H. Marie Lacy, PhD
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Phone: (501) 364-2471

Dr. Lacy's research focuses on immune responses in Chlamydia trachomatis eye infections. C. trachomatis is a bacterium that causes trachoma, a chronic inflammatory ocular disease, which is the leading cause of preventable blindness in the world. Literally, millions of people have C. trachomatis ocular infections, mainly in underdeveloped countries where environmental sanitation is poor. An individual's immune system can clear a chlamydial eye infection, but immunity is not long lasting. Repeat infections can occur, and it is the repeated infections that produce chronic inflammation, tissue scarring, and eventual blindness.

The immune system is composed of two major subdivisions, the innate and the adaptive immune responses. Research on chlamydial ocular infections has shown that the adaptive response—including the humoral (antibodies) and the cell-mediated responses (T lymphocytes)—is required to resolve an infection. However, the role of the innate immune system has not been well defined. The overall goal of Dr. Lacy's research is to define and characterize the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which the innate immune system clears a chlamydial infection, regulates the adaptive immune response, and produces pathology in chlamydial ocular infections.

Lacy HM, Gunnell MG, Laurenzana EM, Owens SM. Engineering and characterization of a mouse/human chimeric anti-phencyclidine monoclonal antibody. Int Immunopharmacol 2008, 8(1):1-11.

Zent CS, Chen JB, Kurten RC, Kaushal GP, Lacy HM, Schichman SA. Alemtuzumab (CAMPATH 1H) does not kill chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells in serum free medium. Leuk Res 2004, 28:495-507.

Lacy HM, Sanderson RD. 6xHis promotes binding of a recombinant protein to heparan sulfate. Biotechniques 2002, 32:254-258.

Lacy HM, Sanderson RD. Sperm protein 17 is expressed on normal and malignant lymphocytes and promotes heparan sulfate-mediated cell-cell adhesion. Blood 2001, 98:2160-2165.

Dhodapkar MV, Abe E, Theus A, Lacy M, Langford JK, Barlogie B, Sanderson RD. Syndecan-1 is a multifunctional regulator of myeloma pathobiology: Control of tumor cell survival, growth and bone cell differentiation. Blood 1998, 91:2679-2688.

CUMG – Principal Investigator: "The role of polymorphonuclear neutrophils in regulating adaptive immune responses to Chlamydial infections"