Katherine Wander (MA 2006, Washington)

Research Interests:
Growth and development, infectious disease; East Africa

"My research focuses on infectious disease ecology, immune function, and immune system development. My dissertation research explores the role of infection in immune system development. The early life environment affects the development of many organ systems, including the immune system, with potential implications for immunocompetence and chronic disease risk across the life course. Natural selection may have favored developmental plasticity in the immune system that tailors the immune response to the local infectious disease ecology. Allergy and asthma may represent by-products of this mechanism in immune system development, manifest in modern, “hygienic” environments. To test this hypothesis, my dissertation research explores whether well-documented risk factors for allergy in the Western world are also associated with immunocompetence in the developing world (Kilimanjaro, Tanzania), in an environment of high infectious disease stress.

My MPH thesis evaluates the relationship between iron status and infectious disease susceptibility among Rendille children in northern Kenya. Iron is crucial to basic cellular function, including that of pathogens, such as bacteria and protists. The iron withholding response to infection, part of the innate immune response, deprives pathogens of iron, restricting their proliferation and protecting the host against infection. In a similar manner, dietary iron deficiency may decrease susceptibility to infectious disease, especially as pathogens evolve mechanisms to counteract the iron withholding response. However, because iron is crucial to the functioning of immune system cells as well as pathogen cells, iron deficiency may also compromise immune function. Thus, the role of this vital micronutrient in infectious disease risk is complex, involving trade-offs between these opposing effects. Among Rendille children, odds of infections are highest for the children with the “best” iron status, suggesting that the iron replete condition may not be optimal where infectious disease morbidity is substantial, and supporting the hypothesis that dietary iron deficiency represents a nutritional adaptation to infectious disease."

Dissertation Project/Title:
Immunocompetence and the Hygiene Hypothesis

Curriculum Vita