An official website of the United States government
          Here’s how you know
        Here’s how you know**Official websites use .gov**A
              **.gov** website belongs to an official government
              organization in the United States.
        **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**A
              **lock** (
              Locked padlock icon) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
 Top Utility Nav
        
        
        Asian-Language Resources
        
        Portal en español


Site search Mega Menu
  

        

        Home
                  Health Topics
                                      
    
  Health Topics

    Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases
          
    Muscle and Bone Diseases
          
    Skin Diseases
          
    All Diseases and Conditions
          
    Publication Catalog
                  Grants & Funding
                                      
    
  Grants & Funding

    Current Funding Opportunities
          
    Supported Scientific Programs
          
    NIAMS-Supported Programs
          
    Applying for a Grant
          
    NIH Policies and Guidance
          
    Peer Review and Grants Administration Resources
          
    Types of Funding Mechanisms (Activity Codes)
                  Labs @ NIAMS
                                      
    
  Labs @ NIAMS

    NIAMS Labs and Core Facilities
          
    Research Faculty
          
    Research Areas
          
    NIAMS Scientific Advances
          
    Training and Career Development
                  Clinical Trials
                                      
    
  Clinical Trials
      
            For Principal Investigators

    Clinical Trial Policies, Guidelines, and Templates
          
    Conducting Clinical Trials
          
    Register with ClinicalTrials.gov

For Patients

What is a Clinical Trial?
	Clinical Trials at NIAMS
	Clinical Trials in the Spotlight
                  News & Events
                                      
    
  Newsroom

    All NIAMS News
          
    NIAMS Newsletters
          
    Meetings & Events
                  About NIAMS
                                      
    
  About NIAMS

    Director's Page
          
    NIAMS Organization
          
    Strategic Plan Fiscal Years 2020-2024
          
    Staff Directory
          
    NIAMS Budget
          
    Partnerships
          
    Contact NIAMS
                  Community Outreach
                                      
    
  Community Outreach

    Bone Health
          
    Joint Health
          
    Muscle, Tendon, and Ligament Health
          
    Skin Health
          
    Health Information For Kids And Young Adults
          
    Health Information For Older Adults/Seniors
          
    Printable Materials for Community Events
          
    Resources in Other Languages
          
    Annual Health Observances
          
    Social Media Resources Breadcrumb
    Home
          About NIAMS
          Rachael Philips, Ph.D.





Rachael Philips, Ph.D.


Postdoctoral Fellow
    Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch Image
              Headshot of a young female scientist with long dark hard and spectacles, smiling in front of fern bushes. 
            Contact Information

                                                  301-435-3052
                
                                                9000 Rockville Pike
                  
            10 Center Drive
      
                  
            Building 10, Room 13C120
      
                                   Bethesda MD 20892
                
                                                rachael.philips@nih.gov 
                Summary
          Rachael Philips, Ph.D., graduated in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in physiological science from UCLA. There, she volunteered and later transitioned to a lab assistant in Dr. Ram Raj Singh’s lab studying systemic lupus erythematosus skin pathogenesis. Next, Dr. Philips began graduate school to explore fundamental epigenetic questions in the immune system. Under the guidance of Dr. Virginia Shapiro at Mayo Clinic, she studied how histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) regulates transcriptional programs during T cell development. Dr. Philips found that HDAC3 ensures appropriate thymocyte fate decisions by repressing transcription factors and cell surface receptors at multiple developmental checkpoints. Appreciating the importance of external stimuli leading to proper cell fate choices, she shifted to the peripheral immune system to understand how perturbations in cell signaling lead to downstream and sometimes long-term effects in the immune response. Accordingly, she joined Dr. John O’Shea’s research group in 2019 to understand the integration between cell signaling and immune response. In 2020, she was awarded a Postdoctoral Research Associate Training (PRAT) fellowship (F32 equivalent) to study the consequences of a STAT1 gain-of-function mutation in gene expression and immune response to viral infection.
        
                  Research Statement
          
            The coordinated effort of the immune system in host defense depends on the proper release and interpretation of different cytokine signals. Several examples of monogenic diseases targeting the JAK-STAT pathway reveal there is still a critical need to understand the basic principles of cytokine signaling and cytokine output. For example, patients with STAT1 gain-of-function (GOF) mutations exhibit a type 1/IFN-g bias that antagonizes a type 3/IL-17 immune response necessary for controlling the fungal infection. Yet, paradoxically, patients show chronic and sometimes lethal viral infections. Dr. Philips uses a novel conditional knock in STAT1-GOF mouse model to study the consequences of a ‘stronger’ cytokine signal on gene expression and immune response to viral infections. 

            Scientific Publications
              The JAK-STAT pathway at 30: Much learned, much more to do.

    Philips RL, Wang Y, Cheon H, Kanno Y, Gadina M, Sartorelli V, Horvath CM, Darnell JE Jr, Stark GR, O'Shea JJ
        

                    Cell.
        
                    2022 Oct 13;
        
                    185(21).
        
                    doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.09.023
                            PMID: 36240739
  MicroRNA-221 and -222 modulate intestinal inflammatory Th17 cell response as negative feedback regulators downstream of interleukin-23.

    Mikami Y, Philips RL, Sciumè G, Petermann F, Meylan F, Nagashima H, Yao C, Davis FP, Brooks SR, Sun HW, Takahashi H, Poholek AC, Shih HY, Afzali B, Muljo SA, Hafner M, Kanno Y, O'Shea JJ
        

                    Immunity.
        
                    2021 Mar 9;
        
                    54(3).
        
                    doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2021.02.015
                            PMID: 33657395
  Translating JAKs to Jakinibs.

    Gadina M, Chisolm DA, Philips RL, McInness IB, Changelian PS, O'Shea JJ
        

                    J Immunol.
        
                    2020 Apr 15;
        
                    204(8).
        
                    doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1901477
                            PMID: 32253269 
          Education
              
            **Mayo Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences**
Ph.D., Immunology (2018)

**UCLA**
B.S., Physiological Sciences (2010)             
                        Experience
              
            **Postdoctoral Fellowship**
NIAMS, NIH, Bethesda MD (2019-present)

**Doctoral Research**
Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN (2013-2018)

**Student Volunteer and Lab Assistant**
UCLA, Los Angeles CA (2008-2013)


Last Updated: November 2022


Back to Top
 About NIAMS
                    Clinical Trials
                    Grants & Funding
                    Health Topics
                    Labs @ NIAMS
              News Room
                    NIAMS Multimedia Library
                    Disclaimer
                    FOIA
                    Contact us
              Privacy Statement
                    Accessibility
                    HHS Vulnerability Disclosure
                    Social Media Moderation Policy
                    NIAMS Archives
        Subscribe to Our E-Newsletters
            Click the button to see different options to sign up for newsletters.
            Click Here to Subscribe
          Follow us on
  
  About NIH
                  Accessibility Support
            FOIA requests
                  No FEAR Act data
            Office of the Inspector General
                  Performance reports
            Privacy Policy