• Title
    Deputy Group Leader, Microbiology/ Immunology
  • Email
    rasley2@llnl.gov
  • Phone
    (925) 423-1284
  • Organization
    Not Available

Professional Experience

LLNL: Currently Staff Scientist in Physical and Life Sciences (PLS) Directorate, Biosciences and Biotechnology Division (2004–present). Acting Select Agent Senior Laboratory Coordinator, Global Security Directorate (2013—present).

  • IACUC member and Vice-Chair, 2006 - present
  • IBC Committee member and Vice-Chair, 2013 - present
  • Editorial Advisory Board Member, Current Immunology Reviews, July 2013 - present
  • Associate Editor, Frontiers Microbial Immunology, January 2012 – present
  • Ad hoc reviewer: Journal of Immunology, July 2005 – Present
  • Ad hoc reviewer: Immunopharmacology and Immunotoxicology, July 2012 – present
  • Guest Editor: Briefings in Functional Genomics, special edition on “Genomics of Pathogenicity”, 2011.
  • Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA/DOD) Chemical and Biological Technologies Directorate Basic Sciences Technical Review, Scientific peer review committee member, July 30 – August 1st, 2012.
  • Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA/DOD) Chemical and Biological Technologies Directorate Basic Sciences Technical Review, Scientific peer review committee member, July 30 – August 2st, 2013.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH), Partnerships for Biodefense, Special emphasis panel/Scientific review committee member, January 9, 2014.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers of Excellence for Translational Research, Scientific peer review committee member, July 31, 2013.
  • United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Nanotechnology for Agricultural and Food Systems Program/Scientific review committee member, December 3-7, 2018.

Research

My research interests lie in understanding how immune responses to pathogens are initiated, maintained and resolved. Working with a diverse group of scientists, we have largely been focused on characterizing innate and adaptive immune responses to pathogens relevant for both biosecurity and public health with an emphasis on the use of a nanoparticle platform for immune modulation strategies that can mitigate and or prevent infection. Funding for our work has come from Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD), NIH/NIAID, and the Department of Defense (DOD) Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

Ph.D., Immunology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2004)

B.S., Zoology, Weber State University (2000)

  1. LaBauve, A.E., Rinker, T.E., Noureddine, A., Serda, R.E., Howe, J.Y., Sherman, M.B., Rasley, A., Brinker, C.J., Sasaki, D.Y., Negrete, O.A., 2018. Lipid-Coated Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for the Delivery of the ML336 Antiviral to Inhibit Encephalitic Alphavirus Infection. Sci Rep 8, 13990.
  2. Boone, T.J., Mallozzi, M., Nelson, A., Thompson, B., Khemmani, M., Lehmann, D., Dunkle, A., Hoeprich, P., Rasley, A., Stewart, G., Driks, A., 2018. Coordinated Assembly of the Bacillus anthracis Coat and Exosporium during Bacterial Spore Outer Layer Formation. MBio 9.
  3. Weilhammer, D., Dunkle, A.D., Blanchette, C.D., Fischer, N.O., Corzett, M., Lehmann, D., Boone, T., Hoeprich, P., Driks, A., Rasley, A., 2017. Enhancement of antigen-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell responses using a self-assembled biologic nanolipoprotein particle vaccine. Vaccine 35, 1475-1481.
  4. He, W., Felderman, M., Evans, A.C., Geng, J., Homan, D., Bourguet, F., Fischer, N.O., Li, Y., Lam, K.S., Noy, A., Xing, L., Cheng, R.H., Rasley, A., Blanchette, C.D., Kamrud, K., Wang, N., Gouvis, H., Peterson, T.C., Hubby, B., Coleman, M.A., 2017. Cell-free production of a functional oligomeric form of a Chlamydia major outer-membrane protein (MOMP) for vaccine development. J Biol Chem 292, 15121-15132.
  5. Harmon, B., Bird, S.W., Schudel, B.R., Hatch, A.V., Rasley, A., Negrete, O.A., 2016. A Genome-Wide RNA Interference Screen Identifies a Role for Wnt/beta-Catenin Signaling during Rift Valley Fever Virus Infection. J Virol 90, 7084-7097.
  6. Gilmore, S.F., Blanchette, C.D., Scharadin, T.M., Hura, G.L., Rasley, A., Corzett, M., Pan, C.X., Fischer, N.O., Henderson, P.T., 2016. Lipid Cross-Linking of Nanolipoprotein Particles Substantially Enhances Serum Stability and Cellular Uptake. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 8, 20549-20557.
  7. Fischer, N.O., Weilhammer, D.R., Dunkle, A., Thomas, C., Hwang, M., Corzett, M., Lychak, C., Mayer, W., Urbin, S., Collette, N., Chiun Chang, J., Loots, G.G., Rasley, A., Blanchette, C.D., 2014. Evaluation of nanolipoprotein particles (NLPs) as an in vivo delivery platform. PLoS One 9, e93342.
  8. Fischer, N.O., Rasley, A., Blanchette, C., 2014. Nanoparticles and antigen delivery: understanding the benefits and drawbacks of different delivery platforms. Nanomedicine (Lond) 9, 373-376.
  9. Fischer, N.O., Blanchette, C., Rasley, A., 2014. Enhancing the efficacy of innate immune agonists: could nanolipoprotein particles hold the key? Nanomedicine (Lond) 9, 369-372.
  10. Feld, G.K., El-Etr, S., Corzett, M.H., Hunter, M.S., Belhocine, K., Monack, D.M., Frank, M., Segelke, B.W., Rasley, A., 2014. Structure and function of REP34 implicates carboxypeptidase activity in Francisella tularensis host cell invasion. J Biol Chem 289, 30668-30679.
  11. Weilhammer, D.R., Blanchette, C.D., Fischer, N.O., Alam, S., Loots, G.G., Corzett, M., Thomas, C., Lychak, C., Dunkle, A.D., Ruitenberg, J.J., Ghanekar, S.A., Sant, A.J., Rasley, A., 2013. The use of nanolipoprotein particles to enhance the immunostimulatory properties of innate immune agonists against lethal influenza challenge. Biomaterials 34, 10305-10318.
  12. Fischer, N.O., Rasley, A., Corzett, M., Hwang, M.H., Hoeprich, P.D., Blanchette, C.D., 2013. Colocalized delivery of adjuvant and antigen using nanolipoprotein particles enhances the immune response to recombinant antigens. J Am Chem Soc 135, 2044-2047.
  13. Weilhammer, D.R., Rasley, A., 2011. Genetic approaches for understanding virulence in Toxoplasma gondii. Brief Funct Genomics 10, 365-373.
  14. Rasley, A., 2011. Graduate training in immunology. Brief Funct Genomics 10, 321.
  15. Margolis, J.J., El-Etr, S., Joubert, L.M., Moore, E., Robison, R., Rasley, A., Spormann, A.M., Monack, D.M., 2010. Contributions of Francisella tularensis subsp. novicida chitinases and Sec secretion system to biofilm formation on chitin. Appl Environ Microbiol 76, 596-608.
  16. El-Etr, S.H., Margolis, J.J., Monack, D., Robison, R.A., Cohen, M., Moore, E., Rasley, A., 2009. Francisella tularensis type A strains cause the rapid encystment of Acanthamoeba castellanii and survive in amoebal cysts for three weeks postinfection. Appl Environ Microbiol 75, 7488-7500.
  17. Sammons-Jackson, W.L., McClelland, K., Manch-Citron, J.N., Metzger, D.W., Bakshi, C.S., Garcia, E., Rasley, A., Anderson, B.E., 2008. Generation and characterization of an attenuated mutant in a response regulator gene of Francisella tularensis live vaccine strain (LVS). DNA Cell Biol 27, 387-403.
  18. Rasley, A., Tranguch, S.L., Rati, D.M., Marriott, I., 2006. Murine glia express the immunosuppressive cytokine, interleukin-10, following exposure to Borrelia burgdorferi or Neisseria meningitidis. Glia 53, 583-592.
  19. Loots, G.G., Chain, P.S., Mabery, S., Rasley, A., Garcia, E., Ovcharenko, I., 2006. Array2BIO: from microarray expression data to functional annotation of co-regulated genes. BMC Bioinformatics 7, 307.
  20. Rasley, A., Marriott, I., Halberstadt, C.R., Bost, K.L., Anguita, J., 2004. Substance P augments Borrelia burgdorferi-induced prostaglandin E2 production by murine microglia. J Immunol 172, 5707-5713.
  21. Rasley, A., Bost, K.L., Marriott, I., 2004. Murine gammaherpesvirus-68 elicits robust levels of interleukin-12 p40, but not interleukin-12 p70 production, by murine microglia and astrocytes. J Neurovirol 10, 171-180.
  22. Taylor, W.R., Rasley, A., Bost, K.L., Marriott, I., 2003. Murine gammaherpesvirus-68 infects microglia and induces high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokine production. J Neuroimmunol 136, 75-83.
  23. Bowman, C.C., Rasley, A., Tranguch, S.L., Marriott, I., 2003. Cultured astrocytes express toll-like receptors for bacterial products. Glia 43, 281-291.
  24. Rasley, A., Bost, K.L., Olson, J.K., Miller, S.D., Marriott, I., 2002. Expression of functional NK-1 receptors in murine microglia. Glia 37, 258-267.
  25. Rasley, A., Anguita, J., Marriott, I., 2002. Borrelia burgdorferi induces inflammatory mediator production by murine microglia. J Neuroimmunol 130, 22-31.