Megan Tierney Baldridge, MD, PhD
Professor, Departments of Medicine and Molecular Microbiology
- Phone: 314-273-1212
- Email: mbaldridge@nospam.wustl.edu
The Baldridge Lab studies interactions of the intestinal commensal microbiota with viral (such as murine norovirus) and bacterial pathogens, and the regulation of these interactions by the mucosal innate immune system. The lab also explores viral evolution and phenotypic alterations in different immunological and anatomical contexts, using murine norovirus as a model.
- Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology Faculty Member
- BA, Biochemistry and Cell Biology: Rice University, Houston TX (2003)
- PhD, Molecular and Human Genetics: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX (2009)
- MD, Medicine: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX (2011)
- Postdoc in Pathology & Immunology: Washington University, St. Louis, MO (2016)
- 2018 Pew Biomedical Scholar
- 2023 Elected Member to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI)
- Li Y, Stieh DJ, Droit L, Kim AH, Rodgers R, Mihindukulasuriya KA, Wang L, Pau MG, Yuan O, Virgin HW, Barouch DH, Baldridge MT, Handley SA. Associations between the microbiome and immune responses to an adenovirus-based HIV-1 candidate vaccine are distinct between African and US cohorts. mSystems. 2026 Feb 17;11(2):e0143525. doi: 10.1128/msystems.01435-25. Epub 2026 Jan 15. PubMed PMID: 41537600; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12911364.
- Makimaa H, Ingle H, Wang L, Aggarwal S, Deng H, Kennedy EA, Foster L, Li Y, Baldridge MT. MDA5-MAVS and interferon-lambda signaling in the intestinal epithelium limit murine astrovirus infection. Mucosal Immunol. 2026 Apr;19(2):1749-1758. doi: 10.1016/j.mucimm.2025.12.002. Epub 2025 Dec 21. PubMed PMID: 41435889; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13185927.
- Zhao FR, Kleverov M, Winkler ES, Williams RB, Janova H, Droit L, Wang L, Li TT, Heath L, Jung A, Mack M, Baldridge MT, Stappenbeck TS, Thackray LB, Hsieh CS, Handley SA, Guo CJ, Fischbach MA, Artyomov MN, Diamond MS. Gut microbe-derived short-chain fatty acids regulate joint inflammation and activation of infiltrating and resident myeloid cells after alphavirus infection. bioRxiv. 2025 Dec 3;. doi: 10.64898/2025.12.03.691668. PubMed PMID: 41573877; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12822754.2019). Viral complementation of immunodeficiency confers protection against enteric pathogens via interferon-λ. Nature Microbiology, 4(7):1120-1128. *equal contribution
- Crockett SL, Pierce LR, Rodgers R, Sullender M, Schriefer LA, Annaswamy Srinivas M, Lee S, Baldridge MT, Orchard RC. TRIM47 inhibits murine norovirus replication in a strain-dependent manner. J Virol. 2025 Dec 23;99(12):e0133125. doi: 10.1128/jvi.01331-25. Epub 2025 Nov 18. PubMed PMID: 41251344; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12692738.
- Chica Cardenas LA, Leonard MM, Baldridge MT, Handley SA. Gut virome dynamics: from commensal to critical player in health and disease. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2026 Feb;23(2):126-144. doi: 10.1038/s41575-025-01134-z. Epub 2025 Nov 5. Review. PubMed PMID: 41193697; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13112531.