Maggie attended Carleton College for her undergraduate degree in Biology before transitioning to the University of Utah for her PhD in the lab of Dr. Ryan O’Connell studying immune cell communication. Her postdoctoral work at the University of California, San Francisco, with Dr. Peter Turnbaugh, focused on understanding how autoimmune-related microbiota members influence immune responses in autoimmunity. Dr. Alexander’s current research is focused on understanding the mechanistic interactions between diet, the microbiota, and immune responses and the functional consequences of these interactions for autoimmunity. For her research, she has been awarded T32, F32, and K99/R00 fellowships. Beyond the lab, Maggie enjoys swimming, water polo, composing haikus, and amateur pottery.
- Alexander, M., Upadhyay, V., Rock, R., Ramirez, L., Puchalska, P., Orellana, D., Ang, Q.Y., Turnbaugh, J.A., Tian Y., Dumlao, D., Nayak, R.R., Patterson, A., Newman, J.C, Crawford, P.A, Turnbaugh, P.J. 2023. A diet-dependent host metabolite shapes the gut microbiota to protect from autoimmunity. BioRxiv (preprint). https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.11.02.565382
- Alexander, M., Ang, Q.Y., Nayak, R.R., Bustion, A.E., Sandy, M., Zhang, B., Upadhyay, V., Pollard, K.S., Lynch, S.V., and Turnbaugh, P.J. 2022. Human gut bacterial metabolism drives Th17 activation and colitis. Cell Host & Microbe. 30, 17 – 30.e9.
- Ang, Q.Y., Alexander, M., Newman, J.C., Tian, Y., Cai, J., Upadhyay, V., Turnbaugh, J.A., Verdin, E., Hall, K.D., Leibel, L.L., Ravussin, E., Rosenbaum, M., Patterson, A.D., and Turnbaugh, P.J. 2020. Ketogenesis alters the gut microbiome resulting in decreased intestinal Th17 levels. Cell 181, 1263-1275.E16.
- Alexander, M. and Turnbaugh, P.J. 2020. Deconstructing mechanisms of diet-microbiome-immune interactions. Immunity 53, 264-276.
- Nayak, R.R., Alexander, M., Deshpande, I., Stapleton-Gray, K., Rimal, B., Patterson, A.D., Ubeda, C., Scher, J.U., and Turnbaugh, P.J. 2021. Methotrexate impacts conserved pathways in diverse human gut bacteria leading to decreased host immune activation. Cell Host & Microbe 29, 362-377.e11.
- Lam, K.N.*, Alexander, M.*, and Turnbaugh, P.J. 2019. Precision medicine goes microscopic: engineering the microbiome to improve drug outcomes. Cell Host & Microbe 26, 22-34.
For a full list of publications see:
Our laboratory is currently researching the ways by which diet, microbiota, and immune responses interact and the consequences of these interactions for autoimmunity. Our goal is to uncover the mechanisms by which complex diets influence diseases, as well as how disease-associated microbiota members affect immune responses during disease.