Maya Kotas, MD, PhD

Asst Professor In Residence

Dr. Kotas is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep, Allergy and Sleep Medicine. She received her BA, MD and PhD from Yale University. After completing residency training in Internal Medicine at New York Presbyterian - Columbia University, she completed a fellowship in Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at UCSF. She serves as an attending physician in the intensive care units at UCSF.

Dr. Kotas's research focuses on the role of the innate immune system in regulating the biology of the airway epithelium. Her work utilizes mouse modeling and patient samples to better understand how the immune system reshapes the cells that line the airway during allergic diseases. The goal of this work is to discover new targets for treatment of allergic airway diseases.

Education
2020 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California
Fellowship, 2018 - Pulmonary & Critical Care, University of California
Residency, 2015 - Internal Medicine, New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical Center
M.D., 2013 - Medicine, Yale School of Medicine
Ph.D., 2013 - Immunobiology, Yale University
BA, 2005 - Biomedical Engineering, Yale University
Websites
Publications

  1. Sbierski-Kind J, Cautivo KM, Wagner JC, Dahlgren MW, Nilsson J, Krasilnikov M, Mroz NM, Lizama CO, Gan AL, Matatia PR, Taruselli MT, Chang AA, Caryotakis S, O'Leary CE, Kotas M, Mattis AN, Peng T, Locksley RM, Molofsky AB. Group 2 innate lymphoid cells constrain type 3/17 lymphocytes in shared stromal niches to restrict liver fibrosis. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2023. PMID: 37163060


  2. Kotas ME, Patel NN, Cope EK, Gurrola JG, Goldberg AN, Pletcher SD, Seibold MA, Moore CM, Gordon ED. Interleukin-13 associated epithelial remodeling correlates with clinical severity in nasal polyposis. The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 2023. PMID: 36736797


  3. Kotas ME, O'Leary CE, Locksley RM. Tuft Cells: Context- and Tissue-Specific Programming for a Conserved Cell Lineage. Annual review of pathology 2022. PMID: 36351364


  4. Barr J, Gentile ME, Lee S, Kotas ME, Fernanda de Mello Costa M, Holcomb NP, Jaquish A, Palashikar G, Soewignjo M, McDaniel M, Matsumoto I, Margolskee R, Von Moltke J, Cohen NA, Sun X, Vaughan AE. Injury-induced pulmonary tuft cells are heterogenous, arise independent of key Type 2 cytokines, and are dispensable for dysplastic repair. eLife 2022. PMID: 36073526


  5. Ricardo-Gonzalez RR, Kotas ME, O'Leary CE, Singh K, Damsky W, Liao C, Arouge E, Tenvooren I, Marquez DM, Schroeder AW, Cohen JN, Fassett MS, Lee J, Daniel SG, Bittinger K, Díaz RE, Fraser JS, Ali N, Ansel KM, Spitzer MH, Liang HE, Locksley RM. Innate type 2 immunity controls hair follicle commensalism by Demodex mites. Immunity 2022. PMID: 36044899


  6. Kotas ME, Moore CM, Gurrola Ii JG, Pletcher SD, Goldberg AN, Alvarez R, Yamato S, Bratcher PE, Shaughnessy CA, Zeitlin PL, Zhang IH, Li Y, Montgomery MT, Lee K, Cope EK, Locksley RM, Seibold MA, Gordon ED. IL-13-programmed airway tuft cells produce PGE2, which promotes CFTR-dependent mucociliary function. 2022. PMID: 35608904


  7. Roberto R Ricardo-Gonzalez, Maya E Kotas, Claire O’Leary, Iliana Tenvooren, Diana Marquez, Katelyn Singh, William Damsky, Chang Liao, Andrew Schroeder, Jarish Cohen, Marlys S Fassett, Jinwoo Lee, Scott G Daniel, Kyle Bittinger, Roberto Efrain Diaz, James Fraser, Karl Mark Ansel, Matthew Spitzer, Hong-Erh Liang, Richard M Locksley. Innate type 2 immunity controls hair follicle commensalism by Demodex mites. The Journal of Immunology 2022. PMID:


  8. O'Leary CE, Sbierski-Kind J, Kotas ME, Wagner JC, Liang HE, Schroeder AW, de Tenorio JC, von Moltke J, Ricardo-Gonzalez RR, Eckalbar WL, Molofsky AB, Schneider C, Locksley RM. Bile acid-sensitive tuft cells regulate biliary neutrophil influx. 2022. PMID: 35245089


  9. Kotas ME, Thompson BT. Toward Optimal Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Outcomes: Recognizing the Syndrome and Identifying Its Causes. 2021. PMID: 34548131


  10. Kotas ME, Mroz NM, Koga S, Liang HE, Schroeder AW, Ricardo-Gonzalez RR, Schneider C, Locksley RM. CISH constrains the tuft-ILC2 circuit to set epithelial and immune tone. Mucosal immunology 2021. PMID: 34290377


  11. Kotas ME, Dion J, Van Dyken S, Ricardo-Gonzalez RR, Danel CJ, Taillé C, Mouthon L, Locksley RM, Terrier B. A role for IL-33-activated ILC2s in eosinophilic vasculitis. JCI insight 2021. PMID: 33974563


  12. Kotas ME, Locksley RM. Why Innate Lymphoid Cells? Volume 48 of Issue 6. Immunity 2018. PMID: 29924974


  13. Kotas ME, Matthay MA. Mesenchymal stromal cells and macrophages in sepsis: new insights. Volume 51 of Issue 4. The European respiratory journal 2018. PMID: 29700107


  14. McGlashon JM, Gorecki MC, Kozlowski AE, Thirnbeck CK, Markan KR, Leslie KL, Kotas ME, Potthoff MJ, Richerson GB, Gillum MP. Central serotonergic neurons activate and recruit thermogenic brown and beige fat and regulate glucose and lipid homeostasis. Volume 21 of Issue 5. Cell metabolism 2015. PMID: 25955206


  15. Kotas ME, Medzhitov R. Homeostasis, inflammation, and disease susceptibility. Volume 160 of Issue 5. Cell 2015. PMID: 25723161


  16. Erion DM, Kotas ME, McGlashon J, Yonemitsu S, Hsiao JJ, Nagai Y, Iwasaki T, Murray SF, Bhanot S, Cline GW, Samuel VT, Shulman GI, Gillum MP. cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (CREB)-regulated transcription coactivator 2 (CRTC2) promotes glucagon clearance and hepatic amino acid catabolism to regulate glucose homeostasis. Volume 288 of Issue 22. The Journal of biological chemistry 2013. PMID: 23595987


  17. Kotas ME, Gorecki MC, Gillum MP. Sirtuin-1 is a nutrient-dependent modulator of inflammation. Volume 2 of Issue 2. Adipocyte 2013. PMID: 23805409


  18. Kotas ME, Jurczak MJ, Annicelli C, Gillum MP, Cline GW, Shulman GI, Medzhitov R. Role of caspase-1 in regulation of triglyceride metabolism. Volume 110 of Issue 12. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2013. PMID: 23487794


  19. Gillum MP, Kotas ME, Erion DM, Kursawe R, Chatterjee P, Nead KT, Muise ES, Hsiao JJ, Frederick DW, Yonemitsu S, Banks AS, Qiang L, Bhanot S, Olefsky JM, Sears DD, Caprio S, Shulman GI. SirT1 regulates adipose tissue inflammation. Volume 60 of Issue 12. Diabetes 2011. PMID: 22110092


  20. Kotas ME, Lee HY, Gillum MP, Annicelli C, Guigni BA, Shulman GI, Medzhitov R. Impact of CD1d deficiency on metabolism. Volume 6 of Issue 9. PloS one 2011. PMID: 21980475


  21. Fredros O. Okumu, Maya E. Kotas, Japheth Kihonda, Evan Mathenge, Gerry F. Killeen, Sarah J. Moore. Comparative Evaluation of Methods Used for Sampling Malaria Vectors in the Kilombero Valley, South Eastern Tanzania. The Open Tropical Medicine Journal 2008. PMID:


  22. Zhang Q, Cuartas E, Mehta N, Gilligan J, Ke HZ, Saltzman WM, Kotas M, Ma M, Rajan S, Chalouni C, Carlson J, Vignery A. Replacement of bone marrow by bone in rat femurs: the bone bioreactor. Volume 14 of Issue 2. Tissue engineering. Part A 2008. PMID: 18333776


  23. Qing Zhang, Esteban Cuartas, Nozer Mehta, James Gilligan, Hua-Zhu Ke, W. Mark Saltzman, Maya Kotas, Mandy Ma, Sonali Rajan, Cécile Chalouni, Jodi Carlson, Agnès Vignery. Replacement of Bone Marrow by Bone in Rat Femurs: The Bone Bioreactor. Tissue engineering 2008. PMID:


  24. Killeen GF, Tami A, Kihonda J, Okumu FO, Kotas ME, Grundmann H, Kasigudi N, Ngonyani H, Mayagaya V, Nathan R, Abdulla S, Charlwood JD, Smith TA, Lengeler C. Cost-sharing strategies combining targeted public subsidies with private-sector delivery achieve high bednet coverage and reduced malaria transmission in Kilombero Valley, southern Tanzania. 2007. PMID: 17961211


  25. Killeen GF, Kihonda J, Lyimo E, Oketch FR, Kotas ME, Mathenge E, Schellenberg JA, Lengeler C, Smith TA, Drakeley CJ. Quantifying behavioural interactions between humans and mosquitoes: evaluating the protective efficacy of insecticidal nets against malaria transmission in rural Tanzania. Volume 6. BMC infectious diseases 2006. PMID: 17096840