Postdoctoral Fellows

Nelly Amenyogbe

Post Doctoral Fellow

Department of Microbiology & Immunology

Contact info

Email: nelly.amenyogbe@dal.ca

Address:

Canadian Centre for Vaccinology

IWK Health Centre

5980 University Ave 

4th floor Goldbloom Pavilion, R. 4017

Halifax, NS B3K 6R8

Research topics

Immune resilience in early life: Dr. Amenyogbe’s research is motivated by the observation that the outcome of an infection, or the response to a vaccination depends not only on the infectious microbe or type of vaccine, but on the immune fitness of the host that receives it – In other words, on immune resilience. Throughout our lifespan, pregnancy and the newborn period carry a heightened risk to suffer from severe infections, especially in low-resource settings where disease burden is the highest. However, understanding the determinants of immune resilience can deliver effective and affordable ways to prevent suffering from infectious disease.  Amenyogbe’s previous research showed how BCG, the vaccine against tuberculosis, reduces risk to die from newborn sepsis within days of being given. Current projects build on these initial observations to identify how host metabolism influences the immune response to infection, especially colostrum feeding for newborns, which may influence the efficacy of immune-targetting therapies. These research questions are answered using preclinical models, and multi-omics surveys of maternal and neonatal immune responses.

Education

BSc, Microbiology & Immunology, University of British Columbia, 2012

PhD, Experimental Medicine, University of British Columbia, 2020

Research Interests

Departmental:

Immunity

Inflammation

Vaccinology

Others

Neonatal sepsis

Gut microbiome

Non-specific effects of vaccines

Immune metabolism

Systems Biology

Selected pubs

Full bibliography on PubMed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1DGzc6AD01mcg1/bibliography/public/

Non-specific effects

Brook B, Harbeson DJ, Shannon CP, Cai B, He D, Ben-Othman R, Francis F, Huang J, Varankovich N, Liu A, Bao W, Bjerregaard-Andersen M, Schaltz-Buchholzer F, Sanca L, Golding CN, Larsen KL, Levy O, Kampmann B, Tan R, Charles A, Wynn JL, Shann F, Aaby P, Benn CS, Tebbutt SJ, Kollmann TR, Amenyogbe N. BCG vaccination-induced emergency granulopoiesis provides rapid protection from neonatal sepsis. Sci Transl Med. 2020 May 6;12(542). doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aax4517. PubMed PMID: 32376769; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8008103.

Benn CS, Amenyogbe N, Björkman A, Domínguez-Andrés J, Fish EN, Flanagan KL, Klein SL, Kollmann TR, Kyvik KO, Netea MG, Rod NH, Schaltz-Buchholzer F, Shann F, Selin L, Thysen SM, Aaby P. Implications of Non-Specific Effects for Testing, Approving, and Regulating Vaccines. Drug Saf. 2023 May;46(5):439-448. doi: 10.1007/s40264-023-01295-3. Epub 2023 Apr 19. PubMed PMID: 37074598; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10116894.

Microbiome & Immunity

Amenyogbe N, Dimitriu P, Cho P, Ruck C, Fortuno ES 3rd, Cai B, Alimenti A, Côté HCF, Maan EJ, Slogrove AL, Esser M, Marchant A, Goetghebuer T, Shannon CP, Tebbutt SJ, Kollmann TR, Mohn WW, Smolen KK. Innate Immune Responses and Gut Microbiomes Distinguish HIV-Exposed from HIV-Unexposed Children in a Population-Specific Manner. J Immunol. 2020 Nov 15;205(10):2618-2628. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2000040. Epub 2020 Oct 16. PubMed PMID: 33067377; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7653510.

Amenyogbe N, Dimitriu P, Smolen KK, Brown EM, Shannon CP, Tebbutt SJ, Cooper PJ, Marchant A, Goetghebuer T, Esser M, Finlay BB, Kollmann TR, Mohn WW. Biogeography of the Relationship between the Child Gut Microbiome and Innate Immune System. mBio. 2021 Jan 12;12(1). doi: 10.1128/mBio.03079-20. PubMed PMID: 33436437; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7845628.

Amenyogbe N, Adu-Gyasi D, Enuameh Y, Asante KP, Konadu DG, Kaali S, Dosoo D, Panigrahi P, Kollmann TR, Mohn WW, Owusu-Agyei S. Bacterial and Fungal Gut Community Dynamics Over the First 5 Years of Life in Predominantly Rural Communities in Ghana. Front Microbiol. 2021;12:664407. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.664407. eCollection 2021. PubMed PMID: 34295315; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8290483.

Awards and honours (Funding)

2023-Sep (PI): Research Excellence, Diversity, and Inclusion Early Career Transition Award

Grant title: Fuel for Survival: metabolic interventions to prevent neonatal sepsis

Value: 660K over 6 years; Funding Source: Canadian Institutes of Health Research

2023-Sep (PI): Donald Hill Fellowship at Dalhousie University

Grant title: Fuelling Survival: preventing newborn sepsis with metabolic interventions

Value :$65K CAD Salary per year for 3 years; Funding Source: Donald Hill Family Foundation

2022-Jan (PI): Raine Priming Fellowship

Grant title: Harnessing innate immune metabolism to save newborns from infectious death

Value: 242,793 AUD over 2 years; Funding Source: Raine Medical Foundation

Other interests

Teaching coding and informatics to students in HIC and LMIC

Going the distance: former competitive runner!

Collaborations

·        Optimmunize (executive member): Scientists investigating non-specific vaccine effects and their impact on child health

·        Bandim Health Project (honorary member): Epidemiological research station in Guinea-Bissau investigating Non-specific effects of vaccines [www.bandim.org]

·        Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC): Kintampo, Ghana: partnering to find ways to improve newborn and maternal health using low-cost feasible interventions [kintampo-hrc.org]

·        MRC Unit in The Gambia: Partnering to better understand the relationship between the gut microbiome and neonatal health

Social Media

X: @nelly_amenyogbe

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nelly-amenyogbe-a26bb779/