Welcome Dr. Tiffany Hensley-McBain!

Dr. Tiffany Hensley-McBain has joined the McLaughlin Research Institute as an Assistant Professor!

Dr. Hensley-McBain was born in Great Falls and received her BS in Cell Biology and Neuroscience from Montana State University. She completed her PhD at the University of Washington in Molecular and Cellular Biology and continued postdoctoral studies at the University of Washington and the University of Miami. Her research has examined the mechanisms of gastrointestinal dysfunction in HIV and pathogenic SIV infection and potential therapeutic strategies to alleviate this dysfunction. Her prior work demonstrated new connections between intestinal microbiome alternations and immune perturbations in chronic viral infection and implicated new targets for alleviating intestinal inflammation.

Drawing on previous experience and expertise and integrating the multitude of available resources and mouse models at the McLaughlin Research Institute, the Dr. Hensley-McBain will focus on investigating the interconnected role of microbiome alterations and innate immune functionality in chronic diseases. Dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiome is linked to multiple chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, and neurodegenerative diseases. However, how commensal bacteria and microbiome alterations impact the gastrointestinal, peripheral, and CNS immune system, particularly the innate/inflammatory cells such neutrophils and macrophages, remains largely unexamined.

The goal of Dr. Hensley-McBain’s studies will be to elucidate the immune mediators that connect microbial dysbiosis to disease using mouse models and in vitro systems to inform targeted therapeutic approaches for chronic inflammatory conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases and chronic viral infections.

More about Dr. Hensley-McBain’s prior work and ongoing research projects can be found here.