Christopher Medina, PhD

My research goal is to study how T cell immunometabolism shapes anti-tumor immunity and leverage biological insight for new therapies. For more detailed information please visit the lab website : https://cbmedinalab.com/

Associations

• Immunology
• Immuno-Oncology Program

Education & Training

Graduate:

• University of Virginia, PhD - Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology

Fellowship:

• Emory University School of Medicine - Microbiology and Immunology

I am particularly interested in uncovering how metabolic molecules within T cells function as key signaling mediators beyond their traditional roles as biosynthetic precursors or sources of cellular energy. By integrating metabolomics, mouse tumor models, human samples, and CRISPR-based genetic screens, my goal is to elucidate novel mechanisms that shape anti-tumor immunity and reveal new dimensions of T-cell biology that can be leveraged for novel cancer treatments.

• Medina CB, Sobierajska E, Gong M, McManus DT, Thapa M, Lee J, Im SJ, Toombs JE, Mitchell JM, Wang Y, Carlisle JW, Freeman GJ, Master VA, Ramalingam SS, Kissick HT, Li S, Brekken RA, Ahmed R. Exposed phosphatidylserine is an inhibitory molecule in T cell exhaustion. Nature. 2026 May.653(8115):879-887. Pubmedid: 41882354.
• Sobierajska E, Medina CB. The cost of persistence: MEK and metabolic demand. Immunity. 2026 Aug.59(8):2058-2060. Pubmedid: 42580317.
• McManus DT, Valanparambil RM, Medina CB, Scharer CD, McGuire DJ, Sobierajska E, Hu Y, Chang DY, Wieland A, Lee J, Nasti TH, Hashimoto M, Ross JL, Prokhnevska N, Cardenas MA, Gill AL, Clark EC, Abadie K, Kumar AJ, Kaye J, Au-Yeung BB, Kueh HY, Kissick HT, Ahmed R. An early precursor CD8+ T cell that adapts to acute or chronic viral infection. Nature. 2025 Apr.640(8059):772-781. Pubmedid: 39778710. Pmcid: PMC13375091.
• Cardenas MA, Prokhnevska N, Sobierajska E, Gregorova P, Medina CB, Valanparambil RM, Greenwald R, DelBalzo L, Bilen MA, Joshi SS, Narayan VM, Master VA, Sanda MG, Kissick HT. Differentiation fate of a stem-like CD4 T cell controls immunity to cancer. Nature. 2024 Dec.636(8041):224-232. Pubmedid: 39443797.
• Dunaway LS, Billaud M, Macal E, Good ME, Medina CB, Lorenz U, Ravichandran K, Koval M, Isakson BE. Amount of Pannexin 1 in Smooth Muscle Cells Regulates Sympathetic Nerve-Induced Vasoconstriction. Hypertension. 2023 Feb.80(2):416-425. Pubmedid: 36448464. Pmcid: PMC9851955.
• Gill AL, Wang PH, Lee J, Hudson WH, Ando S, Araki K, Hu Y, Wieland A, Im S, Gavora A, Medina CB, Freeman GJ, Hashimoto M, Reiner SL, Ahmed R. PD-1 blockade increases the self-renewal of stem-like CD8 T cells to compensate for their accelerated differentiation into effectors. Sci Immunol. 2023 Aug.8(86):eadg0539. Pubmedid: 37624909. Pmcid: PMC10798572.
• Hu Y, Hudson WH, Kissick HT, Medina CB, Baptista AP, Ma C, Liao W, Germain RN, Turley SJ, Zhang N, Ahmed R. TGF-β regulates the stem-like state of PD-1+ TCF-1+ virus-specific CD8 T cells during chronic infection. J Exp Med. 2022 Oct.219(10). Pubmedid: 35980386. Pmcid: PMC9393409.
• Lucas CD, Medina CB, Bruton FA, Dorward DA, Raymond MH, Tufan T, Etchegaray JI, Barron B, Oremek MEM, Arandjelovic S, Farber E, Onngut-Gumuscu S, Ke E, Whyte MKB, Rossi AG, Ravichandran KS. Pannexin 1 drives efficient epithelial repair after tissue injury. Sci Immunol. 2022 May.7(71):eabm4032. Pubmedid: 35559667. Pmcid: PMC7612772.
• Chiu YH, Medina CB, Doyle CA, Zhou M, Narahari AK, Sandilos JK, Gonye EC, Gao HY, Guo SY, Parlak M, Lorenz UM, Conrads TP, Desai BN, Ravichandran KS, Bayliss DA. Deacetylation as a receptor-regulated direct activation switch for pannexin channels. Nat Commun. 2021 Jul.12(1):4482. Pubmedid: 34301959. Pmcid: PMC8302610.
• Narahari AK, Kreutzberger AJ, Gaete PS, Chiu YH, Leonhardt SA, Medina CB, Jin X, Oleniacz PW, Kiessling V, Barrett PQ, Ravichandran KS, Yeager M, Contreras JE, Tamm LK, Bayliss DA. ATP and large signaling metabolites flux through caspase-activated Pannexin 1 channels. Elife. 2021 Jan.10. Pubmedid: 33410749. Pmcid: PMC7806264.
• Medina CB, Chiu YH, Stremska ME, Lucas CD, Poon I, Tung KS, Elliott MR, Desai B, Lorenz UM, Bayliss DA, Ravichandran KS. Pannexin 1 channels facilitate communication between T cells to restrict the severity of airway inflammation. Immunity. 2021 Aug.54(8):1715-1727.e7. Pubmedid: 34283971. Pmcid: PMC8363584.
• Anderson CJ, Medina CB, Barron BJ, Karvelyte L, Aaes TL, Lambertz I, Perry JSA, Mehrotra P, Gonçalves A, Lemeire K, Blancke G, Andries V, Ghazavi F, Martens A, van Loo G, Vereecke L, Vandenabeele P, Ravichandran KS. Microbes exploit death-induced nutrient release by gut epithelial cells. Nature. 2021 Aug.596(7871):262-267. Pubmedid: 34349263.
• Satkovich J, Anderson CJ, Medina CB, Ottolini M, Lukens JR, Kendall MM. RIPK3-Dependent Recruitment of Low-Inflammatory Myeloid Cells Does Not Protect from Systemic Salmonella Infection. MBio. 2020 Oct.11(5). Pubmedid: 33024046. Pmcid: PMC7542371.
• Medina CB, Mehrotra P, Arandjelovic S, Perry JSA, Guo Y, Morioka S, Barron B, Walk SF, Ghesquière B, Krupnick AS, Lorenz U, Ravichandran KS. Metabolites released from apoptotic cells act as tissue messengers. Nature. 2020 Apr.580(7801):130-135. Pubmedid: 32238926. Pmcid: PMC7217709.
• Perry JSA, Morioka S, Medina CB, Iker Etchegaray J, Barron B, Raymond MH, Lucas CD, Onengut-Gumuscu S, Delpire E, Ravichandran KS. Interpreting an apoptotic corpse as anti-inflammatory involves a chloride sensing pathway. Nat Cell Biol. 2019 Dec.21(12):1532-1543. Pubmedid: 31792382. Pmcid: PMC7140761.
• Morioka S, Perry JSA, Raymond MH, Medina CB, Zhu Y, Zhao L, Serbulea V, Onengut-Gumuscu S, Leitinger N, Kucenas S, Rathmell JC, Makowski L, Ravichandran KS. Efferocytosis induces a novel SLC program to promote glucose uptake and lactate release. Nature. 2018 Nov.563(7733):714-718. Pubmedid: 30464343. Pmcid: PMC6331005.
• Jankowski J, Perry HM, Medina CB, Huang L, Yao J, Bajwa A, Lorenz UM, Rosin DL, Ravichandran KS, Isakson BE, Okusa MD. Epithelial and Endothelial Pannexin1 Channels Mediate AKI. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2018 Jul.29(7):1887-1899. Pubmedid: 29866797. Pmcid: PMC6050932.
• Good ME, Chiu YH, Poon IKH, Medina CB, Butcher JT, Mendu SK, DeLalio LJ, Lohman AW, Leitinger N, Barrett E, Lorenz UM, Desai BN, Jaffe IZ, Bayliss DA, Isakson BE, Ravichandran KS. Pannexin 1 Channels as an Unexpected New Target of the Anti-Hypertensive Drug Spironolactone. Circ Res. 2018 Feb.122(4):606-615. Pubmedid: 29237722. Pmcid: PMC5815904.
• Chiu YH, Jin X, Medina CB, Leonhardt SA, Kiessling V, Bennett BC, Shu S, Tamm LK, Yeager M, Ravichandran KS, Bayliss DA. A quantized mechanism for activation of pannexin channels. Nat Commun. 2017 Jan.8:14324. Pubmedid: 28134257. Pmcid: PMC5290276.
• Medina CB, Ravichandran KS. Do not let death do us part: 'find-me' signals in communication between dying cells and the phagocytes. Cell Death Differ. 2016 Jun.23(6):979-989. Pubmedid: 26891690. Pmcid: PMC4987731.
• Beautrait A, Michalski KR, Lopez TS, Mannix KM, McDonald DJ, Cutter AR, Medina CB, Hebert AM, Francis CJ, Bouvier M, Tesmer JJ, Sterne-Marr R. Mapping the putative G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) docking site on GPCR kinase 2: insights from intact cell phosphorylation and recruitment assays. J Biol Chem. 2014 Sep.289(36):25262-25275. Pubmedid: 25049229. Pmcid: PMC4155688.

• Title: Metabolite Signaling in Immunity
  Award Number: GT17832
  Sponsor: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
  Medina, C. (PD/PI)