WSU-KCI-HFHS Immunology Focus Group

2014 Lectures
DEC 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 Oxidized Glycerophosphocholines for Fun and Profit in Cancer and Immunity Jeffrey B. Travers, M.D., Ph.D. Kampen-Norins Professor and Chair of Dermatology Indiana University School of Medicine Host: Qing-Sheng Mi, M.D., Ph.D. Departments of Medicine and Dermatology, Henry Ford Health Systems Speaker Profile Dr. Travers is a physician scientist who studies the pharmacology of bioactive oxidized lipids and the role of fibroblast senescence in non-melanoma skin cancer. He is an expert in atopic dermatitis and currently conducts specialized clinics focusing on the care of the most challenging pediatric and adult patients. Dr. Travers has published approximately 200 peer-reviewed research papers. His total funding from the NIH has been more than $7.5 million, and he has received more than $1.3 million from the Department of Veterans Affairs for his research. He is currently the principal investigator on three NIH grants. In his more than nine years as the Chair of Dermatology at Indiana University, he consistently received the highest scores for faculty satisfaction and mentorship. He holds a Basic Science VA Merit Award and a Clinical VA Merit Award to do research in the initiation of skin cancer. He has regularly participated as a grant reviewer for several different federal research programs and has trained a total of 20 postdoctoral fellows and graduate students. Dr. Travers is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and American Dermatological Association honorary societies and currently serves on the Scientific Committee for the American Academy of Dermatology and the Finance Committee for the Society for Investigative Dermatology.
NOV 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 Genetic Analysis of iNKT Cell Development José Alberola-Ila, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Member Immunobiology and Cancer Research Program Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) Host: Qing-Sheng Mi, M.D., Ph.D. Departments of Medicine and Dermatology, Henry Ford Health Systems Speaker Profile Dr. Alberola-Ila is a renowned immunologist specializing in the differentiation of T cells and nature killer T cells. He is currently an Associate Member of the Immunobiology and Cancer Research program at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and has held previous faculty appointments at the California Institute of Technology. His group identified the critical function of the tyrosine kinase Lck and the transcription factor GATA-3 in the specification of CD4 vs. CD8 T cell lineage, and the role of the transcription factor c-Myb in the selection of invariant NKT cell lineage. He is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including being a Pew Scholar and a Cancer Research Institute Special Fellow. The current focus of his laboratory is to understand how GATA-3 controls the CD4 T cell lineage decision and the regulation of the specification of the NKT cell lineage.
OCT 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 Molecular Signatures Differentiate Immune States in Type 1 Diabetes Families Martin J. Hessner, Ph.D. Professor and Director Max McGee National Research Center for Juvenile Diabetes Medical College of Wisconsin Host: Qing-Sheng Mi, M.D., Ph.D. Departments of Medicine and Dermatology, Henry Ford Health Systems
SEP 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 Gut Microbiome Influences Progression of Ovarian Cancer in Mice via Th17 and T-Regulatory Cells Andrea Facciabene, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania Host: Wei-Zen Wei, Ph.D. Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute Department of Oncology, Wayne State University
AUG 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 Environmental Exposure and Systemic Autoimmunity Kenneth Michael Pollard, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Molecular Medicine Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine The Scripps Research Institute Host: Allen Rosenspire., Ph.D. College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Speaker Profile Dr. Pollard PhD gained his doctorate from the University of Sydney, Australia and did postdoctoral studies at the Scripps Research Institute and in Australia before joining the Scripps faculty in 1992. His research seeks to understand mechanisms of systemic autoimmunity, and the role that environmental agents play in the initiation and/or exacerbation of autoimmune disease. The current focus of research in his laboratory includes three areas of investigation: 1) Role of innate and adaptive immune responses in environmental autoimmunity, 2) Environmental exposure and acceleration of idiopathic systemic autoimmunity, and 3) Identification of genes that confer resistance or susceptibility to environmental autoimmunity.
JUL 8 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 Molecular Markers of Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma: Translating Science into Clinical Practice Youwen Zhou, M.D., Ph.D. Professor Department of Dermatology and Skin Science University of British Columbia Director Chieng Genomics Center and Laboratory of Predictive Medicine and Therapeutics Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute Canada Host: Li Zhou, M.D. Departments of Medicine and Dermatology, Henry Ford Health Systems
JUN 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 Transcriptional Control of Innate T Cells Derek Sant'Angelo, Ph.D. Harold L. Paz M.D. Endowed Professor Chief, Developmental Biology Department of Pediatrics Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Rutgers University Host: Qing-Sheng Mi, M.D., Ph.D. Departments of Medicine and Dermatology, Henry Ford Health Systems
MAY 9 This event will be held on a Friday in the Department of Chemistry building. Lecture: 4:00 pm A. Paul Schaap Auditorium, Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University 5101 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202 Transcription Brings Activation-Induced Cytidine Deaminase (AID) to Immunoglobulin Variable and Switch Regions Patricia Gearhart, Ph.D. Senior Investigator Section on Antibody Diversity Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Immunology National Institute of Aging National Institutes of Health Host: Ashok Bhagwat, Ph.D. Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University Speaker Profile Dr. Patricia Gearhart is a leading expert in the studies of antibody gene diversification and the molecular mechanisms of DNA mutations. She received her Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1974, and performed her postdoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University. She was a staff associate at the Carnegie Institution of Washington until 1982 and became a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University until 1995, when she moved to the NIA. Somatic hypermutation of immunoglobulin genes occurs at a frequency that is a million times greater than mutations in other genes. Improper regulation of this process leads to humoral immunodeficiency as well as the development of cancer. Her group has used biochemical and genetic techniques to elucidate this fascinating process mediated by the enzyme activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) that occurs constantly in every B lymphocyte in the human body.
APR 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 Exploiting Autophagy to Improve the Immunotherapy of Cancer Bernard Fox, Ph.D. Endowed Chair and Chief, Laboratory of Molecular and Tumor Immunology Earle A. Chiles Research Institute Providence Portland Medical Center, Oregon Leader, Tumor Immunology Focus Group Knight Cancer Institute Oregon Health and Science University Past President, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer Host: Wei-Zen Wei, Ph.D. Department of Oncology, Wayne State University and Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute Lunch with graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and residents: 1:30 - 2:30 pm Speaker Profile The current focus of Dr. Fox's research aims at understanding tumor-induced suppressive mechanisms that blunt the efficacy of immunotherapy and developing approaches to overcome these mechanisms. In preclinical models this involves the appreciation of the important role tumor-induced T reg cells play and development of strategies to overcome this effect. One approaches developed in his lab is depletion of CD25+ cells from cells used to “reconstitute” a lympho-depleted host. This strategy is now being translated into clinical trials for patients with melanoma or prostate cancer. A second strategy is to employ anti-CD4 antibody to partially deplete CD4 T cells. In preclinical models this depletion “tips-the-balance” and uncovers therapeutic efficacy in a multiple vaccination model. This strategy is also heading to a phase I clinical trial. Other studies are using T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic (Tg) mice with specificity for tumor-specific/associated antigens to dissect the mechanisms of tumor regression and tumor escape. His lab also uses a wide variety of knockout (KO) and Tg mice to study requirements for tumor elimination in vivo, maintenance of long-term antitumor immunity and approaches to augment effector function. Other studies in his lab have unexpectedly identified that patients receiving lympho-depleting chemotherapy prior to adoptive transfer of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and vaccination have an increased frequency of CD3+/CD4+/CD25+/FoxP3+ "Regulatory" T cells (3-5 fold) within the first 2 weeks of vaccination. These elevated levels of regulatory T cells and can stay elevated for several weeks. Current efforts are directed at understanding this observation and characterizing the cellular and humoral anti-tumor immune response. By apheresing patients prior to and following vaccination we have substantial numbers of T cells, monocytes and DCs for performing sophisticated monitoring and the development of cellular reagents. In collaboration with biotech collaborators, his group is using SEREX to evaluate the development of humoral anti-tumor immunity.
MAR 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 Modulating Innate Immune Responses in the Genital Mucosa to Facilitate Transport and Biodistribution of Nanoparticle Vaccines Kim A. Woodrow, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Bioengineering University of Washington Host: Joshua Reineke, Ph.D. College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Wayne State University Speaker Profile Kim A. Woodrow is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington since January 2010. From 2006 to 2009, she was a postdoctoral fellow in Biomedical Engineering at Yale University in the group of Prof. W. Mark Saltzman. She completed her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Stanford in 2006. Dr. Woodrow’s research interests focus on the application of engineered biomaterials in mucosal biology, where her lab works on the design and synthesis of biomaterials for applications in mucosal infections and mucosal immunity. She is an NIH-funded investigator, the recipient of the Creative and Novel Ideas in HIV Research (CNIHR) award from the Office of AIDS Research, a recipient of a grant from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and was awarded a 2012 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award.