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:
MICROPLASTIC RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS
Photoaged microplastics disrupt endothelial stretch-sensitive ion channels to impair calcium signaling and vascular integrity. Seul-Ki Park, Jae Min Cho, Enbo Zhu, Khoa Vu, Jing Wang, Peng Zhao, Aaron S Romero, Matthew J Campen, Srinivasa Reddy, Eliseo F Castillo, Tzung Hsiai bioRxiv 2026.05.01.722241; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.05.01.722241
Dietary Microplastics Engage Gut Mechanosensory-Endocrine Signaling to Disrupt Bone Homeostasis. Aaron S. Romero, Sumira Phatak, Sanchiti Patil, Hamid Y. Dar, Jaclyn A. Rivas, Olufunmilola M Oyebamiji, Brianna B. Maes, Siem S. Goitom, Crystal Madera Enriquez, Jazmin Orozco, Cristina N. Coffman, Ruixuan Liu, Julie G. In, Matthew J. Campen, Kel Cook, Richard Levenson, Jessica M. Gross, Shuguang Leng, Anthony Cretara, Roberto Pacifici, Eliseo F. Castillo bioRxiv 2026.04.03.716216; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.03.716216
In Vivo Tissue Distribution of Polystyrene or Mixed Polymer Microspheres and Metabolomic Analysis after Oral Exposure in Mice. 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. . Environ Health Perspect. 2024 PMID: 38598326; PMCID: PMC11005960.
Polystyrene microplastics induce an immunometabolic active state in macrophages. Merkley SD, Moss HC, Goodfellow SM, Ling CL, Meyer-Hagen JL, Weaver J, Campen MJ, Castillo EF. Cell Biol Toxicol. 2022 PMID: 34021430; PMCID: PMC8606615.
MACROPHAGE RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS
Non-autophagy Role of Atg5 and NBR1 in Unconventional Secretion of IL-12 Prevents Gut Dysbiosis and Inflammation. 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. J Crohn's Colitis. 2022 PMID: 34374750; PMCID: PMC8864635.
Polystyrene microplastics induce an immunometabolic active state in macrophages. Merkley SD, Moss HC, Goodfellow SM, Ling CL, Meyer-Hagen JL, Weaver J, Campen MJ, Castillo EF. Cell Biol Toxicol. 2022 PMID: 34021430; PMCID: PMC8606615.
Inflammatory macrophages prevent colonic goblet and enteroendocrine cell differentiation through Notch signaling. Atanga R, Romero AS, Hernandez AJ, Peralta-Herrera E, Merkley SD, In JG, Castillo EF. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 PMID: 37425818; PMCID: PMC10327198.
GUT AND HEAVY METALS RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS
Single Cell Analysis of Human Colonoids Exposed to Uranium-Bearing Dust. Atanga R, Appell LL, Thompson MN, Lauer FT, Brearley A, Campen MJ, Castillo EF, In JG. Environ Health Perspect. 2024 PMID: 38771937; PMCID: PMC11108582.
Exposures to uranium and arsenic alter intraepithelial and innate immune cells in the small intestine of male and female mice. Medina S, Lauer FT, Castillo EF, Bolt AM, Ali AS, Liu KJ, Burchiel SW. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2020 PMID: 32710956; PMCID: PMC7490749.
METABOLIC DISEASES RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS
Gut-Liver Metabolic and Enterohormonal Remodeling Drives Progression from Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease to Steatohepatitis. 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. Metabolism 2026
doi: 10.1101/2025.09.16.676598. PMID: 41000700; PMCID: PMC12458355.
Colonic metabolomic and transcriptomic alterations in a mouse model of metabolic syndrome. Rivas JA, Scieszka DP, Peralta-Herrera E, Madera Enriquez C, Merkley S, Nava AL, Gullapalli RR, Castillo EF. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2026 April 06 doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.02.716131
Individuals with Metabolic Syndrome Show Altered Fecal Lipidomic Profiles with No Signs of Intestinal Inflammation or Increased Intestinal Permeability. 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. Metabolites. 2022 PMID: 35629938; PMCID: PMC9143200.