B.S. Cellular and Molecular Biological Sciences, High Honors - Montana Technological University - 2019
Impact of acute smoke exposure on respiratory epithelial CC16 levels and viral susceptibility
I grew up in Shelby, Montana on my family's wheat farm. I did my undergraduate degree at Montana Technological University in Cellular and Molecular Biological Sciences. At Tech, my research projects were focused on the prevalence of Sin Nombre Virus (Hantavirus) and Colorado Tick Fever Virus in deer mouse populations and discovering and characterizing bacteriophages infecting Mycobacterium smegmatis.
In the summer of 2018, I participated in the Amgen Scholars Program at MIT working in Dr. Michael Hemann's lab in the Koch Institue for Integrative Cancer Research. This experience is what really drove me to pursue the dual MD/PhD, since this was the first time I was able to clearly see how research could be translatable between the bench and the bedside. After graduating from Tech in 2019 I spent two years working as the lab manager/technician for the Hemann Lab at MIT, focusing my research on understanding the leukemia-intrinsic mechanisms of resistance in B-ALL and AML when treated with CAR T-cells or frontline chemotherapy, respectively.
Now in Arizona, I am excited to be back in the West for my medical/graduate training with easy access to some beautiful scenery, hiking, and the outstanding food scene. My dissertation research is broadly within the respiratory/pulmonary field of obstructive lung diseases like asthma and COPD. It is well known that chronic exposure to cigarette smoke leads to increased susceptibility to respiratory infections, but the mechanism of this is not yet well defined. Even less defined is how acute exposures to secondhand cigarette smoke impact the airways and if these also increase susceptibility infection susceptibility. So, I have developed an in vitro exposure model using both mouse and human respiratory epithelial cells grown at an air-liquid interface on transwell membranes where I seeking to determine how single exposures to environmental cigarette smoke may impact the epithelium. Additionally, I have become interested in other environmental exposures, such as woodsmoke. Firefighters, those living in areas of heavy wildfire smoke, and those using wood for indoor heating/cooking are at high risk of woodsmoke exposures, which is known to cause ~50% of COPD cases worldwide, but very little has been done to study how these exposures impact the airways. I have worked with a multidisciplinary team to develop both in vivo and in vitro models of acute woodsmoke exposure to determine its impact on the respiratory system as a whole, the respiratory epithelium, the male and female reproductive system, and the urinary metabolome.
Within our MD/PhD program I have served on several of our student committees such as the Admissions Committee, Retreat Committee, and American Physician Scientist Association (APSA) Institutional Representation. Within UACOM-T, I was the Alternate Delegate and Vice President to the Medical Student Section of the American Medical Association (AMA-MSS) for 2021-2022, , a Co-President for the radiology and anesthesiology interest groups, and Co-Coordinator for the Health for the Homeless CUP Clinic. Within the CMM Department, I am a Student Representative on the Graduate Student Committee.
First Place 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) Presentation. Student Presentations at ATS (SPATS) as part of the Student Scholars Program at the 2025 American Thoracic Society International Conference. May 2025
Predoctoral T32 Fellowship, Training in Environmental Toxicology of Human Disease (T32ES007091), Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Arizona, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences - 07/2024-06/2026
Outstanding Achievement in Biological Sciences Award - Montana Technological University - May 2019
Best Poster in Biological Sciences at Techxpo - Montana Technological University 2018
Research Articles:
Fröse, J., Chen, E., Wittaker, C.A., Leclerc, P., Doherty, S., Langenbucher, A., Shao, J., Hellinger, R.D., Goulet, D., Tammela, T., Sánchez-Rivera, F.J., and Hemann, M.T. Tumor cell-intrinsic stress states drive sensitivity to CAR T cell-therapy in pancreatic cancer. bioRxiv 2025.07.24.666408; [doi: 10.1101/2025.07.24.666408]. In Review.
Pederson, W.P., Ellerman, L.M., Hellinger, R.D., Rojas-Quintero, J., Polverino, F., Konhilas, J.P., and Ledford, J.G. (2026). The impact of estrogen replacement during perimenopause on lung function and airway inflammation in the VCD mouse model. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol.[doi 10.1152/ajplung.00295.2025]
Casanova, N.G., Herazo-Maya, J.D., Kempf, C.L., Sun, B.L., Song, J.H., Hernandez, A., Canizales Galaviz, J., Sun, X., Camp, S.M., Ledford, J.G., Hellinger, R.D., Rodriguez, M., Zhao, A.Y., Unterman, A., Rosas, I., Duncan, S., Thannickal, V.J., Hufford, M.K., Ahmed, M., Zaghloul, N., Gupta, A., Bime, C., Sammani, S., Stansfield, B.N., Chen, J., Anandhan, A., Disney, M.D., Ooi, A., Kee, S.L., Karampitsakos, T., Benos, P.V., Kaminski, N., Zhang, D., and Garcia, J.G.N. (2025). eNAMPT is a novel DAMP and Therapeutic Target in Human and Murine Pulmonary Fibrosis. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. [doi: 10.1165/rcmb.2024-0342OC]
Ramos, A., Koch, C.E., Liu, Y., Hellinger, R.D., Kyung, T., Larson, R.C., Fröse, J., Goulet, D., Doench, J.G., Regev, A., Maus, M.V., Birnbaum, M.E., and Hemann, M.T. (2023). Leukemia-intrinsic determinants of CAR-T response revealed by in vivo genome-wide CRISPR screening. Nat Commun 12, 8048. [doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43790-2]
Caryl, N.E., June, C., Culbert, M.H., Hellinger, R.D., Hoyer, A.W., Klewer, S.E., and Seckeler, M.D. (2024). Incidence of Radiation-Associated Cancer in Patients with Congenital Heart Disease. The American Journal of Cardiology. 210, 65-68. [doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2023.10.030]
Strah, D.D., Hellinger, R.D., Lee, K.S., and Seckeler, M.D. (2023). Novel use of the double kissing crush technique to stent complex pulmonary artery stenosis in a child with Alagille syndrome. Annals of Pediatric Cardiology 16(4):p 290-292. [doi: 10.4103/apc.apc_60_23]
Menghani, S.V., Sanchez-Rosario, Y., Pok, C., Liu, R., Gao, F., O’Brien, H., Neubert, M.J., Ochoa, K., Durckel, M., Hellinger, R.D., Hackett, N., Wang, W., and Johnson, M.D.L. (2023). Novel dithiocarbamate derivatives are effective copper-dependent antimicrobials against Streptococcal species. Front. Microbiol. 13:1099330. [doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1099330]
Patel, S.B., Webber, Z., Strah, D.D., Hellinger, R.D., Yrun-Duffy, M., Kowalek, K.A., and Seckeler, M.D. (2023). Acute Hospital Outcomes for Renal Transplantation in Patients With Moderate or Severe Congenital Heart Disease. The American Journal of Cardiology 186, 87-90. [doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2022.10.034]
Connelly, G.G., Kirkland, O.O., Bohannon, S., Lim, D.C., Wilson, R.M., Richards, E.J., Tay, D.M., Jee, H., Hellinger, R.D., Hao, L., Chhabra, A., Martin-Alonso, C., Tan, E.K.W., Koehler, A.N., Yaffe, M.B., Lee, P.Y., Krammer, F., Bohannon, R.C., Bhatia, S.N., Sikes, H.D., and Li, H. (2022). Direct capture of neutralized RBD enables rapid point-of-care assessment of SARS CoV-2 neutralizing antibody titer. Cell Reports Methods 2, 100273. [doi: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2022.100273]
Textbook Chapters:
Encinas-Basurto D., Shafi H., Chavan S., Verma K., Yadav C., Fox K.A.B., Hellinger R.D., Hayes D., Chignalia A.Z., Misra A., Ledford J.G., Mansour H.M. Section Two – Delivery barriers. Chapter Six - Pulmonary barriers to targeted delivery. In: D’Souza A.A., Milane L.S., Amiji M.M., editors. Harnessing Endogenous Mechanisms for Targeted Drug Delivery: Academic Press; 2026. p. 111–48.
Posters/Presentations:
Riley D. Hellinger, Sasipa Tanyaratsrisakul, Anthony Bosco, and Julie G. Ledford. Transcriptomic Differences in Primary Nasal Epithelial Cells from Cigarette Smokers and Nonsmokers. American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2026 International Conference (poster). 2026
Riley D. Hellinger, Weiguo Han, Stefano Guerra, Johnson, Xinxin Ding, and Julie G. Ledford. Impact of Acute Cigarette Smoke Exposure on Respiratory Epithelial Expression of Club Cell Secretory Protein (CC16) and Host Defense Proteins. 2025 University of Arizona Joint Biology Research Retreat (presentation). 2025
Riley D. Hellinger, Natalie Iannuzo, Weiguo Han, Stefano Guerra, Michael D. L. Johnson, Xinxin Ding, and Julie G. Ledford. Impact of Acute Cigarette Smoke Exposure on Respiratory Epithelial Expression of Club Cell Secretory Protein (CC16) and Host Defense Proteins. American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2025 International Conference (poster). 2025
Riley D. Hellinger. Impact of acute cigarette smoke exposure on respiratory epithelial expression of Club Cell Secretory Protein (CC16) and Host Defense Proteins. Student Presentations at the American Thoracic Society (SPATS) 2025 3-Minute Thesis Competition (3MT) (presentation). 2025
Riley D. Hellinger, Natalie Iannuzo, Weiguo Han, Stefano Guerra, Michael D. L. Johnson, Xinxin Ding, and Julie G. Ledford. (December 2024). Impact of Acute Cigarette Smoke Exposure on Respiratory Epithelial Expression of Club Cell Secretory Protein (CC16) and Host Defense Proteins. University of Arizona Joint Biology Research Retreat (poster). 2024
Riley D. Hellinger, Natalie Iannuzo, Xinxin Ding, Paul R. Langlais, and Julie G. Ledford. Impact of Acute Cigarette Smoke Exposure on Respiratory Epithelial CC16 Levels and Viral Susecptibility. AAP/ASCI/APSA Joint Meeting (poster). 2024.
Riley D. Hellinger, Natalie Iannuzo, Xinxin Ding, Paul R. Langlais, and Julie G. Ledford. Impact of Acute Cigarette Smoke Exposure on Respiratory Epithelial CC16 Levels and Viral Susecptibility. Biology of Acute Respiratory Infection - Gordon Research Conference (poster). 2024.
Riley D. Hellinger, Natalie Iannuzo, Xinxin Ding, Paul R. Langlais, and Julie G. Ledford. Impact of Acute Cigarette Smoke Exposure on Respiratory Epithelial CC16 Levels and Viral Susecptibility. Biology of Acute Respiratory Infection - Gordon Research Seminar (poster). 2024.
Riley D. Hellinger. Leukemia-intrinsic determinants of CAR-T response revealed by in vivo genome-wide CRISPR screening. University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson Research Day (oral presentation). 2022
Riley D. Hellinger, Azucena Ramos, Yunpeng Liu, Catherine Koch, Joel Graff (thesis advisor), and Michael T. Hemann. Using Integrative Functional Genomics to Understand Chemo-Resistant Phenotypes in Hematological Malignancies. Montana Tech Biological Sciences Thesis Defense. 2019
Winter R. Kemppainen, Riley D. Hellinger, and Joel W. Graff. “Moron” Gene Investigation in Lysogenic Mycobacterium smegmatis. Montana Technological University Techxpo (poster). 2019
Riley D. Hellinger, Azucena Ramos, Yunpeng Liu, Catherine Koch, and Michael T. Hemann. Using Integrative Functional Genomics to Understand Chemo-Resistant Phenotypes in Hematological Malignancies. MIT Amgen Scholars Program Poster Session (poster). 2018
Riley D. Hellinger, Hannah E. Sparks, and Marisa L. Pedulla. Characterization and Genomic Analysis of Mycobacteriophage Wamburgrxpress, Including the Determination of the Essentiality of the Terminal 5 Kilobase Pairs for Plaque Formation. 10th Annual HHMI SEA Symposium. Presentation (poster and oral presentation) 2018
Riley D. Hellinger, Hannah E. Sparks, and Marisa L. Pedulla. Characterization and Genomic Analysis of Mycobacteriophage Wamburgrxpress, Including the Determination of the Essentiality of the Terminal 5 Kilobase Pairs for Plaque Formation. Montana Technological University Techxpo (poster). 2018
Quinn C. Cunneen, Zach J. Hart, Riley D. Hellinger, Kelsey L. Schmidt, Joel W. Graff, and Amy J. Kuenzi. Examining Archived Whole Blood Samples from Montana Deer Mice for the Presence of Colorado Tick Fever Virus: Preliminary Results. Montana Technological University Techxpo (poster). 2017
Policy Resolutions:
Tirambulo, C.V.G., Flowers, M., Webber, Z., Hellinger, R.D., Cosio, I., Shahid, M., and Meyer, B. Amending H-160.903, Eradicating Homelessness to Include Support for Street Medicine Programs and Reduce Evictions. (2022) Annual Meeting of the Medical Student Section of the American Medical Association.