Amy Hise, MD, MPH

Professor
Department of Pathology
School of Medicine
Member
Center for Global Health and Diseases
School of Medicine

Dr. Hise earned a master’s in public health with a focus in international & family health from UCLA prior to earning her medical degree at the George Washington University Medical Center. After residency training in Internal Medicine at University Hospitals of Cleveland during which she carried out research on HIV and TB in Uganda, she completed a research fellowship in Infectious Diseases at CWRU/UH, focusing on innate immune recognition of filarial parasites. Her research currently focuses on the activation of innate immune responses, particularly the activation of the inflammasome by fungal pathogens. She is also active in the field of diversity in medicine, serving on many committees locally and nationally and active in mentoring students, trainees, and other faculty. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Pathology and a physician and researcher at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center.

Research Information

Research Projects

Most human fungal infections are caused by Candida spp, the most common being C. albicans which colonizes approximately half of healthy adults. Pathological overgrowth can occur with perturbations to the commensal microbiota or host immunity and is normally limited to mucosal surfaces. However, bloodstream infections due to Candida spp. are common in healthcare settings and are associated with a high rate of mortality. Recently, the highly virulent strain Candida auris has emerged as an important healthcare-associated pathogen that has rapidly disseminated to multiple countries. This yeast is particularly concerning because it is often resistant to commonly used antifungal agents, with some strains exhibiting resistance to all currently available classes of antifungals. Our overall research goal is to define innate immune and systemic risk factors for infection with this pathogen, develop novel mucosal models of infection and study the impact of the microbiome on susceptibility to infection.

Awards and Honors

1990 - 92: Dean’s List
UCLA School of Public Health
1998: Resident Research Award
Dept of Internal Medicine, University Hospitals of Cleveland
2002: Young Investigator Award
ASTMH Annual Meeting
2004 - 2012: NIH Clinical Loan Repayment Award Recipient
NIH
2010, 11: Crain’s Business Cleveland Health Care Hero Award Finalist
2012: FLEX Professional Development Program for Women Faculty of the School of Medicine Fellow (2012-2013)
CWRU
2019: Toyoko S. Yamashita Memorial Service Award
CWRU SOM
2021: CWRU School of Medicine Faculty Diversity Award
2024 - 2026: VA ORD BLR&D Clinician Scientist Investigator Award

External Appointments

Title
Physician
Organization/Publication
Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center

Publications

Full list of publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/amy.hise.1/bibliography/public/

Select publications:

  1. Sun Y, Abbondante S, Karmakar M, de Jesus Carrion S, Che C, Hise AG, Pearlman E. Neutrophil
    Caspase-11 Is Required for Cleavage of Caspase-1 and Secretion of IL-1β in Aspergillus fumigatus
    Infection. J Immunol. 2018 Nov 1;201(9):2767-2775. Epub 2018 Sep 28. PMID: 30266768. PMC6200591
  2. Conti H, VM Bruno, E Childs, S Daugherty, J Hunter, B Mengesha, M Hendricks, B Coleman, L Brane, N
    Solis, JA Cruz, AH Verma, AG Hise, SG Filler, JK Kolls, S Sinha, SL Gaffen. IL-17RA signaling in oral
    epithelium is necessary and sufficient for protection against oropharyngeal candidiasis. Cell Host Microbe.
    2016 Nov 9;20(5):606-617. Epub 2016 Oct 27. PMCID: PMC5147498
  3. Hise AG, Traylor Z, Hall NB, Sutherland LJ, Dahir S, Ermler ME, Muiruri S, Muchiri EM, Kazura JW,
    LaBeaud AD, King CH, Stein CM. Association of symptoms and severity of rift valley fever with genetic
    polymorphisms in human innate immune pathways. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2015 9(3): e0003584.
    doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0003584. PMCID: PMC4355584.
  4. Tomalka J, Azodi E, Narra HP, Patel K, O’Neill S, Cardwell C, Hall BA, Wilson JM, and AG Hise. β-
    Defensin 1 Plays a Role in Acute Mucosal Defense to Candida albicans. J Immunol 2015 194 (4). PMCID:
    PMC4323878.
  5. LaBeaud AD, Pfeil S, Muiruri S, Dahir S, Sutherland LJ, Traylor Z, Gildengorin G, Muchiri EM, Morrill J,
    Peters CJ, Hise AG, Kazura JW, King CH. Factors associated with severe human Rift Valley fever in
    Sangailu, Garissa County, Kenya. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015 Mar 12;9(3):e0003548. doi:
    10.1371/journal.pntd.0003548. PMCID: PMC4357470.
  6. Ermler ME, Traylor Z, Patel K, Schattgen S, Fitzgerald KA, Hise AG. Rift Valley fever virus infection
    induces activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Virology. 2014 Jan 20;449:174-80. Epub 2013 Dec 3.
    PMCID: PMC3951897.
  7. Ermler ME, Yerukhim E, Schriewer J, Schattgen S, Traylor Z, Wespiser AR, Caffrey DR, Chen ZJ, King CH,
    Fitzgerald KA, Buller RM, Hise AG. RNA helicase signaling is critical for type I interferon production and
    protection against Rift Valley fever virus during mucosal challenge. 2013. Epub 2013 Feb 13, J. Virol. 2013,
    87(9):4846, PMCID: PMC3624317.
  8. Tomalka J, Ganesan S, Azodi E, Patel K, Majmudar P, Hall BA, Fitzgerald KA, Hise AG. A novel role for
    the NLRC4 inflammasome in mucosal defenses against the fungal pathogen Candida albicans. PLoS
    Pathog. 2011 Dec;7(12):e1002379. Epub 2011 Dec 8. PMCID: PMC3234225
  9. Hise AG, Tomalka J, Ganesan S, Patel K, Hall BA, Brown GD, Fitzgerald KA. An essential role for the
    NLRP3 inflammasome in host defense against the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Cell Host
    Microbe. 2009 May 8;5(5):487-97. PMCID: PMC2824856.

Education

Degree
Doctor of Medicine
Institution
George Washington University
Area of Study
Medicine
Degree
MPH
Institution
UCLA
Area of Study
International & Family Health
Degree
Bachelor of Science
Institution
Northwestern University
Area of Study
Biomedical Engineering

Residencies, Internships and Fellowships

Institution
Case University Hospitals of Cleveland
Area of Study
Internal Medicine
Institution
Case University Hospitals of Cleveland
Area of Study
Research Fellowship, Infectious Diseases