Associate Investigator
Baylor Institute for Immunology Research
Contact Information
3434 Live Oak Street
Dallas, TX 75204
DamienC@BaylorHealth.edu
Education
1995 M. Sc., Biology (with great distinction), University of Brussels (ULB), Belgium.
1999 Ph.D., Immunology (with the highest distinction), Laboratory of Experimental immunology, University of Brussels (ULB), Belgium.
Major Contributions to Science
Biomedical literature mining
Dr. Chaussabel developed a mining technique based on the analysis of literature profiles generated by extracting the frequencies of certain terms from thousands of abstracts stored in the Medline literature database. The profiles were then filtered on the basis of both repetitive occurrence and co-occurrence among multiple gene entries and then cluster analyses were performed on the retained frequency values, thus shaping a coherent picture of the functional relationship among large and heterogeneous lists of genes. This approach contributes to optimizing the exploitation of microarray technologies by providing investigators with an interface between complex expression data and large literature resources.
Study of host-pathogen interactions
Dr. Chaussabel developed a literature-based clustering algorithm which enabled the identification of functionally and transcriptionally homogenous groups of genes. A comparison of the responses induced by the individual pathogens by means of this strategy revealed major differences in the functionally related gene profiles associated with each infectious agent. With the use of a new filtering strategy that allows for a comprehensive analysis of gene regulation in response to infection with diverse pathogens, his data demonstrates that macrophages and DCs share a vast majority of the genes expressed at baseline and that each cell type was found to respond very distinctly to pathogen exposure. This approach pinpointed, for the first time, the participation of many known and newly described genes in the context of innate immunity to infection.
Biomarker development: in children with acute infections
Dr. Chaussabel’s research discovered that blood leukocyte gene expression patterns can be used to distinguish patients with acute infections caused by 4 different pathogens: influenza A virus, the Gram-negative bacterium, Escherichia coli, and Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and S. pneumoniae, which are among the most common infections leading to hospitalization of children. Moreover, transcriptional signatures of host response to influenza infection and bacterial infection were identified and permitted the discrimination between the causative agents. Thus, his results demonstrated that blood leukocyte transcriptional signatures distinguish disease etiology in patients with acute infections caused by S. aureus or by E. coli. The illustrates the plasticity of immune responses to pathogens in the blood at the transcriptional level and highlights the potential value of blood leukocyte transcriptional signature analyses as an adjunctive means of diagnosis of infectious diseases.
Biomarker development: in children with systemic lupus
Novel algorithm and analytic framework for blood transcript profiling
Dr. Chaussabel developed a strategy for microarray analysis based on the identification of transcriptional modules formed by genes coordinately expressed in multiple disease datasets. His research also revealed that, mapping changes in gene expression at the module-level would generate disease-specific transcriptional fingerprints which provide a stable framework for the visualization and functional interpretation of microarray data. Furthermore, these transcriptional modules can be used as the basis of biomarkers selection and development of multivariate transcriptional indicators of disease progression in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. This research revealed that the modular analysis framework generated is essential to the discovery of diagnostic or prognostic markers, as well as to the monitoring of disease progression and response to treatment in other complex disease settings.
Biomarker development: tuberculosis
Dr. Chaussabel’s work assisted in the identification of a whole-blood 393 transcript signature for active TB in intermediate and high-burden settings, as well as the identification a specific 86-transcript signature that discriminates active TB from other inflammatory and infectious diseases. Comparison with transcriptional signatures in purified cells and flow cytometric analysis showed the TB signature reflects changes in cellular composition and altered gene expression. This resulted in the understanding of the role of type I IFN-αβ signaling in the pathogenesis of TB, which has implications for vaccine and therapeutic development as well as a broad range of transcriptional biomarkers with potential as diagnostic and prognostic tools to combat the TB epidemic.
Current Grants
Harnessing human DC subsets for improved mucosal vaccines
NIH/NIAID 5 (U19 AI057234-07)
04/01/09-03/31/14
A systems biology approach for pediatric and adult autoimmune diseases
NIH/NIAID (U19 AI082715-03)
04/01/09-03/31/14
Systems analysis of vaccine responses in healthy and hyporesponsive humans
NIH/NIAID (U19 AI089987-02)
06/01/10-05/31/15
Blood transcriptional biomarker profiles for category B pathogens
NIH/NIAID 7 (U01 AI082110-03)
08/18/09-07/31/14
Application of transcriptional signatures for diagnosis of febrile infants within the pediatric emergency care applied research network (PECARN)
NIH/NICHD (1 R01 HD062477-01)
07/05/10-05/31/15
Identifying epitopes recognized by influenza and flavivirus responsive CD4+ T Cells following vaccination or natural infection
NIH/NIAID (HHSN272200900043C-0)
09/30/09-09/29/14
Non-invasive optical imaging of select agent bacteria in non-human primates
NIH/NIAID (5 U01 AI082103-01)
08/01/10-07/31/14
Systems biology approach to islet antigen immunoreactivity profiling in T1D
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (17-2010-406)
12/01/09-03/31/2012
Bioinformatics approach to influenza A/H1N1 vaccine immune profiling
NIH/NAIAD (4U01AI089859-02)
07/01/2011 to 6/30/2012
Pre-symptomatic mapping of the hose responses that leads to sepsis by microarray and nanostring analysis
Dstl Ministry of Defence, UK (DSTLX: 100004780)
05/01/11-09/29/12
Investigation of T cell responses to immunotherapy using class II tetramers
NIH/NIAID (1R01 AI095074-0)
06/01/2011 – 05/31/2015
Publications (46 total from 1998 to 2012)
Key publications during the past 5 years (2007 to 2012)
1. Kaizer EC, Glaser CL, Chaussabel D, Banchereau J, Pascual V, White PC. Gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from children with diabetes. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Sep;92(9):3705-11. Epub 2007 Jun 26. PubMed PMID: 17595242
2. Allantaz F, Chaussabel D, Banchereau J, Pascual V. Microarray-based identification of novel biomarkers in IL-1-mediated diseases. Curr Opin Immunol. 2007 Dec;19(6):623-32. Epub 2007 Nov 26. Review. PubMed PMID: 18036805; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2747489.
3. Allantaz F, Chaussabel D, Stichweh D, Bennett L, Allman W, Mejias A, Ardura M, Chung W, Smith E, Wise C, Palucka K, Ramilo O, Punaro M, Banchereau J, Pascual V. Blood leukocyte microarrays to diagnose systemic onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis and follow the response to IL-1 blockade. J Exp Med. 2007 Sep 3;204(9):2131-44. Epub 2007 Aug 27. Erratum in: J Exp Med. 2009 Sep 28;206(10):2299. Smith, Elisabeth [added]. PubMed PMID: 17724127; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2118700.
4. Butterfield LH, Disis ML, Fox BA, Lee PP, Khleif SN, Thurin M, Trinchieri G, Wang E, Wigginton J, Chaussabel D, Coukos G, Dhodapkar M, Håkansson L, Janetzki S, Kleen TO, Kirkwood JM, Maccalli C, Maecker H, Maio M, Malyguine A, Masucci G, Palucka AK, Potter DM, Ribas A, Rivoltini L, Schendel D, Seliger B, Selvan S, Slingluff CL Jr, Stroncek DF, Streicher H, Wu X, Zeskind B, Zhao Y, Zocca MB, Zwierzina H, Marincola FM. A systematic approach to biomarker discovery; preamble to "the iSBTc-FDA taskforce on immunotherapy biomarkers". J Transl Med. 2008 Dec 23;6:81. PubMed PMID: 19105846; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2630944.
5. Semnani RT, Venugopal PG, Mahapatra L, Skinner JA, Meylan F, Chien D, Dorward DW, Chaussabel D, Siegel RM, Nutman TB. Induction of TRAIL- and TNF-alpha-dependent apoptosis in human monocyte-derived dendritic cells by microfilariae of Brugia malayi. J Immunol. 2008 Nov 15;181(10):7081-9. PubMed PMID: 18981128.
6. Chaussabel D. Translation of genomics research at the bedside: the promise and the challenge. Clin Immunol. 2008 Nov;129(2):179-81. Epub 2008 Sep 18. PubMed PMID: 18804420; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2602964.
7. Feng CG, Zheng L, Jankovic D, Báfica A, Cannons JL, Watford WT, Chaussabel D, Hieny S, Caspar P, Schwartzberg PL, Lenardo MJ, Sher A. The immunity-related GTPase Irgm1 promotes the expansion of activated CD4+ T cell populations by preventing interferon-gamma-induced cell death. Nat Immunol. 2008 Nov;9(11):1279-87. Epub 2008 Sep 21. PubMed PMID: 18806793; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2580721.
8. Klechevsky E, Morita R, Liu M, Cao Y, Coquery S, Thompson-Snipes L, Briere F, Chaussabel D, Zurawski G, Palucka AK, Reiter Y, Banchereau J, Ueno H. Functional specializations of human epidermal Langerhans cells and CD14+ dermal dendritic cells. Immunity. 2008 Sep 19;29(3):497-510. PubMed PMID: 18789730; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2688399.
9. von Bernuth H, Picard C, Jin Z, Pankla R, Xiao H, Ku CL, Chrabieh M, Mustapha IB, Ghandil P, Camcioglu Y, Vasconcelos J, Sirvent N, Guedes M, Vitor AB, Herrero-Mata MJ, Aróstegui JI, Rodrigo C, Alsina L, Ruiz-Ortiz E, Juan M, Fortuny C, Yagüe J, Antón J, Pascal M, Chang HH, Janniere L, Rose Y, Garty BZ, Chapel H, Issekutz A, Maródi L, Rodriguez-Gallego C, Banchereau J, Abel L, Li X, Chaussabel D, Puel A, Casanova JL. Pyogenic bacterial infections in humans with MyD88 deficiency. Science. 2008 Aug 1;321(5889):691-6. PubMed PMID: 18669862; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2688396.
10. Chaussabel D, Quinn C, Shen J, Patel P, Glaser C, Baldwin N, Stichweh D, Blankenship D, Li L, Munagala I, Bennett L, Allantaz F, Mejias A, Ardura M, Kaizer E, Monnet L, Allman W, Randall H, Johnson D, Lanier A, Punaro M, Wittkowski KM, White P, Fay J, Klintmalm G, Ramilo O, Palucka AK, Banchereau J, Pascual V. A modular analysis framework for blood genomics studies: application to systemic lupus erythematosus. Immunity. 2008 Jul 18;29(1):150-64. PubMed PMID: 18631455; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2727981.
11. Pascual V, Allantaz F, Patel P, Palucka AK, Chaussabel D, Banchereau J. How the study of children with rheumatic diseases identified interferon-alpha and interleukin-1 as novel therapeutic targets. Immunol Rev. 2008 Jun;223:39-59. Review. PubMed PMID: 18613829; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2753523.
12. Jackson A, McWilliams C, Kaizer E, Chaussabel D, Glaser C, Noguchi H, Matsumoto S, Levy MF, Naziruddin B. Gene expression profiling of human pancreatic islets undergoing a simulated process of instant blood-mediated inflammatory reaction. Transplant Proc. 2008 Mar;40(2):430-2. PubMed PMID: 18374091.
13. Chaussabel D, Ueno H, Banchereau J, Quinn C. Data management: it starts at the bench. Nat Immunol. 2009 Dec;10(12):1225-7. PubMed PMID: 19915619; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2788787.
14. Ceppi M, Clavarino G, Gatti E, Schmidt EK, de Gassart A, Blankenship D, Ogola G, Banchereau J, Chaussabel D, Pierre P. Ribosomal protein mRNAs are translationally-regulated during human dendritic cells activation by LPS. Immunome Res. 2009 Nov 27;5:5. PubMed PMID: 19943945; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2788525.
15. Tahara H, Sato M, Thurin M, Wang E, Butterfield LH, Disis ML, Fox BA, Lee PP, Khleif SN, Wigginton JM, Ambs S, Akutsu Y, Chaussabel D, Doki Y, Eremin O, Fridman WH, Hirohashi Y, Imai K, Jacobson J, Jinushi M, Kanamoto A, Kashani-Sabet M, Kato K, Kawakami Y, Kirkwood JM, Kleen TO, Lehmann PV, Liotta L, Lotze MT, Maio M, Malyguine A, Masucci G, Matsubara H, Mayrand-Chung S, Nakamura K, Nishikawa H, Palucka AK, Petricoin EF, Pos Z, Ribas A, Rivoltini L, Sato N, Shiku H, Slingluff CL, Streicher H, Stroncek DF, Takeuchi H, Toyota M, Wada H, Wu X, Wulfkuhle J, Yaguchi T, Zeskind B, Zhao Y, Zocca MB, Marincola FM. Emerging concepts in biomarker discovery; the US-Japan Workshop on Immunological Molecular Markers in Oncology. J Transl Med. 2009 Jun 17;7:45. PubMed PMID: 19534815; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2724494.
16. Matsui T, Connolly JE, Michnevitz M, Chaussabel D, Yu CI, Glaser C, Tindle S, Pypaert M, Freitas H, Piqueras B, Banchereau J, Palucka AK. CD2 distinguishes two subsets of human plasmacytoid dendritic cells with distinct phenotype and functions. J Immunol. 2009 Jun 1;182(11):6815-23. PubMed PMID: 19454677; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2749454.
17. Pankla R, Buddhisa S, Berry M, Blankenship DM, Bancroft GJ, Banchereau J, Lertmemongkolchai G, Chaussabel D. Genomic transcriptional profiling identifies a candidate blood biomarker signature for the diagnosis of septicemic melioidosis. Genome Biol. 2009;10(11):R127. Epub 2009 Nov 10. PubMed PMID: 19903332; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3091321.
18. Noguchi H, Matsumoto S, Onaca N, Naziruddin B, Jackson A, Ikemoto T, Shimoda M, Fujita Y, Chujo D, Iwanaga Y, Nagata H, Okitsu T, Kobayashi N, Ueno H, Chaussabel D, Grayburn P, Banchereau J, Levy MF. Ductal injection of JNK inhibitors before pancreas preservation prevents islet apoptosis and improves islet graft function. Hum Gene Ther. 2009 Jan;20(1):73-85. PubMed PMID: 18925829.
19. Luci C, Reynders A, Ivanov II, Cognet C, Chiche L, Chasson L, Hardwigsen J, Anguiano E, Banchereau J, Chaussabel D, Dalod M, Littman DR, Vivier E, Tomasello E. Influence of the transcription factor RORgammat on the development of NKp46+ cell populations in gut and skin. Nat Immunol. 2009 Jan;10(1):75-82. Epub 2008 Nov 23. PubMed PMID: 19029904.
20. Ardura MI, Banchereau R, Mejias A, Di Pucchio T, Glaser C, Allantaz F, Pascual V, Banchereau J, Chaussabel D, Ramilo O. Enhanced monocyte response and decreased central memory T cells in children with invasive Staphylococcus aureus infections. PLoS One. 2009;4(5):e5446. Epub 2009 May 8. PubMed PMID: 19424507; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2676512.
21. Kong XF, Ciancanelli M, Al-Hajjar S, Alsina L, Zumwalt T, Bustamante J, Feinberg J, Audry M, Prando C, Bryant V, Kreins A, Bogunovic D, Halwani R, Zhang XX, Abel L, Chaussabel D, Al-Muhsen S, Casanova JL, Boisson-Dupuis S. A novel form of human STAT1 deficiency impairing early but not late responses to interferons. Blood. 2010 Dec 23;116(26):5895-906. Epub 2010 Sep 14. PubMed PMID: 20841510; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3031383.
22. Berry MP, Graham CM, McNab FW, Xu Z, Bloch SA, Oni T, Wilkinson KA, Banchereau R, Skinner J, Wilkinson RJ, Quinn C, Blankenship D, Dhawan R, Cush JJ, Mejias A, Ramilo O, Kon OM, Pascual V, Banchereau J, Chaussabel D, O'Garra A. An interferon-inducible neutrophil-driven blood transcriptional signature in human tuberculosis. Nature. 2010 Aug 19;466(7309):973-7. PubMed PMID: 20725040.
23. Chaussabel D, Pascual V, Banchereau J. Assessing the human immune system through blood transcriptomics. BMC Biol. 2010 Jul 1;8:84. Review. PubMed PMID: 20619006; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2895587.
24. Guiducci C, Gong M, Xu Z, Gill M, Chaussabel D, Meeker T, Chan JH, Wright T, Punaro M, Bolland S, Soumelis V, Banchereau J, Coffman RL, Pascual V, Barrat FJ. TLR recognition of self nucleic acids hampers glucocorticoid activity in lupus. Nature. 2010 Jun 17;465(7300):937-41. PubMed PMID: 20559388; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2964153.
25. Pascual V, Chaussabel D, Banchereau J. A genomic approach to human autoimmune diseases. Annu Rev Immunol. 2010 Mar;28:535-71. Review. PubMed PMID: 20192809; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2847838.
26. Assassi S, Mayes MD, Arnett FC, Gourh P, Agarwal SK, McNearney TA, Chaussabel D, Oommen N, Fischbach M, Shah KR, Charles J, Pascual V, Reveille JD, Tan FK. Systemic sclerosis and lupus: points in an interferon-mediated continuum. Arthritis Rheum. 2010 Feb;62(2):589-98. PubMed PMID: 20112391; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2879587.
27. Sancho-Shimizu V, Pérez de Diego R, Lorenzo L, Halwani R, Alangari A, Israelsson E, Fabrega S, Cardon A, Maluenda J, Tatematsu M, Mahvelati F, Herman M, Ciancanelli M, Guo Y, AlSum Z, Alkhamis N, Al-Makadma AS, Ghadiri A, Boucherit S, Plancoulaine S, Picard C, Rozenberg F, Tardieu M, Lebon P, Jouanguy E, Rezaei N, Seya T, Matsumoto M, Chaussabel D, Puel A, Zhang SY, Abel L, Al-Muhsen S, Casanova JL. Herpes simplex encephalitis in children with autosomal recessive and dominant TRIF deficiency. J Clin Invest. 2011 Dec 1;121(12):4889-902. doi: 10.1172/JCI59259. Epub 2011 Nov 21.PMID: 22105173 PMCID: PMC3226004
28. Guo Y, Audry M, Ciancanelli M, Alsina L, Azevedo J, Herman M, Anguiano E, Sancho-Shimizu V, Lorenzo L, Pauwels E, Philippe PB, Pérez de Diego R, Cardon A, Vogt G, Picard C, Andrianirina ZZ, Rozenberg F, Lebon P, Plancoulaine S, Tardieu M, Valérie Doireau, Jouanguy E, Chaussabel D, Geissmann F, Abel L, Casanova JL, Zhang SY. Herpes simplex virus encephalitis in a patient with complete TLR3 deficiency: TLR3 is otherwise redundant in protective immunity. J Exp Med. 2011 Sep 26;208(10):2083-98. Epub 2011 Sep 12. PubMed PMID: 21911422, PubMed Central PMCID: PMCID: PMC3182056
29. Hambleton S, Salem S, Bustamante J, Bigley V, Boisson-Dupuis S, Azevedo J, Fortin A, Haniffa M, Ceron-Gutierrez L, Bacon CM, Menon G, Trouillet C, McDonald D, Carey P, Ginhoux F, Alsina L, Zumwalt TJ, Kong XF, Kumararatne D, Butler K, Hubeau M, Feinberg J, Al-Muhsen S, Cant A, Abel L, Chaussabel D, Doffinger R, Talesnik E, Grumach A, Duarte A, Abarca K, Moraes-Vasconcelos D, Burk D, Berghuis A, Geissmann F, Collin M, Casanova JL, Gros P. IRF8 mutations and human dendritic-cell immunodeficiency. N Engl J Med. 2011 Jul 14;365(2):127-38. Epub 2011 Apr 27. PubMed PMID: 21524210; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3136554.
30. McNab FW, Berry MP, Graham CM, Bloch SA, Oni T, Wilkinson KA, Wilkinson RJ, Kon OM, Banchereau J, Chaussabel D, O'Garra A. Programmed death ligand 1 is over-expressed by neutrophils in the blood of patients with active tuberculosis. Eur J Immunol. 2011 Jul;41(7):1941-7. doi: 10.1002/eji.201141421. Epub 2011 May 27. PubMed PMID: 21509782; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3179592.
31. Sonja Tattermusch, Jason Skinner, Damien Chaussabel, Jacques Banchereau, Matthew P Berry, Anne O'Garra, Graham P Taylor, Charles R M Bangham. An interferon signature is associated with HAM/TSP but not viral containment in HTLV-1 infection Retrovirology. 2011; 8(Suppl 1): A108. Published online 2011 June 6. doi: 10.1186/1742-4690-8-S1-A108 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3112574
32. Quartier P, Allantaz F, Cimaz R, Pillet P, Messiaen C, Bardin C, Bossuyt X, Boutten A, Bienvenu J, Duquesne A, Richer O, Chaussabel D, Mogenet A, Banchereau J, Treluyer JM, Landais P, Pascual V. A multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist anakinra in patients with systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (ANAJIS trial). Ann Rheum Dis. 2011 May;70(5):747-54. Epub 2010 Dec 20. PubMed PMID: 21173013; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3070271.
33. Matsumoto S, Takita M, Chaussabel D, Noguchi H, Shimoda M, Sugimoto K, Itoh T, Chujo D, Sorelle J, Onaca N, Naziruddin B, Levy MF. Improving Efficacy of Clinical Islet Transplantation with Iodixanol Based Islet Purification, Thymoglobulin Induction and Blockage of IL-1-beta and TNF-alpha.Cell Transplant. 2011 Mar 8. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:21396171 PMCID: PMC3136554
34. Tattermusch S, Skinner JA, Chaussabel, D, Banchereau J, Berry MP, McNab FW, O'Garra A, Taylor GP, Bangham CR. Systems Biology Approaches Reveal a Specific Interferon-Inducible Signature in HTLV-1 Associated Myelopathy. PLoS Pathog. 2012 Jan;8(1):e1002480. Epub 2012 Jan 26. PMID:22291590, PMCID: PMC3266939.