WSU-KCI-HFHS Immunology Focus Group

2013 Lectures
DEC 3 Lunch: 12:00 noon Lecture: 12:15 - 1:30 pm Hudson Webber Cancer Research Center, Second Floor, Wertz Auditorium 4100 John R. Street, Detroit, MI 48201 Novel IL-1 Family Members in Lung Innate Immunity Theodore Standiford, M.D. Professor and Interim Chair Department of Internal Medicine Division of Pulmonary and Critical Medicine University of Michigan Host: Fu Shin Yu, Ph.D. Department of Opthamology and Kresge Eye Institute, Wayne State University Lunch with graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and residents: 1:30 - 2:30 pm Speaker Profile The central thrust of studies performed in Dr. Standiford’s laboratory have focused on exploring the role of specific cells, cytokines, antimicrobial peptides and toll like receptors (TLRs) in the generation of protective innate immune responses of the lung. Murine models of bacterial and viral pneumonia have been developed to determine the contribution of TLRs, cells, cytokines, and antimicrobial peptides to the generation of effective pulmonary innate immunity. Gene deletion/transgenic techniques, passive immunization, and gene knockdown approaches have been applied to identify relevant mediators and novel therapeutic approaches. Additional studies are in progress to determine the contribution of dendritic cells and specific T cell populations as important links between innate and acquired immune responses within the lung. Studies are ongoing to define the effects of viral infection or systemic sepsis on subsequent lung innate antibacterial immune responses, and determine the contribution of inhibitors of TLR signaling cascades to regulation of innate responses. The epigenetic regulation of innate macrophage responses in sepsis and acute lung injury is a focus of both animal and human based translational research.
NOV 5 Lunch: 12:00 noon Lecture: 12:15 - 1:30 pm Hudson Webber Cancer Research Center, Second Floor, Wertz Auditorium 4100 John R. Street, Detroit, MI 48201 The Molecular Mechanisms of Adaptive Immunity Kendall A. Smith, M.D. Rochelle Belfer Professor of Medicine Chief, Division of Immunology, Department of Medicine Weill Cornell Medical College Associate Program Director, Clinical Translational Science Center Senior Attending Physician, New York-Presbyterian Hospital Host: Kang Chen, Ph.D. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University Lunch with graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and residents: 1:30 - 2:30 pm Speaker Profile Dr. Smith is a world-renowned clinician-scientist who has brought many milestone discoveries to modern immunology and medicine. His group created the first monoclonal T cells that revolutionized the study of T cells, identified the first interleukin molecule interleukin-2 (IL-2) and the first interleukin receptor IL-2R, and discovered the mechanism of immunosuppression by glucocorticoids. In the past five decades, his discoveries have not only transformed our fundamental understanding of the immune system, but also led to the creation of the “interleukin” nomenclature and spurred the efforts of using IL-2 to treat diseases ranging from viral and bacterial infections to cancer. More research from Dr. Smith’s group in recent years has revealed fundamental mechanisms of the exquisite control of cell proliferation and discrimination of “self” from “non-self” by immune cells, and led to the formulation of the “Quantal Theory of Immunity”, which has profoundly impacted our understanding of the regulation of immune responses in health and diseases. Dr. Smith has authored numerous articles and books published by leading journals or publishers, including Nature, Science, New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Immunity, Nature Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Experimental Medicine and World Scientific. He is on the editorial board of many leading journals, including being the Editor-in-Chief of Frontiers in Immunology, a journal that selects the most significant research for open interactive post-publication review to ensure unbiased, constructive, efficient and transparent discussion of its accuracy and impact. Dr. Smith is a nominee of the 2013 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award.
OCT 1 Lunch: 12:00 noon Lecture: 12:15 - 1:30 pm Hudson Webber Cancer Research Center, Second Floor, Wertz Auditorium 4100 John R. Street, Detroit, MI 48201 How Does the C1858T SNP of PTPN22 Affect the Risk of Autoimmune Diseases? I-Cheng Ho, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Associate Physician, Brigham and Women's Hospital Host: Olivia Merkel, Ph.D. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wayne State University Speaker Profile Dr. Ho is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. In addition, he is an Associate Rheumatologist in the Division of Rheumatology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. He received his MD degree from Taipei Medical College, Taiwan, in 1984, and then obtained his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1991. He then held clinical positions in the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Hospital from 1991 to 1994, and at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, in the Division of Rheumatology from 1994 to 1997. He became an instructor at Harvard Medical School in 1995, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases in 1998. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2005. His major areas of research involve the function and regulation of GATA-3 and T helper cell-mediated autoimmunity.
SEP 3 Lunch: 12:00 noon Lecture: 12:15 - 1:30 pm Hudson Webber Cancer Research Center, Second Floor, Wertz Auditorium 4100 John R. Street, Detroit, MI 48201 The Symphony of the Ninth: Th9-dependent Orchestration of Allergic Inflammation Mark H. Kaplan, Ph.D. Professor and Director of Pediatric Pulmonary Basic Research Departments of Pediatrics, and Microbiology and Immunology Indiana University School of Medicine Host: Judith Whittum-Hudson, Ph.D. and Roy Sundick, Ph.D. Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Wayne State University Speaker Profile Dr. Kaplan is a Professor of Pediatrics, Microbiology and Immunology at Indiana University, School of Medicine. In addition, he is Director of Pediatric Pulmonary Basic Research. He received his B.Sc. from the University of Windsor and then obtained his Ph.D. in 1992 from Wayne State University in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology in the School of Medicine. He then held postdoctoral positions at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Harvard School of Public Health. From Harvard, he joined the faculty at Indiana University where he has remained. His major areas of research involve the regulation of genes and cellular phenotypes in the immune response, including STAT protein immunobiology and T helper cell regulation and function.
JUL 2 Lunch: 12:00 noon Lecture: 12:15 - 1:30 pm Hudson Webber Cancer Research Center, Second Floor, Wertz Auditorium 4100 John R. Street, Detroit, MI 48201 The Immunobiology of Autism Judy Van de Water, Ph.D. Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology University of California at Davis Host: Allen J. Rosenspire, Ph.D. Group Leader, Environmental Modulators of the Immune System, The CURES Program College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Wayne State University
JUN 4 Lunch: 12:00 noon Lecture: 12:15 - 1:30 pm Hudson Webber Cancer Research Center, Second Floor, Wertz Auditorium 4100 John R. Street, Detroit, MI 48201 Immunosuppressive and Angiogenic Potential of Granulocytic Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells in Renal Cell Carcinoma - Strategies to Reduce Numbers and Function James H. Finke, Ph.D. Department of Immunology, The Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University Host: Gilda Hillman, Ph.D. Department of Radiation Oncology, Wayne State University Trainee meeting with the speaker for lunch: 1:30 - 2:30 pm
MAY 7 Lunch: 12:00 noon Lecture: 12:15 - 1:30 pm Hudson Webber Cancer Research Center, Second Floor, Wertz Auditorium 4100 John R. Street, Detroit, MI 48201 Targeting STAT3 to Modulate Tumor Cell Survival, Immune Suppression and Tumor-Associated Stroma Gregory B. Lesinski, Ph.D. The James Comprehensive Cancer Center Ohio State University College of Medicine Host: Wei-Zen Wei, Ph.D. and Lawrence Lum, M.D., D.Sc. Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute
APR 2 Lunch: 12:00 noon Lecture: 12:15 - 1:30 pm Hudson Webber Cancer Research Center, Second Floor, Wertz Auditorium 4100 John R. Street, Detroit, MI 48201 Development and Function of Innate CD4 T cells Cheong-Hee Chang, Ph.D. University of Michigan Host: Qing-Sheng Mi, M.D., Ph.D., Henry Ford Health System Trainee meeting with the speaker for lunch: 1:30 - 2:30 pm
MAR 5 Lunch: 12:00 noon Lecture: 12:15 - 1:30 pm Hudson Webber Cancer Research Center, Second Floor, Wertz Auditorium 4100 John R. Street, Detroit, MI 48201 The Role of IL-21 in Type-1 Diabetes and Allograft Vasculopathy: Therapeutic Potential Stanislaw Stepkowski, D.V.M., Ph.D., D.Sc. University of Toledo Host: Qing-Sheng Mi, M.D., Ph.D., Henry Ford Health System Trainee meeting with the speaker for lunch: 1:30 - 2:30 pm