Woodruff Lab

We study antibodies, the cells that make them, and the various factors that influence their development and targeting. By merging experimental approaches in both mouse and human systems, we strive to investigate areas central to human health, including critical care medicine, vaccination, and immune dysregulation/autoimmune development. Although primarily focused on B cells, we take an intentionally broad and flexible approach to investigation, incorporating diverse experimental methodologies and analytical approaches to deeply understand the context of immune responses. We pride ourselves on seeing the forest and not just the trees.

As a former instructor within the Lowance Center of Human Immunology, I worked with the Sanz and Lee labs to understand some of the fundamental B cell biology that underpins the dysregulated immune responses routinely observed in severe COVID-19. Using a variety of advanced methodologies¹, we identified important early signatures of B cell tolerance breakdown² and identified an important early source of autoreactive B cell development in these patients³. Importantly, we also identified similar signatures in bacterial sepsis suggesting that the investigations we did in the early phases of the pandemic may be related to a much larger set of human diseases. Our lab is tracking down those leads to understand the breadth and impact of these responses on the acute and recovery phase⁴ of human critical illness.

1. Response under pressure: deploying emerging technologies to understand B-cell-mediated immunity in COVID-19. Nat Methods.
2. Extrafollicular B cell responses correlate with neutralizing antibodies and morbidity in COVID-19. Nature immunology.
3. Dysregulated naive B cells and de novo autoreactivity in severe COVID-19.
4. Inflammation and autoreactivity define a discrete subset of patients with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, or long-COVID. Under revision, Nature.

My earliest scientific investigations involved advanced imaging approaches to understand the earliest phases of vaccine responses that ‘set the stage’ for the antibodies that would come later¹. Since then, we have learned substantially more about the factors that can influence immune development² and uncovered exciting new principles for vaccine design to ensure long-term, stable protection³. Our lab is rapidly developing a new kind of immunization, we call it ‘WobbleVax’, that leverages this knowledge into the creation of vaccines that are safe, more potent against difficult pathogens, and highly resistant to viral mutation.

1. Trans-nodal migration of resident dendritic cells into medullary interfollicular regions initiates immunity to influenza vaccine. J Exp Med.
2. Squalene-based vaccine adjuvants MF59 and AddaVax stimulate CD8 T cell response, but not antibody response, through a RIPK3-dependent pathway.
3. B Cell Competition for Restricted T Cell Help Suppresses Rare-Epitope Responses. Cell Rep.

A more complete list of published work can be found here.

Interested in our science? Email us! We are always looking for talented people to collaborate with or join our team.

Matthew Woodruff, PhD
matthew.charles.woodruff@emory.edu 
Assistant Professor, Emory University School of Medicine
Lowance Center for Human Immunology