University of Kentucky · Microbiology & ImmunologyAlcohol, Immunity, and Inflammation Lab
Ilhem Messaoudi · Lexington, Kentucky
Research Focus
Dr. Ilhem Messaoudi's lab at the University of Kentucky focuses on understanding how chronic alcohol consumption affects the immune system, specifically the roles of monocytes and their progenitors. The team uses a macaque model to study how alcohol alters gut microbiota, leading to inflammation and impairments in immune response and healing. They employ advanced molecular techniques to uncover the mechanisms linking alcohol use disorder to chronic inflammation and its related health issues.
chronic alcohol consumptionimmune responsemonocytesgut microbiotaepigeneticsinflammationhematopoietic stem cellsmacaque model
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate the impact of chronic alcohol consumption on monocyte function.
AIM 02Explore how changes in gut microbiota affect immune responses.
AIM 03Identify epigenetic alterations in monocytes due to chronic alcohol intake.
AIM 04Characterize the relationship between alcohol consumption and hematopoietic stem cell behavior.
AIM 05Understand the mechanisms leading to chronic inflammation from alcohol misuse.
Skills the Lab Values
16S ribosomal RNA sequencingATAC-seqflow cytometrybioinformaticsliquid chromatography-mass spectrometrycell culturemolecular biology techniquesanimal modeling
Output against the department
Publications114bottom 43% of dept.277th of 486
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations4.9kbottom 37% of dept.308th of 486
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.