Associate Professor
Washington University School of Medicine
Dr. Cooper is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University in St. Louis and Director of the Jeffrey Modell Diagnostic and Research Center for Primary Immunodeficiencies at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. She earned her MD/PhD from The Ohio State University and completed her training in Pediatrics and Rheumatology at Washington University and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Dr. Cooper’s laboratory investigates defects of the immune system that lead to pediatric autoimmunity and immune deficiency, using genetic sequencing to uncover novel molecular mechanisms of pediatric disease. Her scientific background is in natural killer cell biology, and her previous work identified the innovative concept of cytokine-induced NK cell memory. Her laboratory continues to investigate mechanisms of NK cell activation, including long-term priming of NK cells for memory functions, and the influence of the metabolic microenvironment on NK cell function. Her clinical interests are in diseases of immune dysregulation, and she cares for patients in Pediatric Rheumatology and Immunology clinics, and she is the Director of Clinical Immunology and Program Director of the Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship at Washington University and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Work in the Cooper laboratory is supported by the NIH, the Children's Discovery Institute and St. Louis Children’s Hospital, the Jeffrey Modell Foundation, the Immune Deficiency Foundation, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.
