Tiffany Scharschmidt, MD
Professor
Dermatology
School of Medicine

The central focus of my laboratory is to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms that mediate interactions between bacteria and the developing immune system, with a long-term goal of developing new therapeutic approaches based on this knowledge. Work in my lab leverages access to human samples, including human skin and blood, as well as corresponding microbiome samples to dissect the role of host-microbe crosstalk in normal cutaneous immune development and inflammatory skin disease. We also employ a reductionist approach, utilizing sophisticated immunological and microbiological tools in murine models to ask fundamental questions about mechanisms mediating the innate and adaptive immune responses to bacteria in early life.

• Long-term tolerance to skin commensals is established neonatally through a specialized dendritic cell subgroup.
  Immunity 2023 Weckel A, Dhariwala MO, Ly K, Tran VM, Ojewumi OT, Riggs JB, Gonzalez JR, Dwyer LR, Okoro JN, Leech JM, Bacino MS, Cho GD, Merana G, Anandasabapathy N, Kumamoto Y, Scharschmidt TC
• FLG Deficiency in Mice Alters the Early-Life CD4+ T-Cell Response to Skin Commensal Bacteria.
  The Journal of investigative dermatology 2022 Gonzalez JR, Celli A, Weckel A, Dhariwala MO, Merana GR, Ojewumi OT, Okoro J, Dwyer LR, Tran VM, Meyer JM, Mauro TM, Scharschmidt TC
• The best offense is a good beta-defensin.
  Immunity 2022 Dhariwala MO, Scharschmidt TC
• 544 Commensal induced accumulation of monocyte-derived cells in neonatal skin regulates long-term cutaneous type 17 inflammation.
  Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2022 M. Dhariwala, J. Okoro, T. Scharschmidt
• 561 Filaggrin deficiency confers an altered early life T cell response to commensal skin bacteria.
  Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2022 J. Gonzalez, T. Scharschmidt
• Early life tolerance depends on a subset of specialized dendritic cells and is reinforced by the skin microbiota
  BioRxiv 2022
• Intestinal inflammation alters the antigen-specific immune response to a skin commensal.
  Cell reports 2022 Merana GR, Dwyer LR, Dhariwala MO, Weckel A, Gonzalez JR, Okoro JN, Cohen JN, Tamaki CM, Han J, Tasoff P, Palacios-Calderon Y, Ha CWY, Lynch SV, Segre JA, Kong HH, Kattah MG, Ma A, Scharschmidt TC
• Early life host-microbe interactions in skin.
  Cell host & microbe 2022 Dwyer LR, Scharschmidt TC
• Skin immunity: dissecting the complex biology of our body's outer barrier.
  Mucosal immunology 2022 Zhang C, Merana GR, Harris-Tryon T, Scharschmidt TC
• Baby's skin bacteria: first impressions are long-lasting.
  Trends in immunology 2021 Dhariwala MO, Scharschmidt TC
• Layilin Anchors Regulatory T Cells in Skin.
  Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) 2021 Mehta P, Gouirand V, Boda DP, Zhang J, Gearty SV, Zirak B, Lowe MM, Clancy S, Boothby I, Mahuron KM, Fries A, Krummel MF, Mankoo P, Chang HW, Liu J, Moreau JM, Scharschmidt TC, Daud A, Kim E, Neuhaus …
• Regulatory T cells promote innate inflammation after skin barrier breach via TGF-β activation.
  Science immunology 2021 Moreau JM, Dhariwala MO, Gouirand V, Boda DP, Boothby IC, Lowe MM, Cohen JN, Macon CE, Leech JM, Kalekar LA, Scharschmidt TC, Rosenblum MD
• Elucidating the Role of the Skin Barrier Protein Filaggrin in the Adaptive Immune Response to Commensals.
  The FASEB Journal 2021 Jeanmarie Gonzalez, Tiffany Scharschmidt
• Hair of the mouse: A skin bacteria "cocktail" gets follicles back on their feet.
  Cell host & microbe 2021 Gonzalez JR, Merana GR, Scharschmidt TC
• 002 Colitis alters the antigen-specific response to skin commensal bacteria and predisposes to neutrophilic skin inflammation.
  Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2021 G.R. Merana, M. Dhariwala, T. Scharschmidt
• Colitis alters the antigen-specific response to skin commensal bacteria and predisposes to neutrophilic skin inflammation.
  The Journal of Immunology 2021 Geil Ramvielle Merana, Miqdad Dhariwala, Laura Dwyer, Tiffany Scharschmidt
• Developing Human Skin Contains Lymphocytes Demonstrating a Memory Signature.
  Cell reports. Medicine 2020 Dhariwala MO, Karthikeyan D, Vasquez KS, Farhat S, Weckel A, Taravati K, Leitner EG, Clancy S, Pauli M, Piper ML, Cohen JN, Ashouri JF, Lowe MM, Rosenblum MD, Scharschmidt TC
• MAIT cells are imprinted by the microbiota in early life and promote tissue repair.
  The Journal of Immunology 2020 Michael G Constantinides, Verena M. Link, Samira Tamoutounour, Andrea C. Wong, P. Juliana Perez-Chaparro, Seong-Ji Han, Y. Erin Chen, Kelin Li, Sepideh Farhat, Antonin Weckel, Siddharth R. …
• Atlas of atopic dermatitis.
  The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 2020 Boothby IC, Gonzalez JR, Scharschmidt TC
• Regulatory T cells use arginase 2 to enhance their metabolic fitness in tissues.
  JCI insight 2019 Lowe MM, Boothby I, Clancy S, Ahn RS, Liao W, Nguyen DN, Schumann K, Marson A, Mahuron KM, Kingsbury GA, Liu Z, Munoz Sandoval P, Rodriguez RS, Pauli ML, Taravati K, Arron ST, Neuhaus IM, Harris HW, …
• Toxin-Triggered Interleukin-1 Receptor Signaling Enables Early-Life Discrimination of Pathogenic versus Commensal Skin Bacteria.
  Cell host & microbe 2019 Leech JM, Dhariwala MO, Lowe MM, Chu K, Merana GR, Cornuot C, Weckel A, Ma JM, Leitner EG, Gonzalez JR, Vasquez KS, Diep BA, Scharschmidt TC
• MAIT cells are imprinted by the microbiota in early life and promote tissue repair.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2019 Constantinides MG, Link VM, Tamoutounour S, Wong AC, Perez-Chaparro PJ, Han SJ, Chen YE, Li K, Farhat S, Weckel A, Krishnamurthy SR, Vujkovic-Cvijin I, Linehan JL, Bouladoux N, Merrill ED, Roy S, Cua …
• Antibiotics for Acne-A Pilot Study of Collateral Damage to the Skin Microbiome.
  JAMA dermatology 2019 Scharschmidt TC
• The TNFRSF members CD27 and OX40 coordinately limit TH17 differentiation in regulatory T cells.
  Science immunology 2018 Remedios KA, Zirak B, Sandoval PM, Lowe MM, Boda D, Henley E, Bhattrai S, Scharschmidt TC, Liao W, Naik HB, Rosenblum MD
• The microbiome in patients with atopic dermatitis.
  The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 2018 Paller AS, Kong HH, Seed P, Naik S, Scharschmidt TC, Gallo RL, Luger T, Irvine AD
• Alteration of the cutaneous microbiome in psoriasis and potential role in Th17 polarization.
  Microbiome 2018 Chang HW, Yan D, Singh R, Liu J, Lu X, Ucmak D, Lee K, Afifi L, Fadrosh D, Leech J, Vasquez KS, Lowe MM, Rosenblum MD, Scharschmidt TC, Lynch SV, Liao W
• Skin Commensal Antigens: Taking the Road Less Traveled.
  Trends in immunology 2018 Dhariwala MO, Scharschmidt TC
• Fighting staph: Not child’s play.
  Science Translational Medicine 2018 Tiffany C. Scharschmidt
• Successful treatment of mucous membrane pemphigoid with bortezomib.
  JAAD case reports 2017 Saeed L, Schmidt TH, Gensler LS, Gross AJ, Fox LP, Scharschmidt TC, Gaensler K, Naik H, Rosenblum MA, Shinkai K
• S. aureus induces IL-36 to start the itch.
  Science Translational Medicine 2017 Tiffany C. Scharschmidt
• Growing good bugs with mom’s milk.
  Science Translational Medicine 2017 Tiffany C. Scharschmidt
• ILC regs : The new kid in class.
  Science Translational Medicine 2017 Tiffany C. Scharschmidt
• Interferon with antitumor immunity.
  Science Translational Medicine 2017 Tiffany C. Scharschmidt
• Skin Dysbiosis Goes "Off-Leish".
  Cell host & microbe 2017 Scharschmidt TC
• A vitamin to D-crease sunburn.
  Science translational medicine 2017 Scharschmidt TC
• Regulatory T Cells in Skin Facilitate Epithelial Stem Cell Differentiation.
  Cell 2017 Ali N, Zirak B, Rodriguez RS, Pauli ML, Truong HA, Lai K, Ahn R, Corbin K, Lowe MM, Scharschmidt TC, Taravati K, Tan MR, Ricardo-Gonzalez RR, Nosbaum A, Bertolini M, Liao W, Nestle FO, Paus R, …
• Measuring inflammation in IBD with an OSM-ostat.
  Science translational medicine 2017 Scharschmidt TC
• Commensal Microbes and Hair Follicle Morphogenesis Coordinately Drive Treg Migration into Neonatal Skin.
  Cell host & microbe 2017 Scharschmidt TC, Vasquez KS, Pauli ML, Leitner EG, Chu K, Truong HA, Lowe MM, Sanchez Rodriguez R, Ali N, Laszik ZG, Sonnenburg JL, Millar SE, Rosenblum MD
• When TLRs fail, IgG has your back.
  Science translational medicine 2017 Scharschmidt TC
• Establishing Tolerance to Commensal Skin Bacteria: Timing Is Everything.
  Dermatologic clinics 2017 Scharschmidt TC
• 014 Commensal microbes augment expression of the hair follicle chemokine Ccl20 to facilitate accumulation of Tregs in neonatal skin.
  Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2016 T.C. Scharschmidt, K.S. Vasquez, M.L. Pauli, H. Truong, J.L. Sonnenburg, S.E. Millar, M.D. Rosenblum
• Cutting Edge: Regulatory T Cells Facilitate Cutaneous Wound Healing.
  Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) 2016 Nosbaum A, Prevel N, Truong HA, Mehta P, Ettinger M, Scharschmidt TC, Ali NH, Pauli ML, Abbas AK, Rosenblum MD
• A Wave of Regulatory T Cells into Neonatal Skin Mediates Tolerance to Commensal Microbes.
  Immunity 2015 Scharschmidt TC, Vasquez KS, Truong HA, Gearty SV, Pauli ML, Nosbaum A, Gratz IK, Otto M, Moon JJ, Liese J, Abbas AK, Fischbach MA, Rosenblum MD
• Paradoxical benefits of psychological stress in inflammatory dermatoses models are glucocorticoid mediated.
  The Journal of investigative dermatology 2014 Lin TK, Man MQ, Santiago JL, Scharschmidt TC, Hupe M, Martin-Ezquerra G, Youm JK, Zhai Y, Trullas C, Feingold KR, Elias PM
• What Lives On Our Skin: Ecology, Genomics and Therapeutic Opportunities Of the Skin Microbiome.
  Drug discovery today. Disease mechanisms 2013 Scharschmidt TC, Fischbach MA
• Immune reconstitution reactions in human immunodeficiency virus-negative patients: report of a case and review of the literature.
  JAMA dermatology 2013 Scharschmidt TC, Amerson EH, Rosenberg OS, Jacobs RA, McCalmont TH, Shinkai K
• Neurogenic rosacea: a distinct clinical subtype requiring a modified approach to treatment.
  Archives of dermatology 2011 Scharschmidt TC, Yost JM, Truong SV, Steinhoff M, Wang KC, Berger TG
• Epidermal barrier dysfunction in non-atopic HIV: evidence for an "inside-to-outside" pathogenesis.
  The Journal of investigative dermatology 2009 Gunathilake R, Schmuth M, Scharschmidt TC, Gruber R, Grabher D, Leslie KS, Maurer TA, Mauro TM, Elias PM
• Filaggrin deficiency confers a paracellular barrier abnormality that reduces inflammatory thresholds to irritants and haptens.
  The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 2009 Scharschmidt TC, Man MQ, Hatano Y, Crumrine D, Gunathilake R, Sundberg JP, Silva KA, Mauro TM, Hupe M, Cho S, Wu Y, Celli A, Schmuth M, Feingold KR, Elias PM
• Matriptase-deficient mice exhibit ichthyotic skin with a selective shift in skin microbiota.
  The Journal of investigative dermatology 2009 Scharschmidt TC, List K, Grice EA, Szabo R, NISC Comparative Sequencing Program, Renaud G, Lee CC, Wolfsberg TG, Bugge TH, Segre JA
• Maintenance of an acidic stratum corneum prevents emergence of murine atopic dermatitis.
  The Journal of investigative dermatology 2009 Hatano Y, Man MQ, Uchida Y, Crumrine D, Scharschmidt TC, Kim EG, Mauro TM, Feingold KR, Elias PM, Holleran WM
• Modeling atopic dermatitis with increasingly complex mouse models.
  The Journal of investigative dermatology 2008 Scharschmidt TC, Segre JA
• Autosomal ichthyosis with hypotrichosis syndrome displays low matriptase proteolytic activity and is phenocopied in ST14 hypomorphic mice.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2007 List K, Currie B, Scharschmidt TC, Szabo R, Shireman J, Molinolo A, Cravatt BF, Segre J, Bugge TH
• Clinical trial design issues raised during recombinant DNA advisory committee review of gene transfer protocols.
  Human gene therapy 2006 Scharschmidt T, Lo B
• Clinical Trial Design Issues Raised During Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee Review of Gene Transfer Protocols.
  Human Gene Therapy 2006 Tiffany Scharschmidt, Bernard Lo
• Estrogen receptor beta-selective transcriptional activity and recruitment of coregulators by phytoestrogens.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2001 An J, Tzagarakis-Foster C, Scharschmidt TC, Lomri N, Leitman DC