Department of Immunology

Ram Savan, Ph.D.

PROFESSOR, IMMUNOLOGY

Dr. Ram Savan received his Ph.D. in 2004 from Kagoshima University in Japan. He completed postdoctoral training in the Laboratory of Experimental Immunology at the National Cancer Institute in 2011. He joined the Department of Immunology as an Assistant Professor in 2011 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2017, and promoted to full Professor in 2023.

 

CONTACT

Department of Immunology
University of Washington
Office E307, Box 358059
750 Republican Street
Seattle WA 98109-8059
Phone: 206-221-5141
Fax: 206-685-7120

RESEARCH AREAS

Molecular Immunology
Innate Immunity

LAB MEMBERS

Graduate Students

Skyler Niemeyer, slg13@uw.edu
Rachel Van Gelder, rachelvg@uw.edu

Postdoctoral Fellows

Clinton D’Souza, lcdsouza@uw.edu
Nandan Gokhale, ngokhale@uw.edu
Gargi Mishra, gargim@uw.edu

LAB

Website for the Ram Laboratory

ACCEPTING NEW STUDENTS: YES

PUBMED

View publication list

RESEARCH

We study human genetic variations and RNA-regulatory mechanisms to gain insights into the heterogeneity in immune responses against viral infections. Our main interest is to identify functional variants found in the coding and non-coding regions that determine susceptibility or resistance to life-threatening viral infections. We utilize inter-disciplinary approaches including human-genetics, comparative immunology, biochemical and molecular biology to investigate how genetic variations can influence virus clearance. The areas of current interests are mRNA splicing induced immune diversity, mRNA translation control, and role of non-coding RNA in pathogen sensing. Our work provides basic insights into immunological mechanisms and discovery of new targets for drug development against pathogens.

PUBLICATIONS

  1. So L, Obata-Ninomiya K, Hu A, Muir VS, Takamori A, Song J, Buckner JH, Savan R, Ziegler SF. Regulatory T cells suppress CD4+ effector T cell activation by controlling protein synthesis. J Exp Med. 2023 Mar 6;220(3):e20221676. doi: https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20221676
  2. Soveg FW, Schwerk J, Gokhale NS, Cerosaletti K, Smith JR, Pairo-Castineira E, Kell AM, Forero A, Zaver SA, Esser-Nobis K, Roby JA, Hsiang T-Y, Ozarkar S, Clingan JM, McAnarney ET, Stone AEL, Malhotra U, Speake C, Perez J, Balu C, Allenspach EJ, Hyde JL, Menachery VD, Sarkar SN, Woodward JJ, Stetson DB, Baillie K, Buckner JH, Gale M Jr, and Savan R. (2021) Endomembrane targeting of human OAS1 p46 augments antiviral activity. Elife. Aug 3;10:e71047. doi: 10.7554/elife.71047
  3. Schwerk J, Soveg FW, Ryan AP, Thomas KR, Hatfield LD, Ozarkar S, Forero A, Kell AM, Roby JA, So L, Hyde JL, Gale M Jr, Daugherty MD, Savan R. RNA-binding protein isoforms ZAP-S and ZAP-L have distinct antiviral and immune resolution functions. Nat Immunol. 2019 Dec;20(12):1610-1620.
  4. Forero A, Ozarkar S, Li H, Lee CH, Hemann EA, Nadjsombati MS, Hendricks MR, So L, Green R, Roy CN, Sarkar SN, von Moltke J, Anderson SK, Gale M Jr, Savan R. Differential Activation of the Transcription Factor IRF1 Underlies the Distinct Immune Responses Elicited by Type I and Type III Interferons. Immunity. 2019 Sep 17;51(3):451-464.e6.
  5. Hemann EA, Green R, Turnbull JB, Langlois RA, Savan R, Gale M Jr. Interferon-λ modulates dendritic cells to facilitate T cell immunity during infection with influenza A virus. Nat Immunol. 2019 Aug;20(8):1035-1045.
  6. Joslyn RC, Forero A, Green R, Parker SE, Savan R. Long Noncoding RNA Signatures Induced by Toll-Like Receptor 7 and Type I Interferon Signaling in Activated Human Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells. J Interferon Cytokine Res. 2018 Sep;38(9):388-405.
  7. Jarret A, McFarland AP, Horner SM, Kell A, Schwerk J, Hong M, Badil S, Joslyn RC, Baker DP, Carrington M, Hagedorn CH, Gale M Jr, Savan R. Hepatitis-C-virus-induced microRNAs dampen interferon-mediated antiviral signaling. Nat Med. 2016 Dec;22(12):1475-1481.
  8. Hong M, Schwerk J, Lim C, Kell A, Jarret A, Pangallo J, Loo YM, Liu S, Hagedorn CH, Gale M Jr, Savan R. Interferon lambda 4 expression is suppressed by the host during viral infection. J Exp Med. 2016 Nov 14;213(12):2539-2552.
  9. Lim C, Hong M, Savan R. Human IL-22 binding protein isoforms act as a rheostat for IL-22 signaling. Sci Signal. 2016 Sep 27;9(447):ra95.
  10. McFarland AP, Horner SM, Jarret A, Joslyn RC, Bindewald E, Shapiro BA, Delker DA, Hagedorn CH, Carrington M, Gale M Jr, Savan R. The favorable IFNL3 genotype escapes mRNA decay mediated by AU-rich elements and hepatitis C virus-induced microRNAs. Nat Immunol. 2014 Jan;15(1):72-9.
  11. Kulkarni S, Savan R, Qi Y, Gao X, Yuki Y, Bass SE, Martin MP, Hunt P, Deeks SG, Telenti A, Pereyra F, Goldstein D, Wolinsky S, Walker B, Young HA, Carrington M. Differential microRNA regulation of HLA-C expression and its association with HIV control. Nature. 2011 Apr 28;472(7344):495-8.
  12. Savan R, McFarland AP, Reynolds DA, Feigenbaum L, Ramakrishnan K, Karwan M, Shirota H, Klinman DM, Dunleavy K, Pittaluga S, Anderson SK, Donnelly RP, Wilson WH, Young HA. A novel role for IL-22R1 as a driver of inflammation. Blood. 2011 Jan 13;117(2):575-84.
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