Louise A. Rollins-Smith

Louise Rollins-Smith is a professor of biological sciences, professor of pediatrics, and a professor of pathology, microbiology and immunology at Vanderbilt University. She is known for her work investigating host-pathogen interactions using amphibians as model organisms.

Education and career Rollins-Smith received her Bachelor's degree in Biology at Hamline University, Saint Paul, Minnesota, before completing a Masters and a Ph.D. in zoology at the University of Minnesota in 1977. Rollins-Smith was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Rochester before joining Vanderbilt University in 1984.

Research Rollins-Smith has studied disease and immunity in amphibians. Her early research was focused upon Lucké renal adenocarcinoma of leopard frogs, the development of immunological tolerance and immune changes at metamorphosis in frogs. Rollins-Smith has also studied the effects of immunotoxic and agricultural chemicals on amphibian immunity. Rollins-Smith's research has examined the link between widespread amphibian declines and the amphibian chytrid fungi, Bactrochochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), particularly in relation to amphibian immunity. Rollins-Smith has also become known for her work on amphibian skin antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Alongside her colleagues, she has provided evidence that the effectiveness of AMPs is a valuable predictor of amphibian species susceptibility to the Bd, and that AMPs are potent inhibitors of viral infection, including HIV infection of human T lymphocytes.

Selected publications

Honors and awards Rollins-Smith was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2015.