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Josephine Thinwa, M.D., Ph.D.

Josephine Thinwa, M.D., Ph.D.

Titles and Appointments

Assistant Professor

School
Medical School
Department
Internal Medicine | Microbiology
Graduate Programs
Molecular Microbiology

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For more information on the doctor and patient care, please visit the clinical profile.

  • Biography

    Josephine Thinwa, M.D., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and a member of its Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine. She also holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Microbiology.

    Originally from Kenya, Dr. Thinwa holds a bachelor's degree in biology with a chemistry minor from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, where she graduated cum laude. She earned her combined medical and doctoral degrees, with doctoral studies in microbiology and immunology, from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She then completed residency training in internal medicine at UT Southwestern, followed by fellowship training in infectious diseases as part of the Physician Scientist Training Program. Her long-held interest in innate immunity and viruses led her to work as a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Beth Levine, M.D., an international leader in autophagy research and Professor of Internal Medicine, who died in 2020.

    Board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in both internal medicine and infectious diseases, she joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2021.

    Dr. Thinwa’s research focuses on autophagy, a natural cell-recycling process that helps cells break down and eliminate viruses and other unnecessary components. Her laboratory investigates how autophagy becomes activated by viruses that cause infections of the central nervous system. Her goal is to increase understanding on the role of autophagy in the immune response to viruses and, ultimately, to use this knowledge to develop new vaccines and treatments for an array of viruses. 

    In 2022, she received a Career Award for Medical Scientists from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

  • Education
    Graduate School
    University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (2013)
    Other Post Graduate Training
    UT Health San Antonio (2013)
    Medical School
    University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (2015)
    Residency
    UT Southwestern Medical Center (2017), Internal Medicine
    Fellowship
    UT Southwestern Medical Center (2019), Infectious Diseases
    Clinical Research Fellowship
    UT Southwestern Medical Center (2021)
  • Research Interest
    • Autophagy
    • Innate Immunity
    • Neuroimmunology
    • Viral Pathogenesis
  • Publications

    Star Featured Publications

    CDKL5 regulates p62-mediated selective autophagy and confers protection against neurotropic viruses
    Thinwa JW, Zou Z, Parks E, Sebti S, Hui KK, Wei Y, Goodarzi M, Singh V, Urquhart G, Jewell JL, Pfeiffer JK, Levine B, Reese TA, Shiloh MU. J Clin Invest 2024
    Procyanidin C1 Modulates the Microbiome to Increase FOXO1 Signaling and Valeric Acid Levels to Protect the Mucosal Barrier in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
    Wang X, Wang P, Li Y, Guo H, Wang R, Liu S, Qiu J, Wang X, Hao Y, Zhao Y, Liao H, Zou Z, Thinwa J, Liu R Engineering 2024
    Risk factors for the development of active methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection in patients colonized with MRSA at hospital admission.
    Cadena J, Thinwa J, Walter EA, Frei CR, Am J Infect Control 2016 12 44 12 1617-1621
    Integrin-mediated first signal for inflammasome activation in intestinal epithelial cells.
    Thinwa J, Segovia JA, Bose S, Dube PH, J Immunol 2014 Aug 193 3 1373-82
    Mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent interleukin-1a intracrine signaling is modulated by YopP during Yersinia enterocolitica infection.
    Bose R, Thinwa J, Chaparro P, Zhong Y, Bose S, Zhong G, Dube PH, Infect Immun 2012 Jan 80 1 289-97
  • Books

    Featured 

    Featured Basic Science of Central Nervous System Infections. In Youmans and Winn Neurological Surgery, 8th Ed.

    Thinwa, J and Tessier, J (). Elsevier

  • Honors & Awards
    • Disease Oriented Clinical Scholars Award
      UT Southwestern (2024)
    • Career Award for Medical Scientists
      Burroughs Wellcome Fund (2022)
    • NIH K08 Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award
      National Institutes of Health (2021)
    • Translational Science Training Scholar
      (2011)
  • Professional Associations/Affiliations
    • American Physician Scientists Association
    • Infectious Diseases Society of America