Biography
Dr. Castillo earned his Ph.D. in Immunology (2010) from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Following his PhD degree he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center.
Personal Statement
Eliseo F. Castillo, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Department of Internal Medicine) and currently serves as the Director of Gastroenterology Research for the division and Associate Director of Rising Stars for the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Castillo received his Ph.D. in Immunology from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center under Dr. Kimberly Schluns investigating interleukin-15 trans-presentation by dendritic cells and intestinal epithelial cells to Natural Killer (NK) cells (Castillo et al. J. Immunol 2009), invariant NK T cells (Castillo et al. Blood 2010), and intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (Stonier et al. Blood 2008). He then did a postdoctoral fellowship at UNM HSC under Dr. Vojo Deretic investigating the function of the autophagy gene, Atg5, in macrophages to limit infection and inflammatory cytokine production (Castillo et al. PNAS 2012).
In 2017, he started his lab as a CTSC KL2 Scholar in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Internal Medicine) to understand how intestinal macrophages interact with the intestinal epithelial barrier during inflammation and homeostasis (NIH UL1TR001449 and P20 GM121176). Currently, the lab is at the forefront of understanding the effects of microplastics (NIH R01 ES032037) and heavy metals (NIH P42 ES025589) on the gut microbiota, the intestinal epithelium, and intestinal macrophages. The lab has also focused on defining metabolic and lipidomic alterations along the gut-liver axis in metabolic disease, including human metabolic syndrome and experimental models of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), with particular emphasis on enteroendocrine cell function and host-microbiota interactions. (The American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant and UNM CCC pilot funding).
Achievements & Awards
Faculty Research Excellence Award for Junior Faculty
Innovation Award, Science & Technology Corporation @ UNM
KL2 Scholar, UNM SOM Clinical and Translational Science Center
Gender
Male
Research and Scholarship
A major interest of the lab is understanding the interaction between the gut microbiota, intestinal epithelium, and the mucosal immune system during homeostasis, in various disease states, or their interaction with the environment. Projects include:
Examining intestinal macrophage function and how they interact with the intestinal microenvironment.
Merkley SD, Goodfellow SM, Guo Y, Wilton ZER, Byrum JR, Schwalm KC, Dinwiddie DL, Gullapalli RR, Deretic V, Jimenez Hernandez A, Bradfute SB, In JG, Castillo EF. Non-autophagy Role of Atg5 and NBR1 in Unconventional Secretion of IL-12 Prevents Gut Dysbiosis and Inflammation. J Crohn's Colitis. 2022 PMID: 34374750; PMCID: PMC8864635.
Atanga R, Romero AS, Hernandez AJ, Peralta-Herrera E, Merkley SD, In JG, Castillo EF. Inflammatory macrophages prevent colonic goblet and enteroendocrine cell differentiation through Notch signaling. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 PMID: 37425818; PMCID: PMC10327198.
Defining the impact of microplastic exposure on the gut microbiota, intestinal epithelium, and the mucosal immune system.
Merkley SD, Moss HC, Goodfellow SM, Ling CL, Meyer-Hagen JL, Weaver J, Campen MJ, Castillo EF. Polystyrene microplastics induce an immunometabolic active state in macrophages. Cell Biol Toxicol. 2022 PMID: 34021430; PMCID: PMC8606615.
Garcia MM, Romero AS, Merkley SD, Meyer-Hagen JL, Forbes C, Hayek EE, Sciezka DP, Templeton R, Gonzalez-Estrella J, Jin Y, Gu H, Benavidez A, Hunter RP, Lucas S, Herbert G, Kim KJ, Cui JY, Gullapalli RR, In JG, Campen MJ, Castillo EF. In Vivo Tissue Distribution of Polystyrene or Mixed Polymer Microspheres and Metabolomic Analysis after Oral Exposure in Mice. Environ Health Perspect. 2024 PMID: 38598326; PMCID: PMC11005960.
Kim KJ, Garcia M, Romero AS, Jin Y, Chi J, Campen MJ, Gu H, Richardson JR, Castillo EF, Cui JY. In vivo exposure of mixed microplastic particles in mice and its impacts on the murine gut microbiome and metabolome. Toxicol Sci. 2025 Oct 27:kfaf145. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfaf145. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41143690.
Understanding the modulation of the gut microbiota, intestinal epithelium, and the mucosal immune system by environmental heavy metals.
Atanga R, Appell LL, Thompson MN, Lauer FT, Brearley A, Campen MJ, Castillo EF, In JG. Single Cell Analysis of Human Colonoids Exposed to Uranium-Bearing Dust. Environ Health Perspect. 2024 PMID: 38771937; PMCID: PMC11108582.
Examining the function of the intestinal epithelium in metabolic diseases.
Coleman MJ, Espino LM, Lebensohn H, Zimkute MV, Yaghooti N, Ling CL, Gross JM, Listwan N, Cano S, Garcia V, Lovato DM, Tigert SL, Jones DR, Gullapalli RR, Rakov NE, Torrazza Perez EG, Castillo EF. Individuals with Metabolic Syndrome Show Altered Fecal Lipidomic Profiles with No Signs of Intestinal Inflammation or Increased Intestinal Permeability. Metabolites. 2022 PMID: 35629938; PMCID: PMC9143200.
Rivas JA, Murphy AC, Prasad P, Goitom SS, Romero AS, Enriquez CM, Maes BB, Akepati PR, Garcia MA, Lauer FT, Gullapalli RR, Gonzales KM, Gross JM, Pu J, Leng S, In JG, McReynolds MR, Castillo EF. Metabolomic, Lipidomic, and Enterohormone Changes in the Progression from MASLD to MASH. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Sep 18:2025.09.16.676598. doi: 10.1101/2025.09.16.676598. PMID: 41000700; PMCID: PMC12458355.