header image

Diana M. Metes, MD



E1549 BST, 200 Lothrop Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Phone: (412) 648-3291

Professor of Surgery and Immunology

MD Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”, Bucharest, Romania; Residency Coltea Clinical Hospital, Bucharest, Romania; Specialty in Hematology Institute of Hematology, Bucharest, Romania; Post-Doc University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute

Research Area(s):

Human immunology, transplantation, EBV, T cell memory, dendritic cells

Solid organ transplantation is the treatment choice for patients with end-stage organ failure diseases. While life-long immunosuppressive drugs are given to these patients to prevent allograft rejection and promote immune tolerance, these drugs trigger unwanted side effects, such as opportunistic infections and cancers, including EBV-driven PTLD. My lab’s research interests focus on three aspects of the immune response in transplant recipients, in the effort to identify specific markers or/and pathways that predict immune quiescence, rejection or the risk for EBV complications:

 Immune responses to EBV: Immune monitor EBV-specific CD8+ T cells in solid organ TX patients. Analysis of EBV-specific CD8+ T cell regulation by chronic EBV-cognate antigen stimulation, inhibitory molecules and gc helper cytokines. Cellular and molecular assessment of T cell exhaustion vs effector T cell signatures.

Immune responses to alloantigens: Assess the role of Tregs and of memory T cells in triggering allo-immune quiescence vs allograft rejection. Investigate the impact of depleting vs non-depleting induction therapies on the phenotype and function of memory T cells in solid organ TX recipients.


Metes Team:
Camila Macedo, MD
John Walters (research technician)
Kevin Hadi (research technician)