TSLP and EoE: Exploring the Science Behind a Potential Treatment Target

Co-hosts Ryan Piansky, a graduate student and patient advocate living with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and eosinophilic asthma, and Holly Knotowicz, a speech-language pathologist living with EoE who serves on APFED's Health Sciences Advisory Council, interview Dr. Andrew Lee, Vice President, Clinical Research at Uniquity Bio, about Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin (TSLP) and eosinophilic esophagitis (EOE). Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is designed to support, not replace, the relationship between listeners and their healthcare providers. Opinions, information, and recommendations shared in this podcast are not a substitute for medical advice. Decisions related to medical care should be made with your healthcare provider. Opinions and views of guests and co-hosts are their own. Key Takeaways: [:49] Co-host Ryan Piansky introduces the episode, brought to you thanks to the support of Education Partners Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK, Sanofi, Regeneron, and Takeda. Ryan introduces co-host Holly Knotowicz. [1:13] Holly introduces today's topic, Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin (TSLP) and eosinophilic esophagitis (EOE), and today's guest, Dr. Andrew Lee, Vice President, Clinical Research at Uniquity Bio. [1:36] Dr. Lee has nearly 20 years of experience in the clinical development of new vaccines, biologics, and drugs. Holly welcomes Dr. Lee. [1:52] Dr. Lee trained in internal medicine and infectious diseases. [1:58] Dr. Lee has been fascinated by the immune system and how it can protect people against infections, what happens when immunity is damaged, as in HIV and AIDS, and how to apply that knowledge to boost immunity with vaccines to prevent infections. [2:16] Dr. Lee led the clinical development for a pediatric combination vaccine for infants and toddlers. It is approved in the U.S. and the EU. [2:29] Dr. Lee led the Phase 3 Program for a monoclonal antibody to prevent RSV, a serious infection in infants. That antibody was approved in June 2025 for use in the U.S. [2:44] In his current company, Dr. Lee leads research into approaches to counteract an overactive immune system. They're looking at anti-inflammatory approaches to diseases like asthma, EoE, and COPD. [2:58] Dr. Lee directs the ongoing Phase 2 studies that they are running in those areas. [3:28] Dr. Lee sees drug development as a chance to apply cutting-edge research to benefit people. He trained at Bellevue Hospital in New York City in the 1990s. [3:40] When Dr. Lee started as an intern, there were dedicated ICU wards for AIDS patients because many of the sickest patients were dying of AIDS and its complications. [3:52] Before the end of Dr. Lee's residency, they shut down those wards because the patients were on anti-retroviral medications and were doing so well that they were treated as outpatients. They didn't need dedicated ICUs for AIDS patients anymore. [4:09] For Dr. Lee, that was a powerful example of how pharmaceutical research and drug regimen can impact patients' lives for the better by following the science. That's what drove Dr. Lee to go in the direction of research. [4:48] Dr. Lee explains Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin (TSLP). TSLP serves as an alarm signal for Type 2 or TH2 inflammation, a branch of the immune responses responsible for allergic responses and also immunity against parasites. [5:17] When the cells that line the GI tract and the cells that line the airways in our lungs receive an insult or an injury, they get a danger signal, then they make TSLP. [5:28] This signal activates other immune cells, like eosinophils and dendritic cells, which make other inflammatory signals or cytokines like IL-4, IL-13, and IL-5. [5:47] That cascade leads to inflammation, which is designed to protect the body in response to the danger signal, but in some diseases, when there's continued exposure to allergens or irritants, that inflammation goes from being protective to being harmful. [6:15] That continued inflammation, over the years, can lead to things like the thickened esophagus with EoE, or lungs that are less pliant and less able to expand, in respiratory diseases. [6:48] Dr. Lee says he thinks of TSLP as being a master switch for this branch of immune responses. If you turn on TSLP, that turns on a lot of steps that lead to generating an allergic type of response. [7:06] It's also the same type of immune response that can fight off parasite infections. It's the first step in a cascade of other steps generating that type of immune response. [7:30] Dr. Lee says people have natural genetic variation in the genes that incur TSLP. [7:38] Observational studies have found that some people with genetic variations that lead to higher levels of TSLP in their bodies had an increased risk for allergic inflammatory diseases like EoE, atopic dermatitis, and asthma. [8:13] Studies like the one just mentioned point to TSLP being important for increased risk ...