Paul M. Arnaboldi, Ph.D., has two main focus areas in his laboratory. The first is vaccine development. Mucosal surfaces, such as the linings of the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary tracts are the site of entry for approximately 90 percent of human pathogens. Despite this, almost all vaccines are injected, which produces suboptimal immunity at the mucosal surface. His lab investigates methods to vaccinate at these sites to produce optimal protection where the pathogen enters. They believe this will induce better protective immunity to a wider range of pathogens. Mucosal surfaces are exposed to an enormous amount of innocuous (harmless) antigens and beneficial commensal bacteria. As such, the mucosal immune system has had to evolve elegant regulatory mechanisms to protect against potential pathogens while avoiding potentially damaging inflammatory responses to commensal bacteria and harmless environmental antigens. To properly vaccinate at a mucosal surface, they intend to understand and overcome these mechanisms, while inducing a response that will generate protective immunity without producing excessive inflammation. Dr. Arnaboldi's lab, in collaboration with Dr. Alison McCormick of Touro University California, is currently developing vaccines to Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa an opportunistic multidrug-resistant pathogen that causes significant morbidity and mortality in healthcare settings. The vaccine platform they are using, Tobacco Mosaic Virus, is adaptable to almost any pathogen.

The second research focus in Dr. Arnaboldi's laboratory is the development of improved diagnostic tests for tick-transmitted diseases: Lyme disease, Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis (HGA), and Babesiosis. Both the incidence and geographical distribution of tick-transmitted pathogens are increasing with more than approximately 400,000 new cases of Lyme disease expected each year. Currently available diagnostic assays are not sensitive in early disease, or for babesiosis are labor intensive and not high throughout. They are using multiple different methods to develop improved diagnostic assays for all three of these pathogens. In addition, in collaboration with the lab of Dana Mordue, Ph.D., Dr. Arnaboldi's laboratory undertakes studies to understand the immunopathology of babesiosis for the development of better diagnostics and medical interventions.

Education

• B.A., Biology, College of Saint Rose
• M.S., Immunology, Albany Medical College
• Ph.D., Immunology, Albany Medical College

Research

The laboratory is focused on two primary research areas. First, it investigates immune regulation at mucosal surfaces, like those in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, to understand how these surfaces balance pathogen defense and inflammation from harmless substances. This research could improve treatments for chronic inflammation and autoimmune diseases, as well as enhance mucosal vaccine development, including an intranasal vaccine against Yersinia pestis. Second, the lab works on advancing diagnostic tests for tick-transmitted diseases such as Lyme disease, Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis (HGA), and Babesiosis. They are developing peptide-based tests for better specificity and sensitivity, creating a cytokine release assay for Lyme disease, and designing an antigen capture assay to screen for Babesia microti in blood, aiming to improve blood safety.

Publications

• Mordue DG, Katseff AS, Galeota AJ, et. al. "Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptors and C-C Chemokine Receptor-2 Positive Cells Play an Important Role in the Intraerythrocytic Death and Clearance of Babesia microti." Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland), 13(10), (2024) . doi: 10.3390/pathogens13100858
• Ghosh R, Joung HA, Goncharov A, et. al. "Rapid single-tier serodiagnosis of Lyme disease." Nature communications, 15(1), (2024) 7124. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-51067-5
• Dattwyler RJ, Arnaboldi PM. "Vaccination hesistancy in Lyme borreliosis." The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 24(9), (2024) 945-947. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(24)00221-4
• Conti J, Gagliardi T, Arnaboldi PM, et. al. "Immune Mediators Important for a Protective Secondary Response to Babesia microti." Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland), 13(2), (2024) . doi: 10.3390/pathogens13020123
• Ghosh R, Joung HA, Goncharov A, et. al. "Single-tier point-of-care serodiagnosis of Lyme disease." bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, (), (2023) . pii: 2023.06.14.544508. doi: 10.1101/2023.06.14.544508
• Arnaboldi PM, Katseff AS, Sambir M, et. al. "Linear Peptide Epitopes Derived from ErpP, p35, and FlaB in the Serodiagnosis of Lyme Disease." Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland), 11(8), (2022) . doi: 10.3390/pathogens11080944
• Arnaboldi PM, Narasimhan S. "Hygromycin A in the Lymelight." Cell host & microbe, 29(11), (2021) 1599-1601. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2021.10.007

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Professional Service

• Fellow, Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute

Memberships and Affiliations

• Chair, Institutional Biosafety Committee

Teaching Responsibilities

• Medical Microbiology (SOM)
• General Microbiology II (GSBMS)
• Microbiology and Immunology (TCDM)
• Infectious Diseases (NYCPM)