal microbial communities with unique metabolic capacities that co-associated with immune responses, morbidity, and mortality in HIV-infected patients with bacterial pneumonia. During this time, she was supported by three fellowships, including the UCSF Discovery Fellowship, which recognizes young scientists with a track-record of research excellence and community leadership. Subsequently, Dr. Shenoy pursued her postdoctoral studies under the mentorship of Dr. Meghan Koch, an expert in neonatal health and mucosal immunology, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, USA. Dr. Shenoy pioneered innovative methods for working with neonatal mice and their lactating mothers, to elucidate a novel role for microbiota-reactive IgG in promoting neonatal health. She discovered that ingestion of breastmilk IgG during the first of week of life directly calibrates host-microbiota mutualism in the neonatal intestine, priming healthy immune responses towards the developing microbiota and limiting intestinal morbidities later in life. For this work, Dr. Shenoy received a number of awards, recognizing the technical and conceptual innovations required to elucidate early life interactions between the offspring and its microbiome. In November 2024, Dr. Shenoy joined A*STAR-SIgN and started her research group, focusing on how maternal factors and environmental signals shape early life interactions between the microbiome and host immune system.

Main Appointments

• Principal Scientist, òòò½ÍøImmunology Network (SIgN, A*STAR, Singapore)

Research Focus

The mammalian host co-exists with trillions of microbes, not only tolerating them, but also reaping numerous benefits from their shared space. As such, mammals have evolved complex immune systems to mediate close interactions with the microbiota, maintaining a careful balance to benefit from microbial functionality while mitigating the inherent risks of living in close contact with other organisms. However, in early life, many of these mechanisms are not yet in place, presenting the question of how the immune system learns to generate healthy interactions with the microbiota during this critical period of development.

Two key factors in shaping early life mammalian immunity and host-microbiota mutualism are mother’s health during gestation and the acquisition of mother’s breastmilk following birth. In addition to nutrients and comfort, breastfeeding provides the offspring with immunological signals, including cytokines, antibodies, microbes, and even maternal immune cells. These same factors are also transferred during gestation and labor. A key goal of our group is to investigate how maternal cells and products, first antigen exposures, and environmental signals shape the development of the nascent microbiome, homeostatic immune responses, and lifelong health.

In turn, we are also interested in how the demands of childbearing shape maternal immunity, the microbiota, and long-term health. The female body, immune system, and microbiota undergo a vast array of changes over the course of a lifetime, and the process of gestation, lactation, and involution requires remarkable plasticity of female tissues and their functions. Despite being essential for life, the effects of these changes on female health and longevity are still poorly understood. We aim to define host-microbiota interactions in the context of childbearing and understand how this affects maternal health.

Lab Members

Publications