New Faculty Welcome to WashU

Dr. Amber Griffith joins the Department of Medicine

Amber Griffith, PhD

Dr. Amber Griffith Neil joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Allergy and Immunology as an Instructor as of July 2024.  She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware and her doctorate degree from the University of Pittsburgh.  She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Washington University School of Medicine.  During her graduate training, Dr. Griffith Neil developed an interest in the application of nanotechnology for treatment of disease.  In 2013 Dr. Griffith began her graduate training at the University of Pittsburgh under Dr. William Saunders’ mentorship.  She investigated the mechanism be behind DNA recognition in the cleavage plane during cytokinesis.  Within this project, she explored the concept of using nanoparticles as a signaling platform within mammalian cells.

This project produced a publication in the journal Nanomaterials in 2019.  In 2019 Dr. Griffith Neil joined the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Washington University as a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Peggy Kendall’s Lab.  Her research as a postdoc focused on understanding the role autoreactive B cells play in Type 1 Diabetes (T1D).  She also participated in collaborations to explore ways to specifically target pathogenic B cells using nanoparticles.  During her tenure as a postdoc in Dr. Kendall’s lab, she has published one co-first author, and one second-author paper related to B cells in T1D and their targeting using nanotechnology.  Dr. Griffith Neil would like to continue research on how pathological B cells evade tolerance mechanisms for the translational application to treat autoimmune diseases with targeting nanotechnology.  Her key interests are Autoimmune Disease, Targeting Therapeutics and B Cell Biology.