Kathie Walters, PhD

Principal Scientist

Dr. Walters’s research interests include: i) underlying pathological processes associated with pandemic respiratory viruses including 1918 and 2009 influenza viruses and the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 coronavirus, ii) host-pathogen interactions and how it relates to disease susceptibility, progression and/or recovery, and iii) using multi-omics data to identify novel therapeutic targets and diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers of infection. Currently, Dr. Walters is applying systems-based approaches to a human challenge model of influenza virus to both identify prognostic markers of viral shedding, disease severity and correlates of immune protection with the goal of improving the performance of current vaccines. She is also interested in exploring the underlying mechanisms of secondary bacterial infection as a major cause of morbidity/mortality during influenza virus infection, particularly with pandemic-causing strains including the 1918 H1N1 influenza virus which was responsible for 50 million deaths worldwide.

PhD, Virology, University of Alberta, 2003

BSc, Biological sciences, University of Alberta, 1995

Regulatory Affairs Certificate, Pharmaceuticals, Regulatory Affairs Professional Society, 2014

Virology, host-pathogen interactions, systems biology approaches to infectious disease, biomarkers

D’Agnillo, F., Walters, K. A., Xiao, Y., Sheng, Z.-M., Scherler, K., Park, J., Gygli, S., Rosas, L. A., Sadtler, K., Kalish, H., Blatti, C. A., Zhu, R., Gatzke, L., Bushell, C., Memoli, M. J., O’Day, S. J., Fischer, T. D., Hammond, T. C., Lee, R. C., … Taubenberger, J. K. (2021). Lung epithelial and endothelial damage, loss of tissue repair, inhibition of fibrinolysis, and cellular senescence in fatal COVID-19. Science Translational Medicine, 13(620), eabj7790. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abj7790 Cite Download

Giurgea, L. T., Cervantes-Medina, A., Walters, K. A., Scherler, K., Han, A., Czajkowski, L. M., Baus, H. A., Hunsberger, S., Klein, S. L., Kash, J. C., Taubenberger, J. K., & Memoli, M. J. (2021). Sex Differences in Influenza: The Challenge Study Experience. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, jiab422. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiab422 Cite Download

Giurgea, L. T., Park, J.-K., Walters, K. A., Scherler, K., Cervantes-Medina, A., Freeman, A., Rosas, L. A., Kash, J. C., Taubenberger, J. K., & Memoli, M. J. (2021). The effect of calcium and magnesium on activity, immunogenicity, and efficacy of a recombinant N1/N2 neuraminidase vaccine. NPJ Vaccines, 6(1), 48. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41541-021-00310-x Cite Download

Park, J.-K., Xiao, Y., Ramuta, M. D., Rosas, L. A., Fong, S., Matthews, A. M., Freeman, A. D., Gouzoulis, M. A., Batchenkova, N. A., Yang, X., Scherler, K., Qi, L., Reed, S., Athota, R., Czajkowski, L., Han, A., Morens, D. M., Walters, K. A., Memoli, M. J., … Taubenberger, J. K. (2020). Pre-existing immunity to influenza virus hemagglutinin stalk might drive selection for antibody-escape mutant viruses in a human challenge model. Nature Medicine, 26(8), 1240–1246. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0937-x Cite Download

Walters, K. A., Zhu, R., Welge, M., Scherler, K., Park, J.-K., Rahil, Z., Wang, H., Auvil, L., Bushell, C., Lee, M. Y., Baxter, D., Bristol, T., Rosas, L. A., Cervantes-Medina, A., Czajkowski, L., Han, A., Memoli, M. J., Taubenberger, J. K., & Kash, J. C. (2019). Differential Effects of Influenza Virus NA, HA Head, and HA Stalk Antibodies on Peripheral Blood Leukocyte Gene Expression during Human Infection. MBio, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00760-19 Cite Download

Lee, M. Y., Kim, T.-K., Walters, K. A., & Wang, K. (2019). A biological function based biomarker panel optimization process. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 7365. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43779-2 Cite Download

Memoli, M. J., Han, A., Walters, K. A., Czajkowski, L., Reed, S., Athota, R., Rosas, L. A., Cervantes-Medina, A., Park, J.-K., Morens, D. M., Kash, J. C., & Taubenberger, J. K. (2019). Influenza A Reinfection in Sequential Human Challenge: Implications for Protective Immunity and “Universal” Vaccine Development. Clinical Infectious Diseases: An Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciz281 Cite

Kash, J. C., Walters, K. A., Kindrachuk, J., Baxter, D., Scherler, K., Janosko, K. B., Adams, R. D., Herbert, A. S., James, R. M., Stonier, S. W., Memoli, M. J., Dye, J. M., Davey, R. T., Chertow, D. S., & Taubenberger, J. K. (2017). Longitudinal peripheral blood transcriptional analysis of a patient with severe Ebola virus disease. Science Translational Medicine, 9(385). https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aai9321 Cite

Walters, K. A., D’Agnillo, F., Sheng, Z. M., Kindrachuk, J., Schwartzman, L. M., Kuestner, R. E., Chertow, D. S., Golding, B. T., Taubenberger, J. K., & Kash, J. C. (2016). 1918 pandemic influenza virus and Streptococcus pneumoniae co-infection results in activation of coagulation and widespread pulmonary thrombosis in mice and humans. The Journal of Pathology, 238, 85–97. https://doi.org/10.1002/path.4638 Cite

Walters, K. A., Olsufka, R., Kuestner, R. E., Wu, X., Wang, K., Skerrett, S. J., & Ozinsky, A. (2015). Prior infection with Type A Francisella tularensis antagonizes the pulmonary transcriptional response to an aerosolized Toll-like receptor 4 agonist. BMC Genomics, 16, 874. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-015-2022-2 Cite

Grosse-Wilde, A., Fouquier d’Hérouël, A., McIntosh, E., Ertaylan, G., Skupin, A., Kuestner, R. E., Del Sol, A., Walters, K. A., & Huang, S. (2015). Stemness of the hybrid Epithelial/Mesenchymal State in Breast Cancer and Its Association with Poor Survival. PLoS One, 10, e0126522. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126522 Cite

Kash, J. C., Xiao, Y., Davis, A. S., Walters, K. A., Chertow, D. S., Easterbrook, J. D., Dunfee, R. L., Sandouk, A., Jagger, B. W., Schwartzman, L. M., Kuestner, R. E., Wehr, N. B., Huffman, K., Rosenthal, R. A., Ozinsky, A., Levine, R. L., Doctrow, S. R., & Taubenberger, J. K. (2014). Treatment with the reactive oxygen species scavenger EUK-207 reduces lung damage and increases survival during 1918 influenza virus infection in mice. Free Radical Biology & Medicine, 67, 235–247. Cite

Qi, L., Pujanauski, L. M., Davis, A. S., Schwartzman, L. M., Chertow, D. S., Baxter, D., Scherler, K., Hartshorn, K. L., Slemons, R. D., Walters, K. A., Kash, J. C., & Taubenberger, J. K. (2014). Contemporary avian influenza A virus subtype H1, H6, H7, H10, and H15 hemagglutinin genes encode a mammalian virulence factor similar to the 1918 pandemic virus H1 hemagglutinin. MBio, 5(6), e02116. https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.02116-14 Cite

Walters, K. A., Olsufka, R., Kuestner, R. E., Cho, J. H., Li, H., Zornetzer, G. A., Wang, K., Skerrett, S. J., & Ozinsky, A. (2013). Francisella tularensis subsp. tularensis induces a unique pulmonary inflammatory response: role of bacterial gene expression in temporal regulation of host defense responses. PLoS One, 8(5), e62412. Cite

Rasmussen, A. L., Tchitchek, N., Susnow, N. J., Krasnoselsky, A. L., Diamond, D. L., Yeh, M. M., Proll, S. C., Korth, M. J., Walters, K. A., Lederer, S., Larson, A. M., Carithers, R. L., Benecke, A., & Katze, M. G. (2012). Early transcriptional programming links progression to hepatitis C virus-induced severe liver disease in transplant patients. Hepatology, 56, 17–27. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.25612 Cite

Diamond, D. L., Krasnoselsky, A. L., Burnum, K. E., Monroe, M. E., Webb-Robertson, B.-J., McDermott, J. E., Yeh, M. M., Dzib, J. F. G., Susnow, N., Strom, S., Proll, S. C., Belisle, S. E., Purdy, D. E., Rasmussen, A. L., Walters, K. A., Jacobs, J. M., Gritsenko, M. A., Camp, D. G., Bhattacharya, R., … Katze, M. G. (2012). Proteome and computational analyses reveal new insights into the mechanisms of hepatitis C virus-mediated liver disease posttransplantation. Hepatology, 56, 28–38. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.25649 Cite

Jagger, B. W., Wise, H. M., Kash, J. C., Walters, K. A., Wills, N. M., Xiao, Y. L., Dunfee, R. L., Schwartzman, L. M., Ozinsky, A., Bell, G. L., Dalton, R. M., Lo, A., Efstathiou, S., Atkins, J. F., Firth, A. E., Taubenberger, J. K., & Digard, P. (2012). An Overlapping Protein-Coding Region in Influenza A Virus Segment 3 Modulates the Host Response. Science. Cite

Kash, J. C., Walters, K. A., Davis, A. S., Sandouk, A., Schwartzman, L. M., Jagger, B. W., Chertow, D. S., Li, Q., Kuestner, R. E., Ozinsky, A., & Taubenberger, J. K. (2011). Lethal synergism of 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus and Streptococcus pneumoniae coinfection is associated with loss of murine lung repair responses. MBio, 2(5). https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00172-11 Cite