Information

Related Research Units

Infectious Diseases Research

Research Overview

Dr. Moffitt’s research focuses on bacterial pathogenesis and host interactions with common human pathogens such as Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus. Her work has identified several novel pneumococcal proteins that confer protection against colonization of the nasopharynx and may be candidate components of a pneumococcal protein subunit vaccine. To study these proteins, she is investigating their interaction with the host immune system, specifically the role of activation of the innate immune system in acquisition of protective adaptive immune responses. Dr. Moffitt’s work also investigates bacterial RNA expression profiles in human infection. The overall goal of her research is to identify factors employed by bacteria to facilitate disease and to understand the mechanisms of immunity to infection. The long-term goal of her work is to use these findings to guide the development of preventive and treatment strategies for common bacterial infections.

 

Research Background

Dr. Moffitt received her undergraduate degree at Wellesley College and her medical degree from University of Vermont College of Medicine. She completed her internship and residency training in pediatrics at Hasbro Children’s Hospital of Brown Medical School followed by fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at Boston Children’s Hospital. She joined the faculty of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Boston Children’s Hospital in 2010.

 

Education

Medical School

University of Vermont College of Medicine
2004 Burlington VT

Internship

Rhode Island Hospital
Providence RI

Residency

Pediatrics Rhode Island Hospital
2007 Providence RI

Fellowship

Pediatric Infectious Diseases Boston Children's Hospital
2010 Boston MA

Publications

  1. Pre-existing Immunocompromising Conditions and Outcomes of Acute COVID-19 Patients Admitted for Pediatric Intensive Care. Clin Infect Dis. 2024 Aug 16; 79(2):395-404. View Abstract
  2. Molecular mimicry in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. Nature. 2024 Aug; 632(8025):622-629. View Abstract
  3. Community-Onset Bacterial Coinfection in Children Critically Ill With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2023 Mar; 10(3):ofad122. View Abstract
  4. Life-Threatening Complications of Influenza vs Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in US Children. Clin Infect Dis. 2023 02 08; 76(3):e280-e290. View Abstract
  5. NFKB2 haploinsufficiency identified via screening for IFN-a2 autoantibodies in children and adolescents hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2-related complications. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2023 04; 151(4):926-930.e2. View Abstract
  6. More Is Not Always Better. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2022 10 25; 11(10):429. View Abstract
  7. Host Respiratory Transcriptome Signature Associated with Poor Outcome in Children with Influenza-Staphylococcus aureus Pneumonia. J Infect Dis. 2022 09 28; 226(7):1286-1294. View Abstract
  8. Author Correction: Cross-reactive immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is low in pediatric patients with prior COVID-19 or MIS-C. Nat Commun. 2022 Aug 12; 13(1):4732. View Abstract
  9. Cross-reactive immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is low in pediatric patients with prior COVID-19 or MIS-C. Nat Commun. 2022 05 27; 13(1):2979. View Abstract
  10. Analysis of Staphylococcus aureus Transcriptome in Pediatric Soft Tissue Abscesses and Comparison to Murine Infections. Infect Immun. 2021 03 17; 89(4). View Abstract
  11. Process intensification for production of Streptococcus pneumoniae whole-cell vaccine. Biotechnol Bioeng. 2020 06; 117(6):1661-1672. View Abstract
  12. Vancomycin Monotherapy May Be Insufficient to Treat Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Coinfection in Children With Influenza-related Critical Illness. Clin Infect Dis. 2019 01 18; 68(3):365-372. View Abstract
  13. Evaluation of the Role of stat3 in Antibody and TH17-Mediated Responses to Pneumococcal Immunization and Infection by Use of a Mouse Model of Autosomal Dominant Hyper-IgE Syndrome. Infect Immun. 2018 05; 86(5). View Abstract
  14. IL-17A and complement contribute to killing of pneumococci following immunization with a pneumococcal whole cell vaccine. Vaccine. 2017 03 01; 35(9):1306-1315. View Abstract
  15. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia in a patient with MonoMAC syndrome/GATA2 haploinsufficiency. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2016 10; 63(10):1844-7. View Abstract
  16. Rationale and prospects for novel pneumococcal vaccines. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2016; 12(2):383-92. View Abstract
  17. T(H)17-Mediated Protection against Pneumococcal Carriage by a Whole-Cell Vaccine Is Dependent on Toll-Like Receptor 2 and Surface Lipoproteins. Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2015 Aug; 22(8):909-16. View Abstract
  18. Toll-like receptor 2-dependent protection against pneumococcal carriage by immunization with lipidated pneumococcal proteins. Infect Immun. 2014 May; 82(5):2079-86. View Abstract
  19. Allograft-Transmitted Histoplasma capsulatum Infection in a Solid Organ Transplant Recipient. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2013 Sep; 2(3):270-3. View Abstract
  20. Identification of protective pneumococcal T(H)17 antigens from the soluble fraction of a killed whole cell vaccine. PLoS One. 2012; 7(8):e43445. View Abstract
  21. Broad antibody and T cell reactivity induced by a pneumococcal whole-cell vaccine. Vaccine. 2012 Jun 19; 30(29):4316-22. View Abstract
  22. B cell-intrinsic deficiency of the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASp) causes severe abnormalities of the peripheral B-cell compartment in mice. Blood. 2012 Mar 22; 119(12):2819-28. View Abstract
  23. Next generation pneumococcal vaccines. Curr Opin Immunol. 2011 Jun; 23(3):407-13. View Abstract
  24. Cell Host and Microbe. TH17-based vaccine design for prevention of Streptococcus pneumoniae colonization. 2011; 9(2):158-65. View Abstract

Contact Kristin Moffitt

Print Profile