Diversity in Life Sciences

Dr. Juan Inclan-Rico’s long-term goal is to investigate how distinct subsets of itch-inducing neurons regulate skin immunity during infectious and non-infectious conditions. Dr. Inclan-Rico is pursuing this goal as a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Wenqin Luo’s lab in the Department of Neuroscience at the Perelman School of Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). His lifelong interest in host immunity against parasitic infections started after majoring in biochemistry and pharmaceutics at the School of Chemistry of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). After graduating from UNAM, Dr. Inclan-Rico engaged in different research experiences in Mexico and the United States focused on dissecting the contributions of vagus nerve stimulation to the control of systemic inflammation and sepsis. These research experiences motivated him to pursue a doctorate in biomedical sciences at Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School, where he joined the laboratory of Dr. Mark Siracusa and led two main projects focused on the regulation of immunity against parasitic helminths. The first one defined the central contribution of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase 1 (Car1) for mast cell development induced by infection with the helminth Trichinella spiralis (Inclan-Rico et al., PLOS Pathogens, 2020). His second project (Inclan-Rico et al., Nature Immunology, 2020) revealed an unexpected crosstalk between basophils and group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) that allows ILC2s to respond to the neuropeptide Neuromedin B (NMB), which limits their cytokine secretion. After defending his Ph.D. thesis, Dr. Inclan-Rico joined the laboratory of Dr. De’Broski Herbert at the School of Veterinary Medicine at UPenn for his postdoctoral training to investigate if and how cutaneous immunity against skin-penetrating helminths can be developed. His work (Inclan-Rico et al. Nature Immunology, 2024) revealed that the blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni can be recognized by itch-inducing neurons bearing the receptor MrgprA3, but this interaction results in their inactivation. This work also showed that MrgprA3 neurons elicit IL-17-mediated skin anti-helminth immunity by inducing pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion in myeloid antigen-presenting cells. These studies were awarded prestigious awards from the Life Sciences Research Foundation (LSRF) and the Skin Biology and Diseases Resource-based Center (SBDRC) of UPenn. During his Ph.D. and postdoctoral studies, Dr. Inclan-Rico has authored several reviews and participated in multiple national and international conferences that positioned him as an emerging leader in neuro-immunoparasitology.