Priscila Da Silva Castanha

Contributions to Public Health

• Teaching and mentoring in public health: My career at Pitt centers on education, dedicating efforts to teaching, mentoring, and integrating research into the public health curriculum. My pedagogy integrates experiential learning approaches, collaborative and interactive teaching strategies, and community-based partnerships to enhance both undergraduate and graduate education. Through a commitment to inclusive mentorship, I guide undergraduate and graduate students in developing the technical and leadership skills essential for successful careers in the evolving public health landscape.
• Cutaneous immunity and pathogenesis of arboviruses: In collaboration with colleagues at Pitt, I study immunity and pathogenesis of emerging and re-emerging arboviruses, including dengue, Zika, Powassan viruses. My research centers on understanding viral and host determinants of viral transmission at barrier tissues, with a primary focus on human skin. Using a human model system that recapitulates early infection dynamics, our group examines complex interactions between viruses, vector saliva, and localized immune responses.
  • Castanha PMS, Martí MM, Duangkhae P, Taddonio JM, Cooper KL, Wallace M, Kettenburg G, Erdos G, Chavva H, Alex A, Rubin JP, Watkins SC, Falo LD Jr, Marques ETA, Martinson JJ, Barratt-Boyes SM. Genetic ancestry shapes dengue virus infection in human skin explants. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (2025). PMID: 40587809.
  • Castanha PMS, Azar SR, Yeung J, Wallace M, Kettenburg G, Watkins SC, Marques ETA, Vasilakis N, Barratt-Boyes SM. Aedes aegypti Mosquito Probing Enhances Dengue Virus Infection of Resident Myeloid Cells in Human Skin. Viruses (2024). PMID: 39205228.
• Immune profiling, diagnostic development, and biomarker identification for Emerging Viral Infections: To address diagnostic challenges from flavivirus cross-reactivity, I collaborate with colleagues at IDM and international partners in Brazil to develop high-accuracy antibody assays. My research focuses on humoral profiling in epidemiological studies and investigating antibody-mediated pathogenesis. Furthermore, in collaboration with others at IDM, our lab employs cutting-edge, "antigenically agnostic" small-molecule libraries to identify biomarkers correlates of viral neutralization.
  • Fontes J, Miranda-Filho D, Montarroyos U, Araújo T, Martelli C, Rodrigues L, Brickley E,  Albuquerque M, Souza W, Ventura L, Ventura C, Gois A, Gouveia M, Oliveira D, Eickmann S, Carvalho M, Silva P, Rocha M, Ramos R, Brandão-Filho S, Cordeiro M, Bezerra L, Dimech G, Alves S, Ferreira Neto P, Castanha P, Dhalia R,  Marques-Júnior E, Ximenes R. Relative and attributable risks of adverse outcomes among children with and without prenatal Zika virus exposure in Northeast Brazil: A prospective cohort study (2015-2018). PLoS Negl Trop Dis. (2025). PMID: 40779554.
  • Castanha PMS, McEnaney PJ, Park Y, Bouwer A, Chaves EJF, Lins RD, Paciaroni NG, Dickson P, Carlson G, Cordeiro MT, Magalhaes T, Craigo J, Marques ETA, Kodadek T, Burke DS. Identification and characterization of a nonbiological small-molecular mimic of a Zika virus conformational neutralizing epitope. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (2024). PMID: 38743628.
• Maternal-child health dynamics in emerging arboviral infections: I also investigate how maternally acquired IgG shapes disease severity and infection dynamics during early childhood. In collaboration with partners in Brazil, my research explores how transmission dynamics and the genetic background of a population influence dengue susceptibility and clinical outcomes in pediatric cohorts.
  • Silva MP, Bezerra AKL, Diniz GTN, Castanha P. Risk factors predicting dengue hospitalization and disease severity in children and adolescents living in an endemic area of arbovirus transmission in Northeast Brazil (2017-2020). BMC Public Health (2025). PMID: 41152786
  • Jacques IJAA, Katz L, Sena MA, Guimarães ABG, Silva YL, Albuquerque GDM, Pereira RO, de Albuquerque CAMC, Silva MAL, Oliveira PAS, Albuquerque MFPM, Cordeiro MT, Marques ETA Jr, França RFO, Martelli CMT, Castanha PMS, Braga C. High Incidence of Zika or Chikungunya Infection among Pregnant Women Hospitalized Due to Obstetrical Complications in Northeastern Brazil-Implications for Laboratory Screening in Arbovirus Endemic Area. Viruses (2021). PMID: 33922819.
• Immunopathogenesis of emerging and re-emerging viral infections of global relevance: Beyond my work on arboviruses, I leverage my expertise in viral diagnostics to support collaborative studies on the immunopathogenesis of emerging threats. This research includes investigating SARS-CoV-2 and highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) to better understand viral entry, host responses, and disease progression.
  • Kanekiyo M, Gillespie RA, Cooper K, Canedo VG, Castanha PMS, Pegu A, Yang ES, Treaster L, Yun G, Wallace M, Kettenburg G, Williams C, Lundy J, Barrick S, O'Malley K, Midgett M, Martí MM, Chavva H, Corry J, Treat BR, Lipinski A, Batsche LO, Creanga A, Ritter I, Walker R, Olsen E, Laughlin A, Perez DR, Mascola JR, Boritz EA, Loo YM, Blair W, Esser M, Graham BS, Reed DS, Barratt-Boyes SM. Pre-exposure antibody prophylaxis protects macaques from severe influenza. Science (2025). PMID: 39883776.
  • Castanha PMS, Tuttle DJ, Kitsios GD, Jacobs JL, Braga-Neto U, Duespohl M, Rathod S, Marti MM, Wheeler S, Naqvi A, Staines B, Mellors J, Morris A, McVerry BJ, Shah F, Schaefer C, Macatangay BJC, Methe B, Fernandez CA, Barratt-Boyes SM, Burke D, Marques ETA. Contribution of Coronavirus-Specific Immunoglobulin G Responses to Complement Overactivation in Patients with Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019. J Infect Dis. (2022). PMID: 35267024.