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          About NIAMS
          Luis M. Franco, M.D.





Luis M. Franco, M.D.


Earl Stadtman Investigator, NIH Distinguished Scholar
    Chief, Functional Immunogenomics Section Image
              Luis M. Franco, M.D. 
            Contact Information

                                                  301-827-2461
                
                                                9000 Rockville Pike
                  
                  
            Building 10, Room 13C103C
      
                                   Bethesda MD 20892
                
                                                luis.franco@nih.gov 
                                          Media Resources
                                  
            High Resolution Image 
                Summary
          Luis Franco, M.D., joined the Systemic Autoimmunity Branch at the NIAMS in 2019. He received his medical degree from the Javeriana University School of Medicine in Bogotá, Colombia. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in clinical genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. From 2009 to 2014, Dr. Franco was assistant professor in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics and the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. From 2014 to 2019, he was assistant clinical investigator at the Laboratory of Immune System Biology at the NIAID.
        
                  Research Statement
          
            The Franco lab seeks to apply functional genomics approaches to the solution of medically important questions related to the immune system. A major area of research involves the molecular dissection of the genomic effects of glucocorticoids, a class of drugs that has been used to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases for 70 years but remains poorly understood. This work spans the spectrum from in vitro studies of single cells to in vivo studies with human subjects. The lab is also developing molecular methods for screening drug candidates in human immune cells and has developed assays for the diagnosis of genetic diseases of the immune system that are in use at the NIH Clinical Center.

In addition to his research activities, Dr. Franco is an active clinician who sees patients with known or suspected genetic diseases as part of the NIAID/NIAMS Clinical Genetics Service at the NIH Clinical Center. 

            Scientific Publications
              GCgx: transcriptome-wide exploration of the response to glucocorticoids.

    Cao Q, Boo Irizarry Y, Yazhuk S, Tran T, Gadkari M, Franco LM
        

                    J Mol Endocrinol.
        
                    2021 Dec 10;
        
                    68(2).
        
                    doi: 10.1530/JME-21-0107
                            PMID: 34787097
  Glucocorticoid-induced eosinopenia results from CXCR4-dependent bone marrow migration.

    Hong SG, Sato N, Legrand F, Gadkari M, Makiya M, Stokes K, Howe KN, Yu SJ, Linde NS, Clevenger RR, Hunt T, Hu Z, Choyke PL, Dunbar CE, Klion AD, Franco LM
        

                    Blood.
        
                    2020 Dec 3;
        
                    136(23).
        
                    doi: 10.1182/blood.2020005161
                            PMID: 32659786
  Sex differences in neutrophil biology modulate response to type I interferons and immunometabolism.

    Gupta S, Nakabo S, Blanco LP, O'Neil LJ, Wigerblad G, Goel RR, Mistry P, Jiang K, Carmona-Rivera C, Chan DW, Wang X, Pedersen HL, Gadkari M, Howe KN, Naz F, Dell'Orso S, Hasni SA, Dempsey C, Buscetta A, Frischmeyer-Guerrerio PA, Kruszka P, Muenke M, Franco LM, Sun HW, Kaplan MJ
        

                    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.
        
                    2020 Jul 14;
        
                    117(28).
        
                    doi: 10.1073/pnas.2003603117
                            PMID: 32601182
  Immune regulation by glucocorticoids can be linked to cell type-dependent transcriptional responses.

    Franco LM, Gadkari M, Howe KN, Sun J, Kardava L, Kumar P, Kumari S, Hu Z, Fraser IDC, Moir S, Tsang JS, Germain RN
        

                    J Exp Med.
        
                    2019 Feb 4;
        
                    216(2).
        
                    doi: 10.1084/jem.20180595
                            PMID: 30674564
  Transcript- and protein-level analyses of the response of human eosinophils to glucocorticoids.

    Gadkari M, Makiya MA, Legrand F, Stokes K, Brown T, Howe K, Khoury P, Hu Z, Klion A, Franco LM
        

                    Sci Data.
        
                    2018 Dec 4;
        
                    5().
        
                    doi: 10.1038/sdata.2018.275
                            PMID: 30512017
  Glucocorticoid-induced eosinopenia in humans can be linked to early transcriptional events.

    Khoury P, Stokes K, Gadkari M, Makiya MA, Legrand F, Hu Z, Klion A, Franco LM
        

                    Allergy.
        
                    2018 Oct;
        
                    73(10).
        
                    doi: 10.1111/all.13497
                            PMID: 29885264
  Syndromic congenital myelofibrosis associated with a loss-of-function variant in RBSN.

    Magoulas PL, Shchelochkov OA, Bainbridge MN, Ben-Shachar S, Yatsenko S, Potocki L, Lewis RA, Searby C, Marcogliese AN, Elghetany MT, Zapata G, Hernández PP, Gadkari M, Einhaus D, Muzny DM, Gibbs RA, Bertuch AA, Scott DA, Corvera S, Franco LM
        

                    Blood.
        
                    2018 Aug 9;
        
                    132(6).
        
                    doi: 10.1182/blood-2017-12-824433
                            PMID: 29784638
  Host Transcriptional Response to Influenza and Other Acute Respiratory Viral Infections--A Prospective Cohort Study.

    Zhai Y, Franco LM, Atmar RL, Quarles JM, Arden N, Bucasas KL, Wells JM, Niño D, Wang X, Zapata GE, Shaw CA, Belmont JW, Couch RB
        

                    PLoS Pathog.
        
                    2015 Jun;
        
                    11(6).
        
                    doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004869
                            PMID: 26070066
  Integrative genomic analysis of the human immune response to influenza vaccination.

    Franco LM, Bucasas KL, Wells JM, Niño D, Wang X, Zapata GE, Arden N, Renwick A, Yu P, Quarles JM, Bray MS, Couch RB, Belmont JW, Shaw CA
        

                    Elife.
        
                    2013 Jul 16;
        
                    2().
        
                    doi: 10.7554/eLife.00299
                            PMID: 23878721 
          Education
              
            **Pontificia Javeriana University School of Medicine, Bogotá, Colombia**M.D.             
                        Experience
              
            **Assistant Clinical Investigator: Laboratory of Immune System Biology**
NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD, U.S.A.

**Assistant Professor**Department of Molecular and Human Genetics and Department of Medicine. Baylor College ofMedicine, Houston, TX, U.S.A.

**Clinical Genetics Fellowship**
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, U.S.A.**Internal Medicine Residency**
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, U.S.A.


Last Updated: June 2023


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