Kibrom Alula, PhD

Professional Titles

• Research Scientist

Recognitions

• Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI), University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (2024)
• Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation Research Fellows Award (CCF), Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation (2022)
• Center for Mucosal Immunology in Rheumatic Disease (CMIR) Microgrant Award, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (2022)
• Gastrointestinal & Liver Physiology Recognition Award, American Physiological Society (2022)
• APS Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant Award, American Physiological Society (2021)
• DDW poster presentation with distinction award, American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) (2021)
• Experimental Biology APS Travel Award, American Physiological Society (2019)
• Experimental Biology APS Minority travel Award, American Physiological Society (2017)
• Experimental Biology ASPET travel award, American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (2016)
• Outstanding Student Award in recognition of exceptional academic achievement in Cell & Molecular Biology, Grand Valley State University (2012)
• Graduate Dean’s Citation for Academic Excellence in the Cell & Molecular Biology Major, Grand Valley State University (2012)
• Cell & Molecular Biology Department Outstanding Graduate Student Award for Academic & Scholarly Excellence, Grand Valley State University (2012)
• Outstanding Poster Presentation at the Graduate Showcase, Grand Valley State University (2012)
• Outstanding poster presentation at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), ABRCMS (2011)
• International student scholarship award, Grand Valley State University (2010)
• International student scholarship award, Grand Valley State University (2009)
• Dean’s list for Pre-med study, Grand Valley State University (2009)
• Won “Make Your Mark” scholarship essay competition, Grand Valley State University (2008)
• Dean’s list for Pre-med study, Grand Valley State University (2008)

Research Interests

My research focuses on understanding how regulatory T cells (Tregs) can be harnessed to mitigate inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by modulating the unfolded protein response (UPR) pathways. I leverage data-driven analyses to generate insights that guide this work.

Publications

• Presented in the "CCTSI Pediatric Research Poster Session" held on June 21, 2024 from 12-2pm at the Princeton/Yale Conference room.
• Alula KM, Delgado-Deida Y, Callahan R, Till A, Underwood L, Thompson WE, Souza RF, Dassopoulos T, Onyiah J, Venuprasad K, Theiss AL. Inner mitochondrial membrane protein Prohibitin 1 mediates Nix-induced, Parkin-independent mitophagy. Sci Rep. 2023 Jan 2;13(1):18. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-26775-x. PMID: 36593241; PMCID: PMC9807637.
• Kibrom Alula Alexander Dowdell Joseph Lee Sean Colgan Arianne Theiss DOI:https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2023.03.120
• Alula KM, Theiss AL. Autophagy in Crohn's Disease: Converging on Dysfunctional Innate Immunity. Cells. 2023 Jul 4;12(13):1779. doi: 10.3390/cells12131779. PMID: 37443813; PMCID: PMC10341259.
• Amo-Aparicio J, Dominguez A, Atif SM, Dinarello A, Azam T, Alula KM, Piper M, Lieu CH, Lentz RW, Leal AD, Bagby SM, Messersmith WA, Karam SD, Dinarello CA, Pitts TM, Marchetti C. Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Cells Regulate NLRP3 Activation to Generate a Tolerogenic Microenvironment. Cancer Res Commun. 2023 Sep 20;3(9):1899-1911. doi: 10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-23-0065. PMID: 37772994; PMCID: PMC10510589.
• Collins CB, Nguyen TT, Leddy RS, Alula KM, Yeckes AR, Strassheim D, Aherne CM, Luck ME, Karoor V, Jedlicka P, Pierce A, de Zoeten EF. Heat shock factor 1 drives regulatory T cell induction to limit murine intestinal inflammation. Mucosal Immunol. 2023 Nov 7:S1933-0219(23)00086-7. doi: 10.1016/j.mucimm.2023.11.003. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37944754.
• Alula, K.M., Dowdell, A.S., LeBere, B. et al. Interplay of gut microbiota and host epithelial mitochondrial dysfunction is necessary for the development of spontaneous intestinal inflammation in mice. Microbiome 11, 256 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-023-01686-9
• Alula KM, Delgado-Deida Y, Jackson DN, Venuprasad K, Theiss AL. Nuclear partitioning of Prohibitin 1 inhibits Wnt/ß-catenin-dependent intestinal tumorigenesis. Oncogene. 2021 Jan;40(2):369-383. PubMed PMID: 33144683
• Jackson DN, Alula KM, Delgado-Deida Y, Tabti R, Turner K, Wang X, Venuprasad K, Souza RF, Désaubry L, Theiss AL. The Synthetic Small Molecule FL3 Combats Intestinal Tumorigenesis via Axin1-Mediated Inhibition of Wnt/ß-Catenin Signaling. Cancer Res. 2020 Sep 1;80(17):3519-3529. PubMed PMID: 32665357
• Alula KM, Biltz R, Xu H, Garver H, Laimon-Thomson EL, Fink GD, Galligan JJ. Effects of high-fat diet on sympathetic neurotransmission in mesenteric arteries from Dahl salt-sensitive rat. Auton Neurosci. 2019 Dec;222:102599. PubMed PMID: 31731103
• Impact of g-Load Shift on Temporal Expression Pattern of Apoptosis-linked Proteins in the Rat Mammary Gland. KM Alula, JH Resau, OV Patel - Gravitational & Space Research, 2019
• Chronic Exposure to Altered Gravity During the Pregnancy-to-Lactation Transition Affects Abundance of Cytoskeletal Proteins in the Rat Mammary Gland. KM Alula, JH Resau, OV Patel - Gravitational & Space Research, 2018
• Gebremedhin KG, Rademacher DJ. Histone H3 acetylation in the postmortem Parkinson's disease primary motor cortex. Neurosci Lett. 2016 Aug 3;627:121-5. PubMed PMID: 27241718
• Collier TJ, O'Malley J, Rademacher DJ, Stancati JA, Sisson KA, Sortwell CE, Paumier KL, Gebremedhin KG, Steece-Collier K. Interrogating the aged striatum: robust survival of grafted dopamine neurons in aging rats produces inferior behavioral recovery and evidence of impaired integration. Neurobiol Dis. 2015 May;77:191-203. PubMed PMID: 25771169
• Title: Regulation of Intestinal Regulatory T Cells via Stress Response Pathways Submitted to the "International Reviews of Immunology" journal.
• Celastrol, an HSF1 activator, enhances Treg function and reduces intestinal inflammation (In prep)
• Pharmacologic activation of IRE1/XBP1s and PERK enhances Treg function in C57BL/6 mouse gut (In prep)