Ruiz-Rosado Lab
Each year, urinary tract infections (UTI) affect 150 million people worldwide. In the United States, they account for 7 million annual office visits and over $1.6 billion in health care spending. Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) initiates more than 80% of UTI by colonizing the bladder. When UPEC ascends to the kidneys, the resulting acute pyelonephritis can lead to acute kidney injury, renal scarring, and ultimately end-stage renal disease.
The Ruiz-Rosado Lab focuses on uncovering the exact process by which the body fights off UTI, work that is foundational to establishing new therapies to prevent and treat UTI in children. Its team is exploring the role monocytes and neutrophils play in this process. Notably, the Ruiz-Rosado lab has found monocytes and neutrophils play distinct roles in the body’s resistance to E. coli-caused UTI. While neutrophils directly engulf and eliminate E. coli in the bladder and kidneys, monocytes promote inflammation in these organs to increase the anti-microbial activity of these neutrophils. However, exacerbated monocyte infiltration during kidney infection promotes uncontrolled inflammation and renal scarring. Further, the team discovered this monocyte-induced inflammation also results in impaired kidney function.
The long-term goal of the Ruiz-Rosado Lab is to exploit the biological functions of neutrophils and macrophages to advance the rational design of a new class of non-antibiotic therapies to resolve UTI and prevent permanent renal damage following pyelonephritis.
Lab Staff
Juan de Dios Ruiz-Rosado, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
JuandeDios.RuizRosado@NationwideChildrens.org
Juan de Dios Ruiz-Rosado, PhD, is a principal investigator in the Kidney and Urinary Tract Research Center in the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University. He is also an affiliate member of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Nationwide Children’s.
The Ruiz-Rosado Lab focuses on identifying novel innate and adaptive immune responses required for resistance to urinary tract infections (UTI). Dr. Ruiz-Rosado’s research focuses on defining the anti-microbial mechanisms employed by neutrophils that eliminate Uropathogenic Escherichia coli. He also studies the inflammatory and pro-fibrotic responses elicited by macrophages during pyelonephritis and kidney injury. Dr. Ruiz-Rosado’s long-term goal is to develop non-antibiotic-based strategies to treat UTI and prevent deleterious renal scarring in pediatric patients with UTI.
Dr. Ruiz-Rosado has served as a mentor for trainees at a variety of levels, including undergraduate, graduate, medical and postdoctoral students. He earned his doctorate in Immunology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
Gamaliel Sanchez Orellana, PhD
Senior Research Associate
Gamaliel.SanchezOrellana@NationwideChildrens.org
As a senior research associate, at the Kidney and Urinary Tract Center, Gamaliel Sanchez-Orellana, PhD, employs distinct bioinformatic tools to evaluate molecular mechanisms associated to host susceptibility to urinary tract infections (UTI) by analyzing transcriptome profiling datasets from experimental models of UTI and pyelonephritis. He earned his master's degree from Tecnologico de Ciudad Madero (ITCM), Mexico. He received his doctorate in nanoscience at Instituto Potosino de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (IPICyT), Mexico, where his work focused on elucidating the role of the microtubule-associated motor protein Kinesin-1 in the cellular development of the filamentous fungi Trichoderma atroviride.
Yuriko Sanchez-Zamora, PhD
Senior Research Associate
Yuriko.Sanchez-Zamora@NationwideChildrens.org
Yuriko Sanchez-Zamora, PhD, is a senior research associate in the Ruiz-Rosado Lab. She earned her bachelor's degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) as well as her doctorate in immunology. Her doctoral work focused on investigating the influence of the innate immune system in the development of type 1 and type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. She also correlated the presence of inflammatory immune responses with metabolic syndrome and genetic variations of HBGAs in the Mexican population. As a senior scientist in the Ruiz-Rosado lab, Dr. Sanchez-Zamora focuses on investigating the influence of diabetes and obesity in the anti-microbial capacity of immune phagocytes, including neutrophils and macrophages, in experimental models of urinary tract infection (UTI). Dr. Sanchez-Zamora’s research will uncover new targets for therapeutic strategies to prevent the development of severe UTI in susceptible diabetic patients.
Israel Cotzomi-Ortega, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Israel.Cotzomi@NationwideChildrens.org
Currently, as a postdoctoral researcher, Israel Cotzomi-Ortega, PhD, is studying the functional contribution of the NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2) to the microbicidal capacity of neutrophils in vivo and in vitro. He is also evaluating the functional phenotypes and transcriptomes of macrophages during experimental urinary tract infection (UTI) by single-cell RNA-seq. He has also worked to elucidate the roles of immune phagocytes during experimental pyelonephritis induced by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli).
Dr. Cotzomi-Ortega earned both his bachelor’s degree and doctorate in Chemistry Sciences from Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) in Puebla, Mexico. His doctorate work focused on the role of autophagy in macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) secretion during breast cancer progression.
Jeimy Lopez-Torres
Research Assistant
Jeimy.Lopez-Torres@NationwideChildrens.org
Jeimy M. Lopez-Torres is a research assistant here in the Ruiz-Rosado Lab. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Biological Pharmaceutical Chemist from Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca (UABJO) and her master’s degree in Regional and Technological Developmental Sciences with a focus on biochemistry from Instituto Tecnológico de Oaxaca (ITO), Mexico. Jeimy is currently enrolled in a doctorate program at the same institution. Her research focuses on investigating alternative therapeutic approaches for Type II Diabetes Mellitus.