Anastasia Kousa, PhD

Research Associate
The Marcel van den Brink Lab
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Anastasia Kousa, PhD

Research Associate
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Anastasia Kousa

Lab Phone

646-888-2317

Email

[email protected]

Project description

My primary project explores through the bioinformatics lens the mechanisms that underlie endogenous regeneration of the thymus after acute injury (such as infection, stress, and common cancer therapies) and how these mechanisms of regeneration breakdown with age leading to a diminished regenerative capacity compared to that of a young thymus. This likely has significant impact on thymic function with age and in the adaptive immune response to infection, vaccines, and cancer immunotherapy. I am also providing computational support and bioinformatics training to wet-lab members and our summer high school students.

Grants/Awards/Highlights

  • COB travel grant from the Biological Society of Developmental Biology (BSDB) – 2017

Public Engagement Events

  • “Brain Maze”, MRC Festival of Science (2016), Edinburgh, UK – Demonstrator
  • “Unfolding organogenesis”, International Science Festival (2015), Edinburgh, UK - Demonstrator
  • “European Researchers’ Night”, Royal Botanical Garden (2014), Edinburgh, UK – Demonstrator

Education

  • PhD in Stem Cell Bioinformatics, SCRM, University of Edinburgh, UK
  • MSc in Bioinformatics, University of Edinburgh, UK
  • BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, GR

Publications

Jahn†, L., Kousa† A.I., Sikkema L., Flores A.E., ArgyropoulosK.V., TsaiJ., LazrakA., K. Nichols1, N. Lee1, F. Malard1,7, H. Andrlova1, A.L.C. Gomes1, E. Velardi1,8, S. Youssef1, M.B. da Silva1, M. Docampo3, R. Sharma4, L. Mazoutis4, M. Setty4,9, D. Pe’er4, N.R. Manley6, J.A. Dudakov‡, M.R.M. van den Brink‡ (2021). Dynamic structural cell responses in the thymus to acute injury, regeneration, and age. Science (under review)

Liu, D., Kousa, A.I., O’Neill, K.E., Rouse, P., Guillemot, F., Popis, M., Farley, A.M., Tomlinson, S.R., Ulyanchenko, S., Seymour, P.A., Serup, P., Jorgensen, M.C., Koch, U., Radtke, F., and Blackburn C.C. (2020). Canonical Notch signaling controls the early progenitor state and emergence of the medullary epithelial lineage in fetal thymus development. Development. 2020;147(12) [PMID: 32467237]

Phillips, H.M., A Stothard, C.A., Qureshi, W.M.S., Kousa, A.I., Briones-Leon, A., Khasawneh, R., Sanders, R., Mazotta, S., Dodds, R., Seidel, K., Bates, T., Nakatomi, M., Cockell, S., Schneider, J.E., Mohun, T.J., Maehr, R., Kist, R., Peters, H., and Bamforth S.D. (2019). Pax9 is required for cardiovascular development and genetically interacts with Tbx1 in the pharyngeal endoderm to control 4th pharyngeal arch artery morphogenesis. Development. 2019;146(18) [PMID: 31444215]

Halbritter, F., Kousa, A.I., and Tomlinson, S.R. (2014). GeneProf data: a resource of curated, integrated and reusable high-throughput genomics experiments. Nucleic Acids Res. 42, D851–858 [PMID: 24174536]

Gagliardi, A., Mullin, N.P., Ying Tan, Z., Colby, D., Kousa, A.I., Halbritter, F., Weiss, J.T., Felker, A., Bezstarosti, K., Favaro, R., et al. (2013). A direct physical interaction between Nanog and Sox2 regulates embryonic stem cell self-renewal. EMBO J. 32, 2231–2247 [PMID: 23892456]

View a full listing of Anastasia Kousa’s journal articles.

My Projects