Emily M. Mace, PhD

  • Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Associate Professor of Pediatric Immunology (in Pediatrics)
  • Full Member, Columbia Stem Cell Initiative

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Overview

Emily Mace, PhD is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center and Assistant Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC). In addition to strong scientific and research strengths in cell biology, Dr. Mace has a longstanding commitment to promoting equity and inclusion in the field of cell biology. They serve as co-chair of the American Society for Cell Biology’s Women in Cell Biology committee, are a member of Columbia’s Pediatric Diversity & Inclusion Council, and are a former member of the Committee for the Promotion of Women for the Biophysical Society.

Dr. Mace’s lab studies how immune cells help control and eliminate cancer cells and protect the body against cancer malignancy. They are also an expert in high-and super-resolution imaging and the application of these technologies to the study of human immune cell function and development. They were among the first researchers to use super-resolution microscopy to probe the immunological synapse and has more recently focused on the application of high-resolution imaging and image analysis to dynamic cellular processes including cell migration and proliferation. Dr. Mace has authored or co-authored over 100 scientific publications which have appeared in major journals such as Nature Communications. Dr. Mace completed a PhD in Genetics at the University of British Columbia and postdoctoral training in Immunology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Baylor College of Medicine.

Academic Appointments

  • Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Associate Professor of Pediatric Immunology (in Pediatrics)
  • Full Member, Columbia Stem Cell Initiative

Administrative Titles

  • Assistant Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), HICCC

Gender

  • Female

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • PhD, Genetics, University of British Columbia, Canada
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Baylor College of Medicine
  • BSc, University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Committees, Societies, Councils

  • Member, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons Pediatric Diversity & Inclusion Council
  • Co-Chair, American Society for Cell Biology Women in Cell Biology Committee
  • Member, Committee for the Promotion of Women, Biophysical Society
  • Peer reviewer, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
  • Member, Biophysical Society
  • Member, American Society for Cell Biology
  • Member, Henry Kunkel Society

Honors & Awards

  • 2024, Whitman Fellowship, Marine Biological Laboratory
  • 2023, Whitman Fellowship, Marine Biological Laboratory
  • 2020, Schaefer Scholar Award, Columbia University
  • 2017, American Society for Hematology Junior Scholar Award

Research

Immune cells play a critical role in the control of malignancy, and Dr. Mace’s research program aims to dissect the requirements for human immune cell differentiation, cell migration, and cell-cell contacts through basic cell biological studies. Dr. Mace has unique expertise in studying the differentiation of immune cells in vitro from hematopoietic precursors and has developed novel methods to track and define complex modes of cell migration.

Dr. Mace also applies high-and super-resolution imaging techniques to further understand the cell biological mechanisms underpinning cell migration and function. As an expert in the application of imaging technologies to the study of human immune cell function and development, Dr. Mace was among the first researchers to use super-resolution microscopy to probe the lytic immune synapse. This was followed by a publication in Nature Communications describing the formation and function of contacts between human lymphocytes and developmentally supportive stromal cells. Recently, the Mace laboratory has focused intensely on localizing immune cell subsets in human tissue, the development of software tools to classify cell migration behavior, and the molecular mechanisms of cell cycle entry and cell migration.

Research Interests

  • cell migration
  • human natural killer cells
  • Innate immunity
  • Microscopy and Imaging
  • Primary immunodeficiencies

Grants

  • R01GM148504 (Mace, PI) 09/01/23-08/31/25
    Defining the functional role of CD56 on human natural killer cells
    The aims of this project are to dissect the molecular mechanisms of CD56 function on human NK cells
    Role: PI
  • U01AI148114 (Mace, MPI) 06/11/20 – 05/31/25
    Composition and structure of antibody receptors at the surface of primary human cells during immune activation
    The aims of this project are to determine the spatial localization of Fc receptors on human immune cells
    Role: MPI

Selected Publications

  1. Guilz NC, Ahn YO, Fatima H, Pedroza LA, Seo S, Soni RK, Wang N, Egli D, Mace EM. Replication Stress in Activated Human NK Cells Induces Sensitivity to Apoptosis. J Immunol. 2024 Jul 1;213(1):40-51. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2300843. PMID: 38809096.
  2. Shannon MJ, Eisman SE, Lowe AR, Sloan TFW, Mace EM. cellPLATO - an unsupervised method for identifying cell behaviour in heterogeneous cell trajectory data. J Cell Sci. 2024 Oct 15;137(20):jcs261887. doi: 10.1242/jcs.261887. Epub 2024 Jun 12. PMID: 38738282; PMCID: PMC11213520.
  3. Benavente MCR, Hakeem ZA, Davis AR, Murray NB, Azadi P, Mace EM, Barb AW. Distinct CD16a features on human NK cells observed by flow cytometry correlate with increased ADCC. Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 4;14(1):7938. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-58541-6. PMID: 38575779; PMCID: PMC10995120.
  4. Martinez AL, Shannon MJ, Sloan T, Mace EM. CD56/NCAM mediates cell migration of human NK cells by promoting integrin-mediated adhesion turnover. Mol Biol Cell. 2024 May 1;35(5):ar64. doi: 10.1091/mbc.E23-12-0463. Epub 2024 Mar 20. PMID: 38507235; PMCID: PMC11151098.
  5. Seo S, Patil SL, Ahn YO, Armetta J, Hegewisch-Solloa E, Castillo M, Guilz NC, Patel A, Corneo B, Borowiak M, Gunaratne P, Mace EM. iPSC-based modeling of helicase deficiency reveals impaired cell proliferation and increased apoptosis after NK cell lineage commitment. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Sep 25:2023.09.25.559149. doi: 10.1101/2023.09.25.559149. PMID: 37808662; PMCID: PMC10557596.

Complete list available here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=mace+em

For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.gov