HI3 Members on the Anschutz Medical Campus
The HI3 has welcomed the participation of all immunology and immunotherapy-related basic and/or clinical and translational investigators at all levels of training and expertise on the greater Anschutz Medical Campus as members.If interested in becoming a member of the HI3, please email the Assistant Director, Aimee Bernard (Aimee.Bernard@ucdenver.edu) your request with a short description of your research interests. Thank you!
Jordan Abbott, MD
Dr. Abbott is Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the section of Allergy and Immunology. The Abbott Lab investigates the mechanisms of rare syndromes of human immune dysfunction. This category of diseases includes primary immunodeficiency and primary immune dysregulation disorders that effect both adaptive and innate branches of the immune system. The lab uses a variety of molecular-genetic and biochemical techniques to define these mechanisms of immune dysfunction in order to improve treatment approaches and to advance knowledge of how the human immune system works in general.
F. Dan Atkins, MD
Dr. Atkins is the Section Head for Allergy and the Co-Director of the Gastrointestinal Eosinophilic Disease Program at Children's Hospital Colorado. Dan’s research interests include better understanding the immunologic mechanisms of different forms of food allergy and eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders.
Stephen Dreskin, MD, PhD
Dr. Dreskin is a Professor in the School of Medicine Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the Director of the University of Colorado Allergy and Immunology Practice. The primary effort in the Dreskin laboratory is to understand the effector activity of peanut allergens. Allergic reactions to peanuts occur because susceptible individuals have an aberrant response to peanuts by producing a plasma protein, IgE, that binds to the high affinity receptor for IgE on mast cells and basophils. This receptor-bound IgE can be cross-linked by specific peanut proteins, called allergens, leading to a severe allergic reaction. Eleven peanut proteins have been identified as allergens because they bind IgE from allergic individuals. Based on our work and the work of others, we now know that Ara h 2 and Ara h 6 are the most potent of these allergens for most patients. We have championed the concept of defining the clinically most important allergens based on potency in functional assays that we have helped to develop. Our newest data examining the allergenicity of peanut extracts that have been specifically depleted of Ara h 2 and Ara h 6 demonstrate strongly that, for severely peanut allergic patients, the activity of Ara h 2 and Ara h 6 together account for the approximately 90% of the allergenic activity of peanuts. We propose to define in molecular detail how these peanut allergens interact to be responsible for mast cell activation in peanut allergic patients. We are currently testing our in vitro findings in vivo using a mouse model of peanut allergy. This approach has changed our thinking as to which peanut allergens are the most important for allergic reactions. Another focus of the Dreskin laboratory is to understand the molecular basis of chronic urticaria.
Cullen Dutmer, MD
Dr. Dutmer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy & Immunology at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Cullen’s clinical responsibilities include the diagnosis and management of patients with primary immunodeficiency diseases and immune dysregulation disorders. In addition, he diagnoses and treats individuals with various atopic diseases and asthma. Dr. Dutmer’s research interests include projects investigating how environmental exposures contribute to asthma severity in urban children.
Andrew Fontenot, MD
Dr. Fontenot is the Division Head and Professor of Allergy & Clinical Immunology. The interests of the Fontenot laboratory are diverse, but mainly center on the role of T cells in the development of lung disease. In particular, the laboratory is interested in determining the mechanism by which CD4+ T cells recognize the beryllium antigen in the context of HLA-DP2. The Fontenot team recently determined the structure of HLA-DP2 and this structure defines a potential beryllium binding site. The immunologic mechanisms involved in the progression from beryllium sensitization and disease as well as the development of biomarkers that could potentially detect this progression in the absence of invasive procedures is also a major interest. The lab is also interested in the alterations in the lung microbiome that characterize the lung in different stages of HIV disease and whether a broadened microbiome could contribute to the early onset of lung disease in HIV-infected patients.
Brian Freed, PhD
Dr. Freed is the Executive Director for ClinImmune Labs and a Professor in the Division of Allergy and Immunology. Brian’s research focuses on the effects of smoking on pulmonary immune responses; HLA epitopes and immune mediated diseases.
Elena Hsieh, MD
Dr. Hsieh is an Assistant Professor of Immunology and Microbiology and Pediatrics. The goal of the research in Elena’s laboratory is to elucidate cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying immune derangements in the pathogenesis of pediatric autoimmune, inflammatory and immunodeficient disorders, which would provide the foundation for novel disease biomarkers to prognosticate disease activity, and select therapeutic interventions.
Charles H. Kirkpatrick, MD
Dr. Kirkpatrick is a member of the faculty of the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the Department of Medicine. Charles evaluates patients who are referred to the Anschutz Medical Campus because of unusual susceptibility to infectious diseases or autoimmune diseases. These studies have led to the recognition of two disorders: long term antibody deficiency, and a ‘new immune deficiency’ in which patients fail to develop high avidity antibodies. Long term antibody deficiency is observed in patients who were treated with Rituximab, an FDA approved drug that targets B-lymphocytes. He has characterized the defect in B-lymphocyte cytology and function and has developed an effective treatment. Current studies are directed at determining the mechanism(s) that lead to this defect. The ‘new immune deficiency’ is characterized by failure to develop high avidity antibodies. Current studies are aimed at defining the mechanisms of this disorder. In addition, Dr. Kirkpatrick studies immune deficiencies and autoimmunities that are due to haplotype insufficiency. He also evaluates and manages patients with Periodic Fever Syndromes.
Vijaya Knight, MD, PhD, (D)ABMLI
Dr. Vijaya Knight is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy and Immunology and Director of the Translational and Diagnostic Immunology and Allergy Laboratory at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Vijaya’s interests focus on the development of novel immunological assays for analysis of immunodeficiency and immune dysregulation, as well as the development of immune monitoring assays for clinical trials. She is well known in the field of clinical immunology and is recognized for her expertise in developing and validating complex immunological assays for clinical use.
Brent Palmer, PhD
Dr. Palmer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the Director of the ACI/ID (research) and ClinImmune (clinical) Flow Cytometry Facility. Brent has a long-standing interest the consequences of HIV infection on T cell immunity. The Palmer laboratory performs translational patient-based studies of T cell exhaustion in HIV-infected individuals as well as humanized mouse models of HIV infection to examine the potential of checkpoint inhibitors, such as Programmed Death I (PD-1), for restoring anti-viral immunity. The Palmer laboratory also investigates the microbiome and has shown that HIV infection is associated with profound alterations in gut microbiota. The Palmer lab investigates how alterations in gut microbiota effect intestinal immune homeostasis and metabolic disease and uses diet modification to remediate effects of dysbiosis on HIV-associated comorbidities and disease. Dr. Palmer is also interested in the gut-lung axis and mechanisms by which enteric microbes shape pulmonary immunity.
James DeGregori, PhD
Dr. DeGregori is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. James’ lab is interested in understanding how mutational landscapes change in human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells as humans age, and the influence of lifestyle on these changes. The DeGregori lab is particularly interested in how aging influences selection for potentially oncogenic mutations, and the role of chronic inflammation in this altered adaptive landscape.
Robert Sclafani, PhD
Dr. Sclafani is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, a Program Director of Cell Biology in the Cancer Center, and the Molecular Biology Graduate Program Director at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. His lab studies cell cycle regulation of DNA replication, DNA repair and mutagenesis and DNA damage checkpoint control in both yeast and human cancer cells. Recently, the Sclafani lab found the chemopreventive agent resveratrol prevents cancer by producing DNA replication stress and DNA damage in FANC/BRCA defective Head and Neck Cancer cells. As the co-program director of the Cancer Cell Biology program with Dr. Antonio Jimeno, Dr. Sclafani actively supports many members within the program who are investigating immunotherapy in cancer.
Dr. DeGregori is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. James’ lab is interested in understanding how mutational landscapes change in human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells as humans age, and the influence of lifestyle on these changes. The DeGregori lab is particularly interested in how aging influences selection for potentially oncogenic mutations, and the role of chronic inflammation in this altered adaptive landscape.
Robert Sclafani, PhD
Dr. Sclafani is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, a Program Director of Cell Biology in the Cancer Center, and the Molecular Biology Graduate Program Director at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. His lab studies cell cycle regulation of DNA replication, DNA repair and mutagenesis and DNA damage checkpoint control in both yeast and human cancer cells. Recently, the Sclafani lab found the chemopreventive agent resveratrol prevents cancer by producing DNA replication stress and DNA damage in FANC/BRCA defective Head and Neck Cancer cells. As the co-program director of the Cancer Cell Biology program with Dr. Antonio Jimeno, Dr. Sclafani actively supports many members within the program who are investigating immunotherapy in cancer.
Danielle Soranno, MD
Dr. Soranno is an Assistant Professor in Pediatrics, Bioengineering and Medicine at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Danielle uses injectable hydrogels for local and sustained delivery of therapeutics (IL-10, anti-TGF-B, and mesenchymal stem cells) to mitigate the pro-inflammatory, pro-fibrotic immune response following acute kidney injury. The gels/therapeutics are either injected under the kidney capsule or subcutaneously and their location is tracked over time with non-invasive imaging. Dr. Soranno studies these effects in a mouse model of acute-to-chronic kidney disease and monitors them for improvement in kidney function and histological outcomes.
Dr. Soranno is an Assistant Professor in Pediatrics, Bioengineering and Medicine at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Danielle uses injectable hydrogels for local and sustained delivery of therapeutics (IL-10, anti-TGF-B, and mesenchymal stem cells) to mitigate the pro-inflammatory, pro-fibrotic immune response following acute kidney injury. The gels/therapeutics are either injected under the kidney capsule or subcutaneously and their location is tracked over time with non-invasive imaging. Dr. Soranno studies these effects in a mouse model of acute-to-chronic kidney disease and monitors them for improvement in kidney function and histological outcomes.
Chris Gignoux, PhD, MS
Dr. Gignoux is an Associate Professor in the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine and Department of Biostatistics and also the Director for Personalized Ancestry Information Resource. Chris is a population geneticist by training interested primarily in the confluence of human evolution and epidemiology. Currently he is working on a range of topics from population structure and demographic inference to understanding the genomic architecture of complex traits. He is deeply interested in broadening our understanding of human biology through understanding the role of human genetic diversity across the globe, and continue to perform field work with collaborators in South Africa (with an increasing focus on susceptibility to tuberculosis) and across Latin America. Dr. Gignoux has a background both in industry and academia and extensive expertise in asthma genetics, and a current interest on human adaptation to infectious disease. On the methods side, he is particularly interested in applications of population genetic theory, statistical modeling, and algorithmic development to improve large-scale, trans-ethnic, and biobank studies.
Dr. Gignoux is an Associate Professor in the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine and Department of Biostatistics and also the Director for Personalized Ancestry Information Resource. Chris is a population geneticist by training interested primarily in the confluence of human evolution and epidemiology. Currently he is working on a range of topics from population structure and demographic inference to understanding the genomic architecture of complex traits. He is deeply interested in broadening our understanding of human biology through understanding the role of human genetic diversity across the globe, and continue to perform field work with collaborators in South Africa (with an increasing focus on susceptibility to tuberculosis) and across Latin America. Dr. Gignoux has a background both in industry and academia and extensive expertise in asthma genetics, and a current interest on human adaptation to infectious disease. On the methods side, he is particularly interested in applications of population genetic theory, statistical modeling, and algorithmic development to improve large-scale, trans-ethnic, and biobank studies.
Scott Auerbach, MD
Dr. Auerbach is a pediatric transplant cardiologist interested in immunotherapies as ways to both prevent and treat graft rejection and cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) at Children's Hospital Colorado. Scott is specifically interested in ways to decrease circulating levels of Anti-HLA antibodies in children who are candidates for cardiac transplantation and in transplant patients with antibody mediated rejection, immune mechanisms of CAV development, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) leading to variation in immune response. Additionally, Scott has been researching microRNA as biomarkers of cardiac allograft vasculopathy.
Katja Gist, DO, MSCS
Dr. Gist is an Assistant Professor within the Heart Institute at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Katja’s research focuses on the systemic complication of acute kidney injury (AKI). Specifically, she is interested in the association between AKI and subsequent infection, which is known to occur in 40% of patients with AKI, and doubles the rate of mortality. Katja studies children after cardiac surgery, as they have a high rate of AKI, to determine if they have persistent immunoparalysis and T cell dysfunction that increases their risk for infection.
Michael Yeager, PhD
Dr. Yeager is an Assistant Professor within the Department of Pediatrics Section of Cardiology, the Department of Bioengineering, and the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome. Michael’s lab has extensive experience in the study of fibrotic vascular remodeling in the lung and right ventricle (RV), particularly in the settings of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and pulmonary fibrosis associated with systemic sclerosis and autoimmune disease. Most recently, Michael’s research has focused on the role that lymphatics and bronchus-associated tertiary lymphoid tissue (BALT) play with regard to inflammatory and autoimmune fibrotic remodeling. The Yeager lab utilizes human tissue and rat models to study fibrotic lung disease, and assess treatment efficacy using hemodynamic measurements (invasive and non-invasive), as well as histological, cell, and molecular methods. Published and preliminary data raise the possibility that BALT-mediated production of anti-fibroblast autoantibodies drive the pulmonary vascular remodeling and RV failure in PH. In this context, the primary focus area is on the mechanisms governing these complicated processes with the eventual goal of therapeutic intervention.
Dr. Auerbach is a pediatric transplant cardiologist interested in immunotherapies as ways to both prevent and treat graft rejection and cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) at Children's Hospital Colorado. Scott is specifically interested in ways to decrease circulating levels of Anti-HLA antibodies in children who are candidates for cardiac transplantation and in transplant patients with antibody mediated rejection, immune mechanisms of CAV development, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) leading to variation in immune response. Additionally, Scott has been researching microRNA as biomarkers of cardiac allograft vasculopathy.
Katja Gist, DO, MSCS
Dr. Gist is an Assistant Professor within the Heart Institute at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Katja’s research focuses on the systemic complication of acute kidney injury (AKI). Specifically, she is interested in the association between AKI and subsequent infection, which is known to occur in 40% of patients with AKI, and doubles the rate of mortality. Katja studies children after cardiac surgery, as they have a high rate of AKI, to determine if they have persistent immunoparalysis and T cell dysfunction that increases their risk for infection.
Michael Yeager, PhD
Dr. Yeager is an Assistant Professor within the Department of Pediatrics Section of Cardiology, the Department of Bioengineering, and the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome. Michael’s lab has extensive experience in the study of fibrotic vascular remodeling in the lung and right ventricle (RV), particularly in the settings of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and pulmonary fibrosis associated with systemic sclerosis and autoimmune disease. Most recently, Michael’s research has focused on the role that lymphatics and bronchus-associated tertiary lymphoid tissue (BALT) play with regard to inflammatory and autoimmune fibrotic remodeling. The Yeager lab utilizes human tissue and rat models to study fibrotic lung disease, and assess treatment efficacy using hemodynamic measurements (invasive and non-invasive), as well as histological, cell, and molecular methods. Published and preliminary data raise the possibility that BALT-mediated production of anti-fibroblast autoantibodies drive the pulmonary vascular remodeling and RV failure in PH. In this context, the primary focus area is on the mechanisms governing these complicated processes with the eventual goal of therapeutic intervention.
Mayumi Fujita, MD, PHD
Dr. Fujita is a Professor in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and a physician at the University of Colorado Hospital and the Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Mayumi’s lab is interested in understanding biological roles and molecular regulations of 1) IL-1 family members such as IL-1b and IL-37, inflammasomes and autoinflammation and 2) tumor heterogeneity in melanoma and its therapeutic resistance.
David Norris, MD
Dr. Norris is a Professor and Chairman in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Colorado in the School of Medicine. David’s clinical interests focus on autoimmune skin diseases such as vitiligo, alopecia areata and systemic lupus erythematosus as well as immunobullus diseases, psoriasis, acne, skin cancer, melanoma and cutaneous lymphoma, pigmentary disorders. David’s research interests are multi-faceted and include cytotoxic mechanism in cutaneous disease, melanoma resistance to apoptosis, control of the migration of melanoma and resistance to activation-induced cell death in T cell lymphoma.
Dennis Roop, PhD
Dr. Roop is the Director of the Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology and a Professor of Dermatology. The Roop laboratory has a long standing interest in identifying genes required for normal skin development and understanding how they function. The Roop team discovered that defects in some of these genes cause inherited skin diseases characterized by a very fragile skin, which blisters easily and may result in neonatal death. Defects in other genes required for normal skin development predispose individuals to develop skin cancer. Current focus is on the generation of induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) from patients with inherited skin fragility syndromes using methods which do not require viral vectors, and determining whether genome editing techniques can be used to correct the genetic defect in these patient-specific iPSCs. The ultimate goal is return keratinocytes derived from genetically corrected iPSCs to the same patient as an autograft. Another focus is the isolation and characterization of skin cancer stem cells. An improved understanding of cancer stem cells could result in the development of novel therapeutic strategies that specifically target cancer stem cells for destruction and prevent tumor recurrence.
Dr. Fujita is a Professor in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and a physician at the University of Colorado Hospital and the Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Mayumi’s lab is interested in understanding biological roles and molecular regulations of 1) IL-1 family members such as IL-1b and IL-37, inflammasomes and autoinflammation and 2) tumor heterogeneity in melanoma and its therapeutic resistance.
David Norris, MD
Dr. Norris is a Professor and Chairman in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Colorado in the School of Medicine. David’s clinical interests focus on autoimmune skin diseases such as vitiligo, alopecia areata and systemic lupus erythematosus as well as immunobullus diseases, psoriasis, acne, skin cancer, melanoma and cutaneous lymphoma, pigmentary disorders. David’s research interests are multi-faceted and include cytotoxic mechanism in cutaneous disease, melanoma resistance to apoptosis, control of the migration of melanoma and resistance to activation-induced cell death in T cell lymphoma.
Dennis Roop, PhD
Dr. Roop is the Director of the Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology and a Professor of Dermatology. The Roop laboratory has a long standing interest in identifying genes required for normal skin development and understanding how they function. The Roop team discovered that defects in some of these genes cause inherited skin diseases characterized by a very fragile skin, which blisters easily and may result in neonatal death. Defects in other genes required for normal skin development predispose individuals to develop skin cancer. Current focus is on the generation of induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) from patients with inherited skin fragility syndromes using methods which do not require viral vectors, and determining whether genome editing techniques can be used to correct the genetic defect in these patient-specific iPSCs. The ultimate goal is return keratinocytes derived from genetically corrected iPSCs to the same patient as an autograft. Another focus is the isolation and characterization of skin cancer stem cells. An improved understanding of cancer stem cells could result in the development of novel therapeutic strategies that specifically target cancer stem cells for destruction and prevent tumor recurrence.
Jed Friedman, PhD
Dr. Friedman is a Professor of Pediatrics, Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics, a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, a Professor of Basic Reproductive Sciences, the Director of the Colorado Program in Healthy Development, and the Director of the NIH Molecular and Cellular Analytical Core Laboratory and NIH Nutrition Obesity Research. Jed is interested in the development of the infant microbiome and its impact on inflammatory pathways in newborn infants, and using germ-free mice to determine mechanisms for monocyte programming to macrophages and metabolic outcomes.
Jena French, PhD
Dr. French is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism. She works in collaboration with Dr. Bryan Haugen, the chair of Endocrinology and thyroid cancer expert, to characterize the immune response in patients with advanced thyroid cancer. Thyroid cancers have long been associated with concurrent autoimmune disease and encompass a broad spectrum of disease, from relatively indolent tumors to persistent metastatic disease and highly aggressive anaplastic thyroid cancer. This work largely relies on fresh and archived patient samples. Previous studies by the French laboratory identified PD-1/Tim-3+ T cells in metastatic thyroid cancer. Their research has led to the development of a multi-center phase II clinical trial that will test the efficacy of pembrolizumab (anti-PD-1) in combination with lenvatinib (anti-VEGFR) in patients with radioiodine refractory disease. Current studies are focused on developing an immune competent orthotopic mouse model of thyroid cancer where the primary tumor is surgically removed after initial establishment and metastasis. This model would provide a physiologically relevant model of metastatic disease in which to investigate novel combination therapies that target both the tumor and the immune system.
Bryan Haugen, MD
Dr. Haugen is a Professor of Medicine and Pathology and is the Head of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Diabetes. Bryan’s research interests include molecular studies of thyroid neoplasm diagnosis and pathophysiology as well as the study of molecular therapeutic targets. Specific areas of research include nuclear hormone receptors (RXR, TR, PPAR) and kinase signaling pathways as therapeutic targets in thyroid cancer, as well as proteomic approaches to molecular markers in thyroid neoplasms. The Haugen research group is also actively studying novel regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis.
Kimber Simmons, MD, MS
Dr. Simmons is an Assistant Professor in Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at Children's Hospital Colorado and the Barbara Davis Center. Kimber’s overall career goal is to become an independent physician scientist studying the clinical immunology of autoimmune disease, with a focus on type 1 diabetes (T1D). Having lived with T1D for over 25 years, Kimber aims to make a fundamental contribution to the prevention of and ultimately a cure for T1D. Her current research focuses include 1) screening children in the general population for type 1 diabetes islet autoantibodies (early stage of type 1 diabetes), 2) understanding the role of adaptive immunity in disease progression (specifically B and T cells) 3) helping to develop preventative therapies for islet autoantibody positive individuals, 4) acting in the role of an investigator for clinical prevention trials, including those that are conducted as part of TrialNet and the Immune Tolerance Network .
Dr. Friedman is a Professor of Pediatrics, Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics, a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, a Professor of Basic Reproductive Sciences, the Director of the Colorado Program in Healthy Development, and the Director of the NIH Molecular and Cellular Analytical Core Laboratory and NIH Nutrition Obesity Research. Jed is interested in the development of the infant microbiome and its impact on inflammatory pathways in newborn infants, and using germ-free mice to determine mechanisms for monocyte programming to macrophages and metabolic outcomes.
Jena French, PhD
Dr. French is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism. She works in collaboration with Dr. Bryan Haugen, the chair of Endocrinology and thyroid cancer expert, to characterize the immune response in patients with advanced thyroid cancer. Thyroid cancers have long been associated with concurrent autoimmune disease and encompass a broad spectrum of disease, from relatively indolent tumors to persistent metastatic disease and highly aggressive anaplastic thyroid cancer. This work largely relies on fresh and archived patient samples. Previous studies by the French laboratory identified PD-1/Tim-3+ T cells in metastatic thyroid cancer. Their research has led to the development of a multi-center phase II clinical trial that will test the efficacy of pembrolizumab (anti-PD-1) in combination with lenvatinib (anti-VEGFR) in patients with radioiodine refractory disease. Current studies are focused on developing an immune competent orthotopic mouse model of thyroid cancer where the primary tumor is surgically removed after initial establishment and metastasis. This model would provide a physiologically relevant model of metastatic disease in which to investigate novel combination therapies that target both the tumor and the immune system.
Bryan Haugen, MD
Dr. Haugen is a Professor of Medicine and Pathology and is the Head of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Diabetes. Bryan’s research interests include molecular studies of thyroid neoplasm diagnosis and pathophysiology as well as the study of molecular therapeutic targets. Specific areas of research include nuclear hormone receptors (RXR, TR, PPAR) and kinase signaling pathways as therapeutic targets in thyroid cancer, as well as proteomic approaches to molecular markers in thyroid neoplasms. The Haugen research group is also actively studying novel regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis.
Kimber Simmons, MD, MS
Dr. Simmons is an Assistant Professor in Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at Children's Hospital Colorado and the Barbara Davis Center. Kimber’s overall career goal is to become an independent physician scientist studying the clinical immunology of autoimmune disease, with a focus on type 1 diabetes (T1D). Having lived with T1D for over 25 years, Kimber aims to make a fundamental contribution to the prevention of and ultimately a cure for T1D. Her current research focuses include 1) screening children in the general population for type 1 diabetes islet autoantibodies (early stage of type 1 diabetes), 2) understanding the role of adaptive immunity in disease progression (specifically B and T cells) 3) helping to develop preventative therapies for islet autoantibody positive individuals, 4) acting in the role of an investigator for clinical prevention trials, including those that are conducted as part of TrialNet and the Immune Tolerance Network .
Andrea Steck, MD
Dr. Steck is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes. Andrea’s primary research focus is in the area of epidemiology, prediction and prevention of type 1 diabetes. She has a background in pediatric endocrinology, with specific training and expertise in pediatric diabetes. Her research experience includes work with epidemiological studies such as DAISY (Diabetes Autoimmunity Study in the Young), TEDDY (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young) and the Twin Family Study. Dr. Steck is also the Colorado Principal Investigator (PI) for several TrialNet studies, including the TrialNet Pathway to Prevention Study, the TrialNet Oral Insulin Trial and the LIFT (Long-Term Investigative Follow-Up in TrialNet) Study.
Dr. Steck is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes. Andrea’s primary research focus is in the area of epidemiology, prediction and prevention of type 1 diabetes. She has a background in pediatric endocrinology, with specific training and expertise in pediatric diabetes. Her research experience includes work with epidemiological studies such as DAISY (Diabetes Autoimmunity Study in the Young), TEDDY (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young) and the Twin Family Study. Dr. Steck is also the Colorado Principal Investigator (PI) for several TrialNet studies, including the TrialNet Pathway to Prevention Study, the TrialNet Oral Insulin Trial and the LIFT (Long-Term Investigative Follow-Up in TrialNet) Study.
Edwin de Zoeten, MD, PhD
Dr. de Zoeten is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and the Director of the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Ed’s interests focus on the role of the immune system in inflammatory bowel diseases.
Glenn Furuta, MD
Dr. Furuta is a Professor of Pediatrics Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and the Director of the Gastrointestinal Eosinophilic Diseases Program at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Glenn’s interest focuses on the role of eosinophils in gastrointestinal health and diseases. Eosinophils normally reside in all of the gastrointestinal mucosa, except for the esophagus, but their role in innate mechanisms of defense and in the pathogenesis of disease is uncertain. The clinical, translational and basic studies of the Furuta lab seeks to provide new insights into these important roles.
Lisa A. Spencer, PhD
Dr. Spencer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. Lisa’s research interests are focused on the interplay between innate immune cells (primarily eosinophils) and their mucosal microenvironments, in particular their contributions toward shaping the adaptive immune response within the context of gastrointestinal inflammatory diseases.
Beth Tamburini, PhD
Dr. Tamburini is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine – GI/Hepatology. Beth is interested in understanding the contribution of the lymphatic vasculature to the modulation of immune function in infection, chronic liver diseases, and metastatic cancer. Beth is currently working on understanding the role of PD-L1 expression on lymphatic endothelial cells and how that modulates immune function using both mouse models and human tissue samples.
Dr. de Zoeten is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and the Director of the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Ed’s interests focus on the role of the immune system in inflammatory bowel diseases.
Glenn Furuta, MD
Dr. Furuta is a Professor of Pediatrics Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and the Director of the Gastrointestinal Eosinophilic Diseases Program at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Glenn’s interest focuses on the role of eosinophils in gastrointestinal health and diseases. Eosinophils normally reside in all of the gastrointestinal mucosa, except for the esophagus, but their role in innate mechanisms of defense and in the pathogenesis of disease is uncertain. The clinical, translational and basic studies of the Furuta lab seeks to provide new insights into these important roles.
Lisa A. Spencer, PhD
Dr. Spencer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. Lisa’s research interests are focused on the interplay between innate immune cells (primarily eosinophils) and their mucosal microenvironments, in particular their contributions toward shaping the adaptive immune response within the context of gastrointestinal inflammatory diseases.
Beth Tamburini, PhD
Dr. Tamburini is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine – GI/Hepatology. Beth is interested in understanding the contribution of the lymphatic vasculature to the modulation of immune function in infection, chronic liver diseases, and metastatic cancer. Beth is currently working on understanding the role of PD-L1 expression on lymphatic endothelial cells and how that modulates immune function using both mouse models and human tissue samples.
Nick Foreman, MD
Dr. Foreman is a Professor of Pediatrics, the Associate Section Head for Research Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT), and the Seebaum-Tschetter Chair of Neuro-Oncology. Nick performs research on the immunobiology of ependymoma in childhood that has resulted in immunotherapy trials for this tumor.
Lia Gore, MD
Dr. Gore is the Section Head for Hematology Oncology and Director for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children's Hospital Colorado and a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Medical Oncology and Hematology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Lia’s clinical and research interests include developing novel therapies for acute leukemias, with an emphasis on children and young adult patient populations. Lia was the North American Principal Investigator (PI) for the pediatric trial of the novel bi-specific monoclonal antibody blinatumomab, which helped lead this agent to FDA approval in December 2014. Lia is the PI of trials of immunotherapeutic agents for childhood cancers including the use of CAR-T cells for refractory leukemias.
Jonathan Gutman, MD
Dr. Gutman is an Associate Professor in the Division of Hematology and the Director of the adult allogeneic stem cell transplantation program. Jon’s research interests include cord blood transplantation and its unique immunologic features as well as immune manipulation to optimize stem cell transplant and cellular therapies. Jon is actively involved in the development of the University’s CAR T cell program and has specific interest in checkpoint inhibition.
Bradley Haverkos, MD
Dr. Haverkos is an Assistant Professor within the Division of Hematology. Brad's overarching clinical focus is to refine the role of immuno- and cellular-therapy for the treatment aggressive lymphomas. More specifically, his research focuses on the pathogenesis and treatment of T and NK-cell lymphoproliferative disorders and the role of Epstein-Barr virus as a co-factor. Ultimately, he believes that through improved understanding of the biological underpinnings of these rare diseases that we will be better equipped and can more strategically use immuno- and cellular-therapy to combat them.
Craig Jordan, PhD
Dr. Jordan is a Professor of Medicine and the Division Chief of Hematology. Craig’s research has been focused on characterization and targeting of leukemia stem cells (LSCs). In leukemia, like many forms of cancer, a small subset of so-called “cancer stem cells” are thought to be key drivers of pathogenesis and relapse. While therapies that reduce bulk tumor have been devised for many forms of cancer, effective eradication of cancer stem cells is more challenging, and represents an important goal towards improved therapies. In the most prevalent forms of adult acute leukemia, long-term survival rates are only ~20%, hence, better therapies are urgently needed. The Jordan laboratory was the first to describe properties of human LSCs that are relevant to therapeutic targeting. These observations have led to multiple clinical trials using antibodies, small molecules and cell-based immunotherapies designed to target the biological properties first reported from our studies. Building on our initial basic science studies, in subsequent years we developed drug screening and identification methods to identify improved therapeutic agents to target LSCs.
Alisa Lee-Sherick, MD
Dr. Lee-Sherick is a Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant specialist at Children's Hospital Colorado. The primary focus of Alisa’s research is to harness the immune system to more effectively cure acute leukemia. Alisa and her lab explore the role that monocytes and macrophages play in immune evasion of leukemia and how this can be reversed. One such approach is by inhibiting MERTK (a protein on monocytes and macrophages that promotes cancer growth and metastasis), which results in an anti-tumor microenvironment and decreases immune evasion. The hope is that the knowledge gained from this research can be used to develop novel immunotherapeutic approaches to treat acute leukemias.
Taizo Nakano, MD
Dr. Nakano is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and the Medical Director for the Vascular Malformation and Tumor Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. As a clinical hematologist, Taizo’s world revolves around the normal and abnormal function of hematopoietic cells. Although, on their own, these cells cause vast disease in patients that he sees and treats daily, they go on to directly influence every component of the immune system and become key players in immunodeficiency, autoimmunity and immune regulatory disorder. The care and treatment of many populations under his care (including Bone Marrow Failure, Immune Thrombocytopenia, Immunodeficiency, Auto- and Allo-immune disorders, and Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis) is influenced by the growing role the immune system is now known to have in the contribution of disease and what role it plays in the treatment of disease. The Nakano group carries out retrospective and prospective interventional trials to better understand and advance treatment options for these hematologic disorders. Ongoing clinical collaborations with pediatric immunology and pediatric rheumatology have strengthened the group’s ability to evaluate and study rare immunohematologic disorders. The goal is to promote clinical communication, collaboration and translational research to provide optimal and novel therapies to every patient.
Eric M. Pietras, PhD
Dr. Pietras is an Assistant Professor in Hematology with a research focus on hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) biology. The Pietras lab focuses on understanding how inflammation affects the fate decisions of HSCs, resulting in dynamic blood output in response to injury, infection and other physiological conditions. The lab also has significant interest in how chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and obesity ‘remodel’ the blood and immune systems in ways that can worsen disease outcomes, as well as how exposure to inflammatory signals impacts the function of HSCs during transplantation.
Daniel Sherbenou, MD, PhD
Dr. Sherbenou is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and a physician scientist in the plasma cell disorders program. The focus of Dan’s research is in drug development and therapeutic optimization for multiple myeloma, especially for patients with drug resistant and advanced disease. Myeloma a debilitating and largely incurable blood cancer derived from plasma cells, which are responsible for antibody-based immunity. In particular, he is interested in helping develop and apply new immunotherapies to myeloma, especially antibody-based therapies. Dan helped in the preclinical development of a CD46-targeted antibody-drug conjugate that will enter first-in-human clinical trials in 2018. In this process, he continues to investigate how this new therapy can be best applied, both in terms of targeting the patient subpopulations that may benefit most and in rational design of drug combination strategies. He is also involved in developing small molecule drugs for myeloma that exploit conserved aspects from plasma cell biology.
Jenna Sopfe, MD
Dr. Sopfe is a Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BMT Fellow at Children’s Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado. Jenna's research focuses on malglycemia (defined as hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia and glycemic variability) in the pediatric stem cell transplant population. She is attempting to define the incidence and consequences of malglycemia in this population through retrospective and prospective cohort studies. Outcomes may include worsened mortality and risk of infections and GVHD, which have been described in adults. It is postulated that these associations may be related to immune dysregulation that is known to occur with malglycemia.
Michael Verneris, MD
Dr. Verneris is a Professor of Pediatrics – Hematology/Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation and the Director of Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy. Mike’s clinical interests include the use of transplantation for acute leukemia, double umbilical cord blood transplantation, graft-versus-leukemia and immune reconstitution. The Verneris laboratory is focused on using cellular therapy to treat cancer and other diseases and associated research is in two broad areas: lymphocyte differentiation and lymphocyte biology and immune-based cancer therapies. In the context of lymphocyte differentiation, the Verneris lab seeks to understand the conditions, signaling pathways and developmental intermediates that stem cells go through during lymphocyte differentiation. Research has focused on the differentiation of innate lymphoid cells (NK cells and ILC3) using established embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, as well as hematopoietic stem cells derived from cord blood and bone marrow. In the context of lymphocyte biology and immune-based cancer therapies, the Verneris lab has focused on redirecting the immune system to cancer. Studies include the use and development of bi- and trispecific immune killer engagers (BiKes and TriKes) and chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). The Verneris team has also discovered how to differentiate stem cells to NK cells and ILC3 cells and are using drugs and genetic screens to enhance the development and function of these cells. The long-term goal is to have an “off the shelf” “living drug” that can be used to mitigate graft vs. host disease, inflammatory bowel disease and cancer.
Dr. Foreman is a Professor of Pediatrics, the Associate Section Head for Research Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT), and the Seebaum-Tschetter Chair of Neuro-Oncology. Nick performs research on the immunobiology of ependymoma in childhood that has resulted in immunotherapy trials for this tumor.
Lia Gore, MD
Dr. Gore is the Section Head for Hematology Oncology and Director for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children's Hospital Colorado and a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Medical Oncology and Hematology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Lia’s clinical and research interests include developing novel therapies for acute leukemias, with an emphasis on children and young adult patient populations. Lia was the North American Principal Investigator (PI) for the pediatric trial of the novel bi-specific monoclonal antibody blinatumomab, which helped lead this agent to FDA approval in December 2014. Lia is the PI of trials of immunotherapeutic agents for childhood cancers including the use of CAR-T cells for refractory leukemias.
Jonathan Gutman, MD
Dr. Gutman is an Associate Professor in the Division of Hematology and the Director of the adult allogeneic stem cell transplantation program. Jon’s research interests include cord blood transplantation and its unique immunologic features as well as immune manipulation to optimize stem cell transplant and cellular therapies. Jon is actively involved in the development of the University’s CAR T cell program and has specific interest in checkpoint inhibition.
Bradley Haverkos, MD
Dr. Haverkos is an Assistant Professor within the Division of Hematology. Brad's overarching clinical focus is to refine the role of immuno- and cellular-therapy for the treatment aggressive lymphomas. More specifically, his research focuses on the pathogenesis and treatment of T and NK-cell lymphoproliferative disorders and the role of Epstein-Barr virus as a co-factor. Ultimately, he believes that through improved understanding of the biological underpinnings of these rare diseases that we will be better equipped and can more strategically use immuno- and cellular-therapy to combat them.
Craig Jordan, PhD
Dr. Jordan is a Professor of Medicine and the Division Chief of Hematology. Craig’s research has been focused on characterization and targeting of leukemia stem cells (LSCs). In leukemia, like many forms of cancer, a small subset of so-called “cancer stem cells” are thought to be key drivers of pathogenesis and relapse. While therapies that reduce bulk tumor have been devised for many forms of cancer, effective eradication of cancer stem cells is more challenging, and represents an important goal towards improved therapies. In the most prevalent forms of adult acute leukemia, long-term survival rates are only ~20%, hence, better therapies are urgently needed. The Jordan laboratory was the first to describe properties of human LSCs that are relevant to therapeutic targeting. These observations have led to multiple clinical trials using antibodies, small molecules and cell-based immunotherapies designed to target the biological properties first reported from our studies. Building on our initial basic science studies, in subsequent years we developed drug screening and identification methods to identify improved therapeutic agents to target LSCs.
Alisa Lee-Sherick, MD
Dr. Lee-Sherick is a Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant specialist at Children's Hospital Colorado. The primary focus of Alisa’s research is to harness the immune system to more effectively cure acute leukemia. Alisa and her lab explore the role that monocytes and macrophages play in immune evasion of leukemia and how this can be reversed. One such approach is by inhibiting MERTK (a protein on monocytes and macrophages that promotes cancer growth and metastasis), which results in an anti-tumor microenvironment and decreases immune evasion. The hope is that the knowledge gained from this research can be used to develop novel immunotherapeutic approaches to treat acute leukemias.
Taizo Nakano, MD
Dr. Nakano is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and the Medical Director for the Vascular Malformation and Tumor Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. As a clinical hematologist, Taizo’s world revolves around the normal and abnormal function of hematopoietic cells. Although, on their own, these cells cause vast disease in patients that he sees and treats daily, they go on to directly influence every component of the immune system and become key players in immunodeficiency, autoimmunity and immune regulatory disorder. The care and treatment of many populations under his care (including Bone Marrow Failure, Immune Thrombocytopenia, Immunodeficiency, Auto- and Allo-immune disorders, and Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis) is influenced by the growing role the immune system is now known to have in the contribution of disease and what role it plays in the treatment of disease. The Nakano group carries out retrospective and prospective interventional trials to better understand and advance treatment options for these hematologic disorders. Ongoing clinical collaborations with pediatric immunology and pediatric rheumatology have strengthened the group’s ability to evaluate and study rare immunohematologic disorders. The goal is to promote clinical communication, collaboration and translational research to provide optimal and novel therapies to every patient.
Eric M. Pietras, PhD
Dr. Pietras is an Assistant Professor in Hematology with a research focus on hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) biology. The Pietras lab focuses on understanding how inflammation affects the fate decisions of HSCs, resulting in dynamic blood output in response to injury, infection and other physiological conditions. The lab also has significant interest in how chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and obesity ‘remodel’ the blood and immune systems in ways that can worsen disease outcomes, as well as how exposure to inflammatory signals impacts the function of HSCs during transplantation.
Daniel Sherbenou, MD, PhD
Dr. Sherbenou is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and a physician scientist in the plasma cell disorders program. The focus of Dan’s research is in drug development and therapeutic optimization for multiple myeloma, especially for patients with drug resistant and advanced disease. Myeloma a debilitating and largely incurable blood cancer derived from plasma cells, which are responsible for antibody-based immunity. In particular, he is interested in helping develop and apply new immunotherapies to myeloma, especially antibody-based therapies. Dan helped in the preclinical development of a CD46-targeted antibody-drug conjugate that will enter first-in-human clinical trials in 2018. In this process, he continues to investigate how this new therapy can be best applied, both in terms of targeting the patient subpopulations that may benefit most and in rational design of drug combination strategies. He is also involved in developing small molecule drugs for myeloma that exploit conserved aspects from plasma cell biology.
Jenna Sopfe, MD
Dr. Sopfe is a Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BMT Fellow at Children’s Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado. Jenna's research focuses on malglycemia (defined as hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia and glycemic variability) in the pediatric stem cell transplant population. She is attempting to define the incidence and consequences of malglycemia in this population through retrospective and prospective cohort studies. Outcomes may include worsened mortality and risk of infections and GVHD, which have been described in adults. It is postulated that these associations may be related to immune dysregulation that is known to occur with malglycemia.
Michael Verneris, MD
Dr. Verneris is a Professor of Pediatrics – Hematology/Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation and the Director of Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy. Mike’s clinical interests include the use of transplantation for acute leukemia, double umbilical cord blood transplantation, graft-versus-leukemia and immune reconstitution. The Verneris laboratory is focused on using cellular therapy to treat cancer and other diseases and associated research is in two broad areas: lymphocyte differentiation and lymphocyte biology and immune-based cancer therapies. In the context of lymphocyte differentiation, the Verneris lab seeks to understand the conditions, signaling pathways and developmental intermediates that stem cells go through during lymphocyte differentiation. Research has focused on the differentiation of innate lymphoid cells (NK cells and ILC3) using established embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, as well as hematopoietic stem cells derived from cord blood and bone marrow. In the context of lymphocyte biology and immune-based cancer therapies, the Verneris lab has focused on redirecting the immune system to cancer. Studies include the use and development of bi- and trispecific immune killer engagers (BiKes and TriKes) and chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). The Verneris team has also discovered how to differentiate stem cells to NK cells and ILC3 cells and are using drugs and genetic screens to enhance the development and function of these cells. The long-term goal is to have an “off the shelf” “living drug” that can be used to mitigate graft vs. host disease, inflammatory bowel disease and cancer.
John Cambier, PhD
Dr. Cambier is a Distinguished Professor & Chairman for the Department of Immunology & Microbiology and the Director of the Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Initiative (HI3). The Cambier lab is currently focused on four specific problems related to tolerance and autoimmunity: 1) the basis of antigen unresponsiveness of anergic B cells, and mechanisms underlying loss of anergy leading to autoimmunities such as Lupus, Type 1 Diabetes and Rheumatoid Arthritis, 2) the role of autoantigen avidity and affinity in determining alternate molecular bases of anergy, 3) the mechanism of signal regulation by feedback mechanisms and inhibitory receptors such as FcγRIIB, 4) the function of STING/MPYS, a recently described innate signaling adaptor cloned in the Cambier laboratory.
Initial studies involving isolation and functional analysis of autoantigen-specific B cells from healthy and autoimmune mice and humans have focused on the status of insulin-specific B cells Type 1 Diabetes, and indicate that in both mice and humans anergy to this autoantigen is lost long before onset of disease, but regained in humans within one year of diagnosis. These studies suggest an important role for environmental factors such as infection and injury in predisposing individuals to autoimmunity. Future work in this area will expand studies to other autoimmunities, and define signaling mechanisms that maintain anergy, and fail during development of autoimmunity. Parallel studies seek to understand whether and how environment factors such as infection and injury defeat tolerance mechanisms.
Sean Colgan, PhD
Dr. Colgan is a Professor of Medicine and Immunology, the Director of the Mucosal Inflammation Program, and the Chief of the GI and Liver Innate Immune Programs at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Sean’s laboratory is interested in defining novel innate immune factors that promote inflammatory resolution, with a specific focus on the gastrointestinal tract. Their work has integrated the role of the tissue microenvironment in host-microbe interactions, shifts in tissue metabolism and the oxygen utilization as endpoints for analysis. These studies employ molecular, cellular and translational models to define these principles.
Eric Clambey, PhD
Dr. Clambey is an Assistant Professor in Anesthesiology, focused on immunology research. Eric’s research is focused on the microenvironmental regulation of T cell responses, including how T cells are influenced by local variation in nutrients/metabolites, including oxygen. While much of his research has historically focused on mouse models of infection and inflammation, he is increasingly involved with the Lung Cancer SPORE group on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, including a recently funded pilot mechanism to investigate the role of CD8 T cells in lung cancer. These studies will include studies on immunotherapy in mouse models of lung cancer, and initial studies characterizing human T cell populations in the human lung by CyTOF.
Howard Davidson, PhD
Dr. Davidson is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Immunology and Microbiology at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes. Howard’s laboratory focuses on the role of adaptive immunity in type 1 diabetes (T1D). The current emphasis is focused on understanding the role of autoimmunity to the beta cell protein ZnT8 in T1D pathogenesis, and developing/validating T cell based biomarkers for improved patient stratification and monitoring of therapeutic efficacy.
Breck Duerkop, PhD
Dr. Duerkop is an Assistant Professor of Immunology and Microbiology. Breck’s lab uses a combination of bacterial genetics, mouse models and bioinformatics to study the interactions of intestinal bacteria and their viruses known as bacteriophages (phages). His lab studies how phages influence the intestinal colonization and biology of the Enterococci, Gram-positive commensal bacteria and significant nosocomial pathogens. His work has revealed that phages impact the dynamics of Enterococcal colonization in the mammalian intestine and has explored the molecular mechanisms of how Enterococci develop resistance to phages. His lab also studies how phage community composition alters intestinal bacterial ecology during intestinal inflammatory disorders such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The long-term goal of the Duerkop lab is to understand how phages contribute to host-microbe interactions and their overall impact on human health.
Andrew Getahun, PhD
Dr. Getahun is a Research Assistant Professor in the laboratory of Dr. John Cambier. Andy’s research is focused on B cell unresponsiveness as a mechanism of immune tolerance and as a consequence of infections. Besides studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms that maintain B cell tolerance in healthy individuals, he has a special interest in the interplay between genetic risk factors and environmental factors on these mechanisms, that drive a loss of tolerance and autoimmunity.
John Kappler, PhD
Dr. Kappler is a Distinguished Professor of Immunology and Microbiology. For the past 10+ years the Kappler laboratory at National Jewish Health has been in an extended collaboration with members of the Basic and Translational Research Division at the Barbara Davis Center (BDC) trying to understand the molecular basis CD4+ T cell recognition of pancreatic islet protein epitopes in type 1 diabetes (T1D). The research collaboration with the Basic and Translational Research Division at the BDC has been very productive, especially in studies on insulin as a primary target from CD4+ T cells in T1D in mouse and man and on chromogranin A (ChgA), another pancreatic protein targeted in T1D in the mouse and perhaps in humans. Our research has shown that the natural peptides derived from these proteins, are targeted by diabetogenic CD4+ T cells in the NOD mouse model of the disease, but are in fact very weak antigens. We have shown that a few particular amino acids can be added to one end of the insulin peptide or to the other end of the ChgA peptide to increase their potency more than 1000-fold. Working with the laboratory of Dr. Shaodong Dai at National Jewish Health, we were able to use X-ray crystallography to determine the molecular basis for how these additions accomplish this dramatic increase in immunogenicity. Subsequently, for insulin, experiments by Drs. Nakayama, Gottlieb, Michels, Sosinowski and Davidson, some in collaboration with researchers at the Benaroya Center in Seattle have shown a similar mutational improvement in recognition of the insulin peptide by CD4+ T cells from human patients with type-1 diabetes.
These findings have led us hypothesize that these types of modifications may naturally occur uniquely in the pancreas by a process called transpeptidation accounting for the initiation of T1D in both mouse and man. Since such a modification creates a “neo-antigen” never seen by the immune system before, the immune system may mistake the peptide for a “foreign” antigen and mount a response. Testing this hypothesis is a major goal of our present research.
Ross Kedl, PhD
Dr. Kedl is a Professor in the Department of Immunology & Microbiology. Ross’ lab is interested in the curious boundary between the innate and adaptive immune systems and seeks to elucidate signals and pathways emanating from the various families of innate receptors most efficiently mediate the transition to the adaptive cellular immune response. The Kedl lab seeks to determine not only the basic rules of immunity, many of which remain elusive, but also to identify practical methods of intervention for the purposes of vaccine discovery, development and design. Experimentally a number of ways in which the innate pathways intersect with the TNF receptor/Ligand superfamily have been demonstrated, resulting in potent T cell expansion, effector function, and memory generation. These discoveries and novel vaccination methods are being applied to both viral and tumor model systems in an effort to develop clinically relevant methods of therapeutic vaccination against diseases such as chronic infections and cancer.
Laurel Lenz, PhD
Dr. Lenz is a Professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology. His research focuses on dissecting endogenous and pathogen-derived mechanisms for regulation of inflammatory and immune responses. His translational work includes the identification, development, and optimization of polypeptides and small molecules that can be used to regulate the activities of myeloid and natural killer immune cells. His group is actively engaged in dissecting the mechanisms of action for these factors and their potential for therapeutic use in cancers, infections, and inflammatory diseases.
Paul J. Norman, PhD
Dr. Norman is an Associate Professor in the Division of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine, and the Department of Immunology and Microbiology. Paul studies immunogenetics, which is the genetic variation that underpins our differential responses to infection and autoimmunity. His research focuses on the HLA molecules that are expressed by most healthy cells, and the Natural Killer (NK) cell receptors that interact with HLA to control the human immune response. This work has taken Dr. Norman from studying organ and tissue transplants, to examining genetic diversity in hunter-gatherers from Africa and South America, and mining ancient human genomes to trace their immune legacy in present-day populations. His aim is to establish genetic evidence through population and molecular analysis that then informs functional experiments to determine precisely how this variation can influence immunity. The ultimate aim of the work is to develop targeted NK cell therapies for cancer and chronic infections.
Roberta Pelanda, PhD
Dr. Pelanda is a Professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology and the Director of the Translational Research Networking and Preclinical Models (TRNPM) facility in the Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Initiative (HI3). Roberta’s interests in human immunology are in improving our understanding of the origin and characteristics of autoantibody-producing human B cells with the goal of developing novel immunotherapies for lupus and similar autoimmune diseases. Roberta’s lab and the core she directs develop mice bearing a human immune system (hematopoietic humanized mice). These animals are utilized to investigate the function of the human immune system in pathological contexts (e.g., the immune response to cancer) and to develop and test novel immunotherapies.
Rosemary Rochford, PhD
Dr. Rochford is Professor in Immunology and Microbiology at the Anschutz Medical Campus. Rosemary’s laboratory does research on two human pathogens, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Plasmodium falciparum as well as studies on their etiologic link to Burkitt's lymphoma (BL), the most common childhood cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa. She has completed 2 longitudinal birth cohorts in Kenya to address the question of why P. falciparum malaria infection of infants is linked to BL. Her studies have uncovered a number of ways that repeated infection with P. falciparum malaria, a feature in areas where malaria transmission is holoendemic, dysregulates EBV infection and immunity, ultimately increases the risk for BL in children. Current research is now focusing on how Plasmodium infection dysregulates B cell function and activates the enzyme Activation Induced cytidine Deaminase (AID). She has also found that a second strain of EBV that is common in Africa can infect T cells. Her laboratory is working to understand how this virus gains entry to T cells and the potential role this has in the pathogenesis of EBV-associated malignancies. A second major area of study in her laboratory is the use of a pre-clinical humanized mouse model to test for hemolytic toxicity of anti-malaria drugs in the context of glucose phosphate 6 dehyrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, the most common hemoglobinopathy in the world. Primaquine is the only licensed drug to treat the liver stage of malaria and it could be a potential tool for malaria eradication efforts. However, people with G6PDd are at risk for developing hemolytic anemia if treated with primaquine necessitating the development and testing of new variants of primaquine that do not cause hemolytic anemia. She is developing this model to further study Plasmodium infection in G6PDd hosts.
Jill Slansky, PhD
Dr. Slansky is a Professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology and the Director of the Human Immune Monitoring Shared Resource (HIMSR) core facility in HI3. Jill’s research interests globally focus on how to better harness and stimulate T cells of the immune system to mediate a more effective anti-tumor response. Currently, Jill’s lab is using an animal model for colon cancer and tissue samples from breast cancer patients to characterize T cell responses that are specific to tumors. In the animal model, they recently used genome-wide expression analyses to generate a molecular profile of tumor-specific tumor-infiltrating T cells. Interestingly, this study showed that the T cells from the tumor more closely resembled “self-tolerant” T cells than “exhausted” T cells. Using human samples they recently identified a panel of T cell receptors that were shared among different breast cancer patients, but not control donors. The identification of cognate antigens and mimotopes for these T cells is underway using soluble versions of the T cell receptors to screen peptide-antigen libraries and breast cancer cell lines.
Mia Smith, DVM, PhD
Dr. Smith is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Immunology and Microbiology at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes. Mia’s lab focuses on the role of B lymphocytes in development of autoimmunity, with a particular emphasis on type 1 diabetes. Her work uses a combination of methodologies, including mass cytometry (CyTOF) and single cell RNA-sequencing, to study antigen-specific B cells prior to and at onset of autoimmunity. She has a special interest in the mechanisms that drive loss of B cell tolerance, such as genetic risk alleles and environmental factors.
Tomasz Sosinowski, PhD
Dr. Sosinowski is an Instructor in the Davidson laboratory within the Barbara Davis Center. Tomasz’s main focus is the development of reagents and assays for studying human antigen-specific T cells. Since 2013 Tomasz has been working on developing an assay for the detection of auto-antigen specific CD4+ T cells in Type 1 Diabetic subjects. He has found that this particular assay is an improvement over the traditional ELISPOT for testing viral responses and autoreactivity, and is confident that it can be expanded to other systems, including other autoimmune diseases and potentially cancer.
Raul Torres, PhD
Dr. Torres is a Professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology and the Director of the Graduate Program in Immunology. Raul’s research interests have historically focused on fundamental aspects of B cell development and antibody response, primarily relying on wild type and genetically-engineered mouse models. Through the course of these studies, Raul and his lab have identified new mechanisms that 1) regulate B cell humoral immunity to HIV and 2) tumors exploit to suppress CD8 T cell tumor immunity. Raul’s interests in human immunology and immunotherapy, and the Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Initiative, are to establish collaborations that will allow proof-of-principal pre-clinical and, eventually, clinical studies that improve antibody responses to HIV and tumor immunity.
Linda van Dyk, PhD
Dr. van Dyk is Vice Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology. Research in the van Dyk lab focuses on molecular interactions between virus and host, focused on a group of viruses that results in lifelong latent infection and causes a variety of tumors in conditions of immune suppression. Using a mouse model, the van Dyk team has learned that a virus encoded cyclin is required for reactivation of latent virus, a critical point in tumorigenesis and in potential antiviral therapeutics. This viral cyclin antagonizes a host tumor suppressor, p18Ink4c or cdkn2c, which is important in control of latent virus infection and in a variety of sporadic tumors. The van Dyk lab also studies small non-coding RNAs of viral origin in regulating both virus and host in inflammatory disease and tumorigenesis. Our interests in the human immunology and immunotherapy initiative are two-fold: first, to use our mouse model to test the effects of immunotherapy on control of chronic ongoing virus infections and second, to further our understanding of cyclin/tumor suppressor interactions and small non-coding RNA effects in human tumors associated with Epstein Barr virus and Kaposi’s sarcoma associated virus.
Peter Gottlieb, MD
Dr. Gottlieb is a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine within the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes. The Gottlieb laboratory projects are designed to advance basic knowledge of the immune response to autoantigens in type 1 diabetes with the goal of designing immunotherapies for prediabetes and new onset type 1 subjects. The research is designed to better understand the molecular interaction between MHC molecules, antigens and T cell receptors that lead to the selection of antigen-specific T cells. In addition, understanding the relationship of autoreactive vs. T regulatory cells has been an important component of this work and, more recently, understanding how other immune system functions, such as innate immunity, may alter the balance and threshold between regulation and pathogenicity as well.
Vijaya Knight, MD, PhD, (D)ABMLI
Dr. Vijaya Knight is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy and Immunology and Director of the Translational and Diagnostic Immunology and Allergy Laboratory at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Vijaya’s interests focus on the development of novel immunological assays for analysis of immunodeficiency and immune dysregulation, as well as the development of immune monitoring assays for clinical trials. She is well known in the field of clinical immunology and is recognized for her expertise in developing and validating complex immunological assays for clinical use.
Holger Russ, PhD
Dr. Holger Russ is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Barbara Davis Center and a faculty member of the Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine. Holger was part of a team of scientists to demonstrate the successful generation of thymic epithelial progenitors (TEPs) in vitro from human pluripotent stem cells for the first time. TEPs further mature into thymic epithelial cells with the ability to rescue T-cell development in vivo. However, critical aspects of human thymus development, T-cell selection and interaction with other tissue compartments (e.g. tumors and autoimmune affected cell types) are poorly understood and appropriate models to illuminate these processes are unavailable. Currently, the Russ research team has combined their direct differentiation protocols with gene editing technologies to establish novel model systems, both in vitro and in vivo, to answer these questions in a strictly human context.
Aaron Michels, MD
Dr. Michels is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics & Medicine, the Frieda and George S. Eisenbarth Clinical Immunology Endowed Chair, and Director of Clinical Immunology at the Barbara Davis Center. The Michels’ laboratory at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes is focused on studying the immunology of autoimmune diseases, with a particular focus on type 1 diabetes. Basic and translational research focuses on understanding the underlying immunology of diabetes and how human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles confer disease risk and protection. The Michels’ lab discovered that small ‘drug-like’ molecules targeted to MHC class II antigen presentation can block T cell responses and they have translated this therapeutic approach from bench to bedside to block a diabetes susceptible MHC class II molecule. Studies are ongoing to understanding the mechanism by which dominant protection is afforded from diabetes resistant MHC class II molecules in animal models and humans.
Dr. Gottlieb is a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine within the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes. The Gottlieb laboratory projects are designed to advance basic knowledge of the immune response to autoantigens in type 1 diabetes with the goal of designing immunotherapies for prediabetes and new onset type 1 subjects. The research is designed to better understand the molecular interaction between MHC molecules, antigens and T cell receptors that lead to the selection of antigen-specific T cells. In addition, understanding the relationship of autoreactive vs. T regulatory cells has been an important component of this work and, more recently, understanding how other immune system functions, such as innate immunity, may alter the balance and threshold between regulation and pathogenicity as well.
Vijaya Knight, MD, PhD, (D)ABMLI
Dr. Vijaya Knight is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy and Immunology and Director of the Translational and Diagnostic Immunology and Allergy Laboratory at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Vijaya’s interests focus on the development of novel immunological assays for analysis of immunodeficiency and immune dysregulation, as well as the development of immune monitoring assays for clinical trials. She is well known in the field of clinical immunology and is recognized for her expertise in developing and validating complex immunological assays for clinical use.
Holger Russ, PhD
Dr. Holger Russ is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Barbara Davis Center and a faculty member of the Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine. Holger was part of a team of scientists to demonstrate the successful generation of thymic epithelial progenitors (TEPs) in vitro from human pluripotent stem cells for the first time. TEPs further mature into thymic epithelial cells with the ability to rescue T-cell development in vivo. However, critical aspects of human thymus development, T-cell selection and interaction with other tissue compartments (e.g. tumors and autoimmune affected cell types) are poorly understood and appropriate models to illuminate these processes are unavailable. Currently, the Russ research team has combined their direct differentiation protocols with gene editing technologies to establish novel model systems, both in vitro and in vivo, to answer these questions in a strictly human context.
Aaron Michels, MD
Dr. Michels is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics & Medicine, the Frieda and George S. Eisenbarth Clinical Immunology Endowed Chair, and Director of Clinical Immunology at the Barbara Davis Center. The Michels’ laboratory at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes is focused on studying the immunology of autoimmune diseases, with a particular focus on type 1 diabetes. Basic and translational research focuses on understanding the underlying immunology of diabetes and how human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles confer disease risk and protection. The Michels’ lab discovered that small ‘drug-like’ molecules targeted to MHC class II antigen presentation can block T cell responses and they have translated this therapeutic approach from bench to bedside to block a diabetes susceptible MHC class II molecule. Studies are ongoing to understanding the mechanism by which dominant protection is afforded from diabetes resistant MHC class II molecules in animal models and humans.
Edwin J. Asturias, MD
Dr. Asturias is an Associate Professor in Pediatrics and Epidemiology and the Director for Latin America for the Center for Global Health of the University of Colorado. In his role as the Director for Latin America for the Center for Global Health of the University of Colorado, he led the creation of the Southwest Trifinio Guatemala signature site. Dr. Asturias is an infectious diseases pediatrician who over the last 22 years has designed, coordinated and conducted epidemiological studies and clinical trials of pediatric infectious diseases and vaccines nationally and globally. Since 1996, his work has focused on implementing complex surveillance systems to evaluate the burden and risk factors for common and emerging infections in Central America, more specifically Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), pneumococcus, polioviruses, influenza, dengue, zika and noroviruses. He also has 20-years of experience conducting phase II, III and IV vaccine studies for Hib, poliomyelitis, ETEC and several combination vaccines. Dr. Asurias has also participated in the decision-making and implementation of new vaccines for resource poor countries in Latin America, including the introduction of Hib, pneumococcal and IPV vaccines. He has also served on the Guatemalan National Committee for Immunization Practices, the Poliovirus Contention Commission, and advisory groups for the World Health Organization, including the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety as its Vice-chair. From 2005 to 2007, he helped create the National Center for Epidemiology at the Ministry of Health of Guatemala, presided the formulation of the Influenza Pandemic preparedness plan and lead the introduction of the Pentavalent (DTwP-Hib-HepB) vaccine and the measles-rubella campaign.
Dr. Asturias has been the Principal Investigator for grants by NIH and the BMGF to evaluate SMS technology to improve vaccine coverage, the use of IPV vaccine to enhance mucosal immunity to bOPV vaccines in Latin America and the evaluation of the burden of Dengue, Zika and Norovirus illnesses in rural Guatemala. He is also conducting studies to validate a moderate to severe endpoint definition of influenza to help evaluate its effectiveness using public health outcomes of importance. The SWT site in rural Guatemala is now a model of public-private partnership, with high capacity for population-base studies to evaluate the emergence of infectious diseases under a One Health comprehensive approach.
David Beckham, MD
Dr. Beckham is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the VA Rocky Mountain Regional Medical Center. He is also Director of the Infectious Disease Fellowship Training Program. The Beckham laboratory studies the pathogenesis of flavivirus infections, primarily study West Nile virus (WNV) and Zika virus, and works to define fundamental mechanisms of the immune response to infections in the central nervous system (CNS). The laboratory currently has several translational and basic science projects that use samples from humans and murine models to define the fundamental immune responses during infection.
Ed Janoff, MD
Dr. Janoff is a Professor in the Division of Infectious Disease in the CU School of Medicine and the Director of Mucosal and Vaccine Research Colorado. The Janoff lab focuses on diseases of international importance, such as diarrheal disease, respiratory infections, and HIV-1/AIDS. The research team characterizes mucosal responses to Streptococcus pneumoniae in the lung and to HIV-1 in the intestine, reproductive tract, and in breast milk. Each study is supported by a field site in Africa (Uganda, Burkina Faso, Botswana and South Africa) with collaborators from these African nations, the U.S. and Europe. The goal of the Janoff laboratory is to provide a scientific foundation for mucosal vaccines to prevent pneumococcal infections and transmission of HIV-l /AIDS. Clinical and basic laboratory approaches are integrated to determine how pathogens interact with the host at the mucosal surface and how innate and humoral mechanisms, individually and in concert, serve to protect against infection. The Janoff lab’s primary model for mucosal defense against HIV involves post-natal transmission of the virus by breast milk and the characterization of the mechanisms by which pathogen-specific antibodies in blood and milk from transmitting and non-transmitting mothers in Burkina Faso, Botswana and Uganda, neutralize autologous and heterologous HIV isolates using cellular, molecular, and biochemical approaches. For S. pneumoniae, systemic and mucosal responses to natural infection and vaccine, the molecular basis for capsule-specific antibody responses (VH gene diversity and mutational pattern), and the functional activity of these human antibodies are characterized. The goal is to develop effective vaccines against these pathogens to prevent infections where they begin, at the mucosa.
Mario Santiago, PhD
Dr. Santiago is an Associate Professor at the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Department of Medicine. Early in his career, Mario’s work was instrumental in solving the origins of HIV-1 and HIV-2 in chimpanzees and sooty mangabeys, respectively. Since moving to CU, the Santiago lab has focused on the interplay between the innate and adaptive immune response against pathogenic retroviruses, to conceptually advance vaccine and cure strategies against HIV-1/AIDS. Using the Friend retrovirus infection model in mice, the Santiago lab demonstrated a genetic link between the APOBEC3 deaminases and retrovirus-specific neutralizing antibody response, and Tetherin/BST-2 with retrovirus-specific cell-mediated immunity. These relationships may be due to the impact of these innate factors on immunoglobulin somatic hypermutation and MHC presentation of virus particles. Notably, APOBEC3 and tetherin are regulated by type I interferons, which also exhibit pleiotropic effects. Current studies aim to determine the impact of diverse type I IFN subtypes on HIV-1 infection of primary target cells from physiologically-relevant compartments in the lymph nodes and gastrointestinal tract.
Christiana Smith, MD
Dr. Smith is a faculty member in the Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Christy’s faculty appointment involves a combination of translational research and clinical practice. Her interest is in HIV-infected and HIV-exposed infants, children, and adolescents. Christy’s research focuses on immune defects in HIV-exposed, but uninfected (HEU) infants. These infants have increased rates of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, likely secondary to abnormalities in multiple immune cell types (B cells, T cells, dendritic cells, natural killer cells, etc). The goal is to discover what leads to immune dysfunction in HEU infants so that an intervention can be developed to prevent morbidity and mortality in this population.
Adriana Weinberg, MD
Dr. Weinberg is a Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Pathology and the Director of the Molecular and Virology Clinical Laboratories. As an infectious diseases specialist, Adriana’s research is translational and focused on immune defenses against infectious agents. As such, she has conducted multiple studies focused on the immunopathogenesis of HIV and herpesviral infections; immune responses to vaccines in immune competent and compromised hosts; and the development of molecular tools for the diagnosis and monitoring of opportunistic infections.
Cara Wilson, MD
Dr. Wilson is a Professor of Medicine and Immunology with a primary appointment in the Department of Medicine (DOM) Division of Infectious Diseases and a secondary appointment in the Department of Immunology. Cara is a translational immunologist focused on bench to bedside research primarily in HIV infection and inflammation but also on mucosal immunology of aging.
Dr. Asturias is an Associate Professor in Pediatrics and Epidemiology and the Director for Latin America for the Center for Global Health of the University of Colorado. In his role as the Director for Latin America for the Center for Global Health of the University of Colorado, he led the creation of the Southwest Trifinio Guatemala signature site. Dr. Asturias is an infectious diseases pediatrician who over the last 22 years has designed, coordinated and conducted epidemiological studies and clinical trials of pediatric infectious diseases and vaccines nationally and globally. Since 1996, his work has focused on implementing complex surveillance systems to evaluate the burden and risk factors for common and emerging infections in Central America, more specifically Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), pneumococcus, polioviruses, influenza, dengue, zika and noroviruses. He also has 20-years of experience conducting phase II, III and IV vaccine studies for Hib, poliomyelitis, ETEC and several combination vaccines. Dr. Asurias has also participated in the decision-making and implementation of new vaccines for resource poor countries in Latin America, including the introduction of Hib, pneumococcal and IPV vaccines. He has also served on the Guatemalan National Committee for Immunization Practices, the Poliovirus Contention Commission, and advisory groups for the World Health Organization, including the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety as its Vice-chair. From 2005 to 2007, he helped create the National Center for Epidemiology at the Ministry of Health of Guatemala, presided the formulation of the Influenza Pandemic preparedness plan and lead the introduction of the Pentavalent (DTwP-Hib-HepB) vaccine and the measles-rubella campaign.
Dr. Asturias has been the Principal Investigator for grants by NIH and the BMGF to evaluate SMS technology to improve vaccine coverage, the use of IPV vaccine to enhance mucosal immunity to bOPV vaccines in Latin America and the evaluation of the burden of Dengue, Zika and Norovirus illnesses in rural Guatemala. He is also conducting studies to validate a moderate to severe endpoint definition of influenza to help evaluate its effectiveness using public health outcomes of importance. The SWT site in rural Guatemala is now a model of public-private partnership, with high capacity for population-base studies to evaluate the emergence of infectious diseases under a One Health comprehensive approach.
David Beckham, MD
Dr. Beckham is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the VA Rocky Mountain Regional Medical Center. He is also Director of the Infectious Disease Fellowship Training Program. The Beckham laboratory studies the pathogenesis of flavivirus infections, primarily study West Nile virus (WNV) and Zika virus, and works to define fundamental mechanisms of the immune response to infections in the central nervous system (CNS). The laboratory currently has several translational and basic science projects that use samples from humans and murine models to define the fundamental immune responses during infection.
Ed Janoff, MD
Dr. Janoff is a Professor in the Division of Infectious Disease in the CU School of Medicine and the Director of Mucosal and Vaccine Research Colorado. The Janoff lab focuses on diseases of international importance, such as diarrheal disease, respiratory infections, and HIV-1/AIDS. The research team characterizes mucosal responses to Streptococcus pneumoniae in the lung and to HIV-1 in the intestine, reproductive tract, and in breast milk. Each study is supported by a field site in Africa (Uganda, Burkina Faso, Botswana and South Africa) with collaborators from these African nations, the U.S. and Europe. The goal of the Janoff laboratory is to provide a scientific foundation for mucosal vaccines to prevent pneumococcal infections and transmission of HIV-l /AIDS. Clinical and basic laboratory approaches are integrated to determine how pathogens interact with the host at the mucosal surface and how innate and humoral mechanisms, individually and in concert, serve to protect against infection. The Janoff lab’s primary model for mucosal defense against HIV involves post-natal transmission of the virus by breast milk and the characterization of the mechanisms by which pathogen-specific antibodies in blood and milk from transmitting and non-transmitting mothers in Burkina Faso, Botswana and Uganda, neutralize autologous and heterologous HIV isolates using cellular, molecular, and biochemical approaches. For S. pneumoniae, systemic and mucosal responses to natural infection and vaccine, the molecular basis for capsule-specific antibody responses (VH gene diversity and mutational pattern), and the functional activity of these human antibodies are characterized. The goal is to develop effective vaccines against these pathogens to prevent infections where they begin, at the mucosa.
Mario Santiago, PhD
Dr. Santiago is an Associate Professor at the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Department of Medicine. Early in his career, Mario’s work was instrumental in solving the origins of HIV-1 and HIV-2 in chimpanzees and sooty mangabeys, respectively. Since moving to CU, the Santiago lab has focused on the interplay between the innate and adaptive immune response against pathogenic retroviruses, to conceptually advance vaccine and cure strategies against HIV-1/AIDS. Using the Friend retrovirus infection model in mice, the Santiago lab demonstrated a genetic link between the APOBEC3 deaminases and retrovirus-specific neutralizing antibody response, and Tetherin/BST-2 with retrovirus-specific cell-mediated immunity. These relationships may be due to the impact of these innate factors on immunoglobulin somatic hypermutation and MHC presentation of virus particles. Notably, APOBEC3 and tetherin are regulated by type I interferons, which also exhibit pleiotropic effects. Current studies aim to determine the impact of diverse type I IFN subtypes on HIV-1 infection of primary target cells from physiologically-relevant compartments in the lymph nodes and gastrointestinal tract.
Christiana Smith, MD
Dr. Smith is a faculty member in the Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Christy’s faculty appointment involves a combination of translational research and clinical practice. Her interest is in HIV-infected and HIV-exposed infants, children, and adolescents. Christy’s research focuses on immune defects in HIV-exposed, but uninfected (HEU) infants. These infants have increased rates of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, likely secondary to abnormalities in multiple immune cell types (B cells, T cells, dendritic cells, natural killer cells, etc). The goal is to discover what leads to immune dysfunction in HEU infants so that an intervention can be developed to prevent morbidity and mortality in this population.
Adriana Weinberg, MD
Dr. Weinberg is a Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Pathology and the Director of the Molecular and Virology Clinical Laboratories. As an infectious diseases specialist, Adriana’s research is translational and focused on immune defenses against infectious agents. As such, she has conducted multiple studies focused on the immunopathogenesis of HIV and herpesviral infections; immune responses to vaccines in immune competent and compromised hosts; and the development of molecular tools for the diagnosis and monitoring of opportunistic infections.
Cara Wilson, MD
Dr. Wilson is a Professor of Medicine and Immunology with a primary appointment in the Department of Medicine (DOM) Division of Infectious Diseases and a secondary appointment in the Department of Immunology. Cara is a translational immunologist focused on bench to bedside research primarily in HIV infection and inflammation but also on mucosal immunology of aging.
Eduardo Davila, PhD
Dr. Davila is a Professor in the Division of Medical Oncology in the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado and the Amy Davis Endowed Chair for Human Immunology within the CU Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Initiative (HI3). Eduardo’s research focuses on understanding how to generate potent and durable antitumor immune responses and leveraging these insights to develop more effective diagnostics and therapies to treat cancer patients. He has dedicated his efforts toward 1) generating novel immune gene platforms that redirect immune cell killing of cancer cells or that restore immunological activity against tumors, 2) understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms that lead to T cell dysfunction and develop methods to reverse this dysfunction. His research includes melanoma, breast cancer and glioblastoma. Dr. Davila also devotes his time to developing education and mentoring initiatives to train the next generation of aspiring young scientists and physicians in cancer research and clinical care.
Antonio Jimeno, MD, PhD
Dr. Jimeno is a Professor in the Division of Medical Oncology in the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado. Antonio has developed an interest in integrating preclinical research, drug development, and clinical research. He has made a special emphasis in 1) developing better preclinical models, particularly humanized mice, 2) determining predictors of response, and 3) devising ways to integrate that knowledge into clinical trials to individualize anti-cancer therapy. His concomitant work in the laboratory and the clinic has materialized in the form of novel inventions (drugs and biomarkers) that are currently the subject of prospective clinical testing. His clinical interest is Head and Neck and Upper Gastrointestinal cancer.
Traci Lyons, PhD
Dr. Lyons is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology. Traci’s laboratory focuses on mechanisms of lymphatic mediated metastasis of breast cancer. Specifically, utilizing mouse models to investigate developmentally regulated programs of inflammation and lymphangiogenesis that are utilized in the adult mammary gland and may be hijacked by breast tumor cells. The results of these translational studies have the potential to instruct therapy aimed at prevention of breast cancer metastasis.
Jose I. Mayordomo, MD, PhD
Dr. Mayordomo is a Professor, Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado. Jose is a clinical-translational scientist in breast oncology with research focusing on breast cancer immunotherapy and genetic variants associated to cancer. His research is focused on clinical breast cancer including clinical trials with anti-endocrine therapies, novel biologic drug and immunotherapies. With an extensive background in cancer immunotherapy for breast cancer and melanoma, Dr. Mayordomo is focused on the development of novel vaccines and combination immunotherapy for breast cancer and also, though collaborative programs, on genetic variants associated to breast cancer.
Wells Messersmith, MD
Dr. Messersmith is Professor and Head, Division of Medical Oncology, Director for the GI Medical Oncology Program and Program co-Leader for Developmental Therapeutics. Wells' lab is mainly focused on using a personalized approach in developing new anticancer drugs for GI cancers. In particular, the lab uses a novel colorectal and pancreatic explant model whereby tumor tissue is obtained from the operating room and then placed directly into mice. Tumors are treated with new drugs and predictive biomarkers of sensitivity are discovered. These predictive markers are used in the clinic to pre-select patients that would most likely derive benefit from these new drugs. Additionally, these tumors are evaluated in orthotopic and metastatic models. Current anticancer drugs in the lab target Notch (g-secretase), Src, and hedgehog pathways.
William Robinson, MD, PhD
Dr. Robinson is a Professor, Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado. Bill is an active clinical and basic investigator studying the molecular and genetic regulation of melanocyte development and melanoma, particularly the role of microRNAs in the regulation of melanoma associated genes. Together with Dr. Lynn Bemis he is investigating the use of nano-technology to detect mutations in cancer cells. He is the founder of the melanoma tissue bank at CU which provides research materials to local investigators as well as numerous national and international collaborators. He also coordinates the Frontiers in Melanoma Seminar Program which brings in invited speakers from around the world for collaboration and discussion.
Erin Schenk, MD, PhD
Dr. Schenk is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology. Erin’s lab is focused on the lung cancer tumor microenvironment and its contributions to treatment resistance. She is particularly interested in the cross talk between myeloid cells and tumor cells, the means of transmitting those messages, and the functional consequences in both cell types. Ultimately, Erin hopes to bring novel therapies to clinical trials that target this cross talk and improve patient response to treatment.
James Dylewski, DO
Dr. Dylewski an Assistant Professor in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension and Director of Education within the Glomerulonephritis program. James' laboratory work focuses on immune mediated kidney disease and specifically how glomerular endothelial cells are involved in autoimmunity and inflammation to help develop targeted therapeutic agents for treatment. James has developed a novel conditionally immortalized glomerular endothelial cell line which is used in his research and has been used by collaborators from other research institutions. Dr. Dylewski cares for inflammatory kidney disease patients at Denver Health and works with the Glomerulonephritis Clinic at the University of Colorado in clinical trials of new therapies for treatment of glomerulonephritis.
Joshua M. Thurman, MD
Dr. Thurman is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, and he is the Director of the Glomerulonephritis Program. His laboratory focuses on the immune basis kidney disease. The lab studies the underlying causes of auto-immunity and inflammation, and has developed several novel anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents. Projects are also underway that explore the link between inflammation and cancer. Dr. Thurman’s laboratory has also developed novel radiologic probes to detect and monitor renal inflammation by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). Dr. Thurman oversees the Glomerulonephritis Clinic at the University of Colorado Hospital. The Glomerulonephritis Clinic cares for patients with all forms of inflammatory kidney disease, and also participates in clinical trials of new therapies and diagnostic tools for treating these diseases.
Jeffrey Bennett, MD, PhD
Dr. Bennett is a Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology and an active member of the Department of Neuroscience on the Anschutz Campus. The Bennett laboratory performs research in the areas of human neuro-immunology; particularly focused on demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system including multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica. The lab has generated banks of recombinant antibodies cloned from patients with these disorders and have developed animal models to study disease and recovery. Active research grants from the NIH, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the Guthy-Jackson Foundation (NMO Research Foundation) fund studies on immunologic profiles in disease, to develop novel approaches to diagnosis, and to develop new therapeutics.
Brianne Bettcher, PhD
Dr. Bettcher is an Assistant Professor and neuropsychologist in the Departments of Neurosurgery and Neurology, and directs neuropsychology research at the Rocky Mountain Alzheimer’s Disease Center. The overarching goal of Dr. Bettcher’s research program is to elucidate modifiable, immune-mediated factors that will inform early treatments for cognitive decline for a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases. Brianne’s laboratory utilizes plasma-based and CSF-based multiplex arrays of chemokines, growth factors, and cytokines to delineate how peripheral immune signatures contribute to pathological aging trajectories.
John Corboy, MD
Dr. Corboy is a Professor of Neurology, the Co-Director for the Rocky Mountain Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Center at the University of Colorado, and the Director of the Rocky Mountain MS Center Tissue Bank. John’s interests are in the diagnosis and treatment of central nervous system (CNS) neuroimmunological conditions, such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO), N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antibody encephalitis, and a host of paraneoplastic and related conditions.
Ryan Kammeyer, MD
Dr. Kammeyer is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology. Ryan’s primary research interests include the identification of biomarkers that improve the diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis and inflammatory neurologic involvement of rheumatologic disease, as well as investigation of immunologic markers in regression in Down Syndrome and in severe neuropsychiatric disease. Ryan is developing multidisciplinary Neuro-Rheumatology and Neuropsychiatric Disease Clinics at Children’s Hospital Colorado, and works clinically both there and at the University of Colorado Hospital.
Gregory P. Owens, PhD
Dr. Owens is a Research Professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr. Owens’ research investigates the role of B cell immunity in the human demyelinating diseases multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO). To better understand the role of intrathecal IgG synthesis in disease pathology, the lab has cloned panels of monoclonal recombinant antibodies from clonally expanded plasmablasts present within the CNS of MS and NMO patients. The targets of recombinant antibodies are being defined and animal models have been developed to investigate antibody-mediated CNS pathology and repair.
Amanda Piquet, MD
Dr. Piquet is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology and sub-specializes in autoimmune neurological diseases. Amanda’s main clinical and research interest includes antibody-mediated disorders of the nervous system such as various autoimmune encephalitides (anti-N-methyl D-aspartate or NMDA receptor encephalitis, anti-leucine rich inactivated-1 or LGI-1 encephalitis, among others), neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), anti-myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody-associated disease, stiff-person syndrome and other related paraneoplastic disorders. Dr. Piquet is developing the clinical autoimmune neurology clinics at the University of Colorado as well as establishing a patient registry to study and improve diagnostic and treatment outcomes for patients with autoimmune neurological diseases.
Ken Tyler, MD
Dr. Tyler is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology. Ken’s laboratory uses both in vivo and in vitro models to study the molecular and genetic basis of viral pathogenesis and viral-induced cell death in the CNS. Major current projects include: (1) Identifying differences in patterns of gene expression in the brain and the cognate signaling pathways induced by distinct neurotropic viruses, including reoviruses and flaviviruses (West Nile and Japanese encephalitis virus), in an effort to identify novel therapeutic targets for antiviral therapy; (2) Investigating the neuroinflammatory responses to CNS viral infections, including the activation of astrocytes, microglia and chemokine/cytokine production in experimental models utilizing mice and ex vivo brain and spinal cord slice cultures; and (3) Studying the mechanism of virus-induced CNS apoptosis, including mitochondrial and cell-death mediated pathways, and the impact of modulating these pathways on CNS injury and neuronal death.
Tim Vollmer, MD
Dr. Vollmer is a Professor in the Department of Neurology and Vice Chair of clinical research. Dr. Vollmer is Medical Director of the Rocky Mountain Multiple Sclerosis Center, and Co-Director of the RMMSC at Anschutz, which provides a multidisciplinary approach to treatment of this disease. Dr. Vollmer sub-specializes in multiple sclerosis and has a special interest in immunotherapies for MS. He also collaborates with several basic science laboratories on mechanism of action of newer MS therapies, and is working in collaboration to develop a vaccine approach to MS that involves inducing regulatory B lymphocytes that target CNS antigens. To date, Dr. Vollmer has completed over 100 clinical studies in MS. He is active in the local, regional and international communities conducting research in MS.
David H. Wagner, Jr. PhD
Dr. Wagner is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Neurology and the Head of the Immunology Section at the Webb-Waring Center. David’s research involves human Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) and human Multiple Sclerosis (MS) studies. His lab identified one of the pathogenic effector T cell subsets in both diseases, Th40 cells. The Wagner lab is interested in better defining biomarkers, from the T cell perspective in both T1D and MS, and how Th40 cells drive and perpetuate autoimmune inflammation. David is also developing a small peptide that targets CD40 mediated autoimmune inflammation.
Michael Graner, PhD
Dr. Graner is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery. Michael's research focuses on the immunology and biology of brain tumors. From a clinical perspective, he is interested in vaccine design and implementation, which includes the search for appropriate combinations of therapies to enhance immune responses or to downplay the role of tumor-induced immune suppression.
Dr. Graner is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery. Michael's research focuses on the immunology and biology of brain tumors. From a clinical perspective, he is interested in vaccine design and implementation, which includes the search for appropriate combinations of therapies to enhance immune responses or to downplay the role of tumor-induced immune suppression.
Jennifer Richer, PhD
Jennifer Richer is a Professor and Co-Director of the Cancer Center Pathology Core. Dr. Richer and her lab have determined that triple negative breast cancers (TNBC) upregulate and utilize the enzymes IDO1 and TDO2 to facilitate production of an immunosuppressive substance, kynurenine. The Richer lab hypothesizes that kynurine acts in an autocrine fashion to bind and act on the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in tumor cells to exert an anti-apoptotic effect, while at the same time acts in a paracrine fashion to suppress immune cells, again via AhR, and that this dual action facilitates the clinically aggressive behavior of this subtype of breast cancer. They have determined that indeed, kynurenine decreases proliferation and increases death of primary human CD8 T-cells. The Richer lab is also studying additional effects of this metabolite of the tryptophan catabolism pathway on other types of immune cells involved in the anti-tumor response. Since many immune cells express both AhR and androgen receptors (AR), another area of active investigation focuses on the role of anti-androgens (used to directly target tumor cells) on the immune response.
Jennifer Richer is a Professor and Co-Director of the Cancer Center Pathology Core. Dr. Richer and her lab have determined that triple negative breast cancers (TNBC) upregulate and utilize the enzymes IDO1 and TDO2 to facilitate production of an immunosuppressive substance, kynurenine. The Richer lab hypothesizes that kynurine acts in an autocrine fashion to bind and act on the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in tumor cells to exert an anti-apoptotic effect, while at the same time acts in a paracrine fashion to suppress immune cells, again via AhR, and that this dual action facilitates the clinically aggressive behavior of this subtype of breast cancer. They have determined that indeed, kynurenine decreases proliferation and increases death of primary human CD8 T-cells. The Richer lab is also studying additional effects of this metabolite of the tryptophan catabolism pathway on other types of immune cells involved in the anti-tumor response. Since many immune cells express both AhR and androgen receptors (AR), another area of active investigation focuses on the role of anti-androgens (used to directly target tumor cells) on the immune response.
Ethan Lange, PhD
Dr. Ethan Lange is a Professor in the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine, and in the Department of Biostatistics and Informatics. Ethan is a statistical geneticist and biostatistician by training whose research has largely focused on the identification of genetic risk factors for human disease. His applied work has included the study of a broad range of human diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease and related risk factors (including the focus on inflammation-related protein biomarkers, obesity and diabetes) and autoimmune diseases (including asthma, psoriasis, lupus and HIV transmission). He played a leading role in the discovery of causal genes for ataxia-telangiectasia (ATM), the Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS1 a.k.a. NBN) and prostate cancer (HOXB13). His recent research has focused largely on identifying genetic and genomic risk factors for cardiovascular disease related traits in understudied minority populations, especially African Americans. His methodological research is largely focused on improving efficiency of genetic study designs.
Leslie Lange, PhD
Dr. Leslie Lange is a Professor in the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine (CCPM), the Division of Biomedical Informatics in the School of Medicine, and the Department of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health. She is a genetic epidemiologist who works in large, multi-cohort genetic consortia (i.e. human studies), and focuses on the genetics and ‘omics of complex traits related to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and pulmonary disease, particularly in minority populations. She is the co-chair of the Genetics committees for both the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), a longitudinal cohort of African Americans in Jackson, MS, and the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, a longitudinal cohort of whites and blacks from the “Stroke Belt”. Leslie’s work has included leading efforts to identify genetic variants for a range of inflammatory-related biomarkers, including c-reactive protein, CD14, CD163, and other cytokines in large, multi-ethnic cohort studies. She also works with genetic and ‘omic studies of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as type 1 diabetes. Finally, Leslie is also working with the MESAOmics data set, which includes whole genome sequence, methylation, expression, metabolomic, and proteomic data on a multi-ethnic sample of ~1000 individuals.
Tom Anchordoquy, PhD
Dr. Anchordoquy is a Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences within the Skaggs School of Pharmacy. The Anchordoquy laboratory is working on the immune response to particles upon intravenous injection, and how the response differs from the first injection to subsequent injections, to develop particles that are safe upon repeat administration. In addition, the Anchordoquy research team has recently begun to focus on trying to exploit the antiviral response to limit accumulation of nanoparticles in major organs.
Jared Brown, PhD
Dr. Brown is an Associate Professor and Director of the Toxicology graduate program within the Skaggs School of Pharmacy. Jared’s research is broadly focused on allergic immune responses to environmental exposures and engineered nanomaterials. Within this context, the Brown laboratory is interested in understanding non-IgE mechanisms of mast cell activation by nanoparticles with the goal of developing safe nanotherapeutics. In addition, the Brown research team investigates innate immune responses to environmental particulates (e.g. ambient air pollution) and chemical warfare agents. Lastly, recent work has begun to investigate the impact of environmental exposures on immunotherapy response rates in bladder cancer patients.
Dmitri Simberg, PhD
Dr. Simberg is an Associate Professor in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Dmitri’s lab is primarily focused at the interface of nano and bio. Intravenously injected nanomaterials undergo interactions with plasma components and immune receptors, with subsequent clearance by macrophages and monocytes. This process is the major problem in nanomedicine since it decreases the dose of nanoparticles in the tumor, limits the efficiency of imaging and therapy, and causes toxicity. There is still insufficient knowledge of the basic mechanisms that lead to nanoparticle recognition and elimination. The Simberg lab is particularly interested in superparamagnetic iron oxides, the only T2/T2* magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent approved in the clinical use. Funded by the NIH, we use SPIO in order to understand the mechanisms of immune activation by nanoparticles, in particular the role of the alternative pathway of complement in opsonization and immune clearance, and design biomimetic strategies to mitigate complement activation by nano-surface. Recently the Simberg research team described a mechanism in which nanomedicines activate complement via the binding of natural antibodies to the proteins corona formed on nanoparticle surface. Additional interests in the lab include development of chemistry to modify cell surface with ligands, enzymes and small molecules, and drug delivery using engineered erythrocytes.
Dr. Anchordoquy is a Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences within the Skaggs School of Pharmacy. The Anchordoquy laboratory is working on the immune response to particles upon intravenous injection, and how the response differs from the first injection to subsequent injections, to develop particles that are safe upon repeat administration. In addition, the Anchordoquy research team has recently begun to focus on trying to exploit the antiviral response to limit accumulation of nanoparticles in major organs.
Jared Brown, PhD
Dr. Brown is an Associate Professor and Director of the Toxicology graduate program within the Skaggs School of Pharmacy. Jared’s research is broadly focused on allergic immune responses to environmental exposures and engineered nanomaterials. Within this context, the Brown laboratory is interested in understanding non-IgE mechanisms of mast cell activation by nanoparticles with the goal of developing safe nanotherapeutics. In addition, the Brown research team investigates innate immune responses to environmental particulates (e.g. ambient air pollution) and chemical warfare agents. Lastly, recent work has begun to investigate the impact of environmental exposures on immunotherapy response rates in bladder cancer patients.
Dmitri Simberg, PhD
Dr. Simberg is an Associate Professor in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Dmitri’s lab is primarily focused at the interface of nano and bio. Intravenously injected nanomaterials undergo interactions with plasma components and immune receptors, with subsequent clearance by macrophages and monocytes. This process is the major problem in nanomedicine since it decreases the dose of nanoparticles in the tumor, limits the efficiency of imaging and therapy, and causes toxicity. There is still insufficient knowledge of the basic mechanisms that lead to nanoparticle recognition and elimination. The Simberg lab is particularly interested in superparamagnetic iron oxides, the only T2/T2* magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent approved in the clinical use. Funded by the NIH, we use SPIO in order to understand the mechanisms of immune activation by nanoparticles, in particular the role of the alternative pathway of complement in opsonization and immune clearance, and design biomimetic strategies to mitigate complement activation by nano-surface. Recently the Simberg research team described a mechanism in which nanomedicines activate complement via the binding of natural antibodies to the proteins corona formed on nanoparticle surface. Additional interests in the lab include development of chemistry to modify cell surface with ligands, enzymes and small molecules, and drug delivery using engineered erythrocytes.
Joaquin Espinosa, PhD
Dr. Espinosa is a Professor of Pharmacology and the Executive Director for the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome (DS). His research team is interested in understanding the role of Interferon (IFN) signaling in the myriad developmental and clinical impacts of trisomy 21. His team discovered that trisomy 21 causes constitutive activation of the Interferon response, along with chronic autoinflammation in people with DS. This could be explained by the fact that four the of the six IFN receptors are encoded in chromosome 21. His team employs a synergistic combination of animal models and human research to investigate the mechanisms by which IFN signaling contributes to Down syndrome and associated co-morbidities, with the ultimate goal of developing immune-based therapies to improve health outcomes in this special population.
Heide Ford, PhD
Dr. Ford is a Professor of Pharmacology and the Associate Director of Basic Research at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. The Ford Lab is interested in the parallels between normal development and tumorigenesis, and is studying how developmental transcription factors are utilized by tumor cells to promote early embryonic processes in the context of cancer, processes that enable tumor progression and metastasis. In addition to studying how developmental transcription factors influence the cancer cells themselves, the Ford lab also examines how the immune microenvironment is influenced by re-expression of developmental proteins in cancer cells. The lab focuses on breast cancer and several pediatric cancers, including medulloblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and Ewing sarcoma. Models used include mouse and zebrafish.
Dr. Espinosa is a Professor of Pharmacology and the Executive Director for the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome (DS). His research team is interested in understanding the role of Interferon (IFN) signaling in the myriad developmental and clinical impacts of trisomy 21. His team discovered that trisomy 21 causes constitutive activation of the Interferon response, along with chronic autoinflammation in people with DS. This could be explained by the fact that four the of the six IFN receptors are encoded in chromosome 21. His team employs a synergistic combination of animal models and human research to investigate the mechanisms by which IFN signaling contributes to Down syndrome and associated co-morbidities, with the ultimate goal of developing immune-based therapies to improve health outcomes in this special population.
Heide Ford, PhD
Dr. Ford is a Professor of Pharmacology and the Associate Director of Basic Research at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. The Ford Lab is interested in the parallels between normal development and tumorigenesis, and is studying how developmental transcription factors are utilized by tumor cells to promote early embryonic processes in the context of cancer, processes that enable tumor progression and metastasis. In addition to studying how developmental transcription factors influence the cancer cells themselves, the Ford lab also examines how the immune microenvironment is influenced by re-expression of developmental proteins in cancer cells. The lab focuses on breast cancer and several pediatric cancers, including medulloblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and Ewing sarcoma. Models used include mouse and zebrafish.
Kelley Colvin
Kelley is a Senior Professional Research Assistant in a lab that studies lung vascular biology, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in particular. Understanding the contribution of altered immunity to the pathology of PAH has been a subject of contemplation of many laboratories for years. Although some of the putative autoantigens in autoimmune PAH have been identified, a direct role for autoantibodies in PAH has not been established. The lab has a unique approach that focuses on autoimmune mechanisms, which may directly affect pulmonary vascular remodeling.
Howard Li, MD
Dr. Li is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine. Howard’s research focuses on the role of the tumor microenvironment in lung cancer, with extensive experience in preclinical lung cancer carcinogenesis, chemoprevention, and orthotopic models. Recently, research in the Li lab has focused on the role of PD-L1 on cancer cells and immune cells in the tumor microenvironment on lung cancer progression.
Raphael Nemenoff, PhD
Dr. Nemenoff is a Professor of Medicine and the Director of Research for the Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension. Raphael’s laboratory is studying the role of the immune system on the progression and metastasis of lung cancer, using an orthotropic immunocompetent model in which murine lung cancer cells are implanted into the lungs of syngeneic mice. Research within the Nemenoff lab has focused on the role of both the innate and adaptive immune system in regulating disease progression. Using a panel of murine cell lines responses to immune checkpoint inhibition have been correlated with the nature of the cancer cell. Ongoing studies have also used RNA-seq to profile macrophage populations in this model.
Kelley is a Senior Professional Research Assistant in a lab that studies lung vascular biology, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in particular. Understanding the contribution of altered immunity to the pathology of PAH has been a subject of contemplation of many laboratories for years. Although some of the putative autoantigens in autoimmune PAH have been identified, a direct role for autoantibodies in PAH has not been established. The lab has a unique approach that focuses on autoimmune mechanisms, which may directly affect pulmonary vascular remodeling.
Howard Li, MD
Dr. Li is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine. Howard’s research focuses on the role of the tumor microenvironment in lung cancer, with extensive experience in preclinical lung cancer carcinogenesis, chemoprevention, and orthotopic models. Recently, research in the Li lab has focused on the role of PD-L1 on cancer cells and immune cells in the tumor microenvironment on lung cancer progression.
Raphael Nemenoff, PhD
Dr. Nemenoff is a Professor of Medicine and the Director of Research for the Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension. Raphael’s laboratory is studying the role of the immune system on the progression and metastasis of lung cancer, using an orthotropic immunocompetent model in which murine lung cancer cells are implanted into the lungs of syngeneic mice. Research within the Nemenoff lab has focused on the role of both the innate and adaptive immune system in regulating disease progression. Using a panel of murine cell lines responses to immune checkpoint inhibition have been correlated with the nature of the cancer cell. Ongoing studies have also used RNA-seq to profile macrophage populations in this model.
Sana Karam, MD, PhD
Dr. Karam is an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology within the University of Colorado School of Medicine Cancer Center. Sana’s laboratory is focused on understanding how the immune microenvironment influences cancer cell growth and resistance to therapy. Her lab uses various preclinical animal models including head and neck, pancreas, lung, and brain cancer. Another major focus of Dr. Karam’s lab is studying the effects of radiation on the immune system in pre-clinical tumor models through the examination of how radiation, a common treatment modality in many cancers, interacts with immunotherapy to synergize or antagonize the immune response. The Karam lab uses a wide variety of both in-vivo and in-vitro assays to understand functional and molecular mechanisms behind tumor response. Understanding key concepts such as apoptosis, angiogenesis, invasion, proliferation, and immune modulation hold great promise for designing strategies to effectively target cancer. Cutting edge technology is employed with a state-of-the art image-guided irradiator with on-board CT and BLI imaging as well as CyTOF and intravital imaging. The Karam lab has successfully translated scientific discoveries into clinical trials aimed at improving outcomes for patients with these aggressive malignancies.
David Raben, MD
Dr. Raben is a Professor of Radiation Oncology within the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Dr. Raben has extensive expertise in aerodigestive track malignancies with specific focus in head and neck cancer (HNC). David has developed interests and expertise over the past 20 years in translational radiation oncology with a focus on delivery of precision drugs as well as exploration of molecular biomarkers and targets that will enhance the effects of radiation therapy in HNC. Radiation therapy is rapidly evolving from a technical standpoint with the use of image guided intensity modulated radiation therapy and our group has been one of the leaders in implementing innovative delivery approaches. David currently serves as the Developmental Therapeutics co-Chair at the NRG to initiate and implement Phase I trials with radiation and novel drugs. From a research perspective at Colorado, the Raben lab is currently focused on the heavy smoker patients who have resistant cancers and high levels of DNA repair capabilities in an effort to offer approaches that will inhibit DNA repair along with blocking growth factor signaling. Our laboratory efforts have demonstrated the effectiveness of this type of approach in vitro and are currently studying which biomarkers might predict response to DNA repair inhibitors. Clinical trials are currently being conducted that incorporate agents such as oral DNA PARP inhibitors with growth factor inhibitors in a dual biologic approach to determine if this is the most effective approach for heavy smokers when combined with intensity modulated radiation. New avenues of exploration include the use of immune-modulation agents with radiation for HNC as well as exploring radioprotective strategies with anti-TGFβ agents and metalloporphyrins.
Dr. Karam is an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology within the University of Colorado School of Medicine Cancer Center. Sana’s laboratory is focused on understanding how the immune microenvironment influences cancer cell growth and resistance to therapy. Her lab uses various preclinical animal models including head and neck, pancreas, lung, and brain cancer. Another major focus of Dr. Karam’s lab is studying the effects of radiation on the immune system in pre-clinical tumor models through the examination of how radiation, a common treatment modality in many cancers, interacts with immunotherapy to synergize or antagonize the immune response. The Karam lab uses a wide variety of both in-vivo and in-vitro assays to understand functional and molecular mechanisms behind tumor response. Understanding key concepts such as apoptosis, angiogenesis, invasion, proliferation, and immune modulation hold great promise for designing strategies to effectively target cancer. Cutting edge technology is employed with a state-of-the art image-guided irradiator with on-board CT and BLI imaging as well as CyTOF and intravital imaging. The Karam lab has successfully translated scientific discoveries into clinical trials aimed at improving outcomes for patients with these aggressive malignancies.
David Raben, MD
Dr. Raben is a Professor of Radiation Oncology within the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Dr. Raben has extensive expertise in aerodigestive track malignancies with specific focus in head and neck cancer (HNC). David has developed interests and expertise over the past 20 years in translational radiation oncology with a focus on delivery of precision drugs as well as exploration of molecular biomarkers and targets that will enhance the effects of radiation therapy in HNC. Radiation therapy is rapidly evolving from a technical standpoint with the use of image guided intensity modulated radiation therapy and our group has been one of the leaders in implementing innovative delivery approaches. David currently serves as the Developmental Therapeutics co-Chair at the NRG to initiate and implement Phase I trials with radiation and novel drugs. From a research perspective at Colorado, the Raben lab is currently focused on the heavy smoker patients who have resistant cancers and high levels of DNA repair capabilities in an effort to offer approaches that will inhibit DNA repair along with blocking growth factor signaling. Our laboratory efforts have demonstrated the effectiveness of this type of approach in vitro and are currently studying which biomarkers might predict response to DNA repair inhibitors. Clinical trials are currently being conducted that incorporate agents such as oral DNA PARP inhibitors with growth factor inhibitors in a dual biologic approach to determine if this is the most effective approach for heavy smokers when combined with intensity modulated radiation. New avenues of exploration include the use of immune-modulation agents with radiation for HNC as well as exploring radioprotective strategies with anti-TGFβ agents and metalloporphyrins.
Adam Berlinberg, MD
Dr. Berlinberg is a clinical and research fellow in the Division of Rheumatology. His research focuses on the concept of the regulation of innate lymphoid cells in the gut by the metabolic byproducts of the microbiome in ankylosing spondylitis. This work in understanding the mechanisms of this relevant cell type in spondyloarthritis will ideally help in understanding the pathogenesis of this disease with relation to the microbiome and trafficking of immune cells to affected regions such as the synovium and bone marrow. The ultimate goal is to move this research agenda into the peripheral manifestations of spondyloarthritis by focusing on psoriatic arthritis.
Susan Boackle, MD
Dr. Susan Boackle is Associate Professor of Medicine and Immunology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Susan’s clinical and research interests focus on systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that is marked by episodes of increased disease activity called flares, during which antibodies to double stranded (ds) DNA go up, complement levels go down, and inflammation occurs in the body, causing cumulative damage to vital organs over time. The Boackle laboratory has found that a specific change in the sequence of a complement receptor gene expressed in B cells reduces the chances that a person will get lupus. Interestingly, this change specifically appears to protect them from making antibodies to dsDNA. The goal of Dr. Boackle’s research is to develop a new treatment for lupus that mimics the effects of this sequence change. If this treatment is effective, it will stop the production of anti-dsDNA antibodies. As a result, it will decrease the likelihood that a person with lupus will have another flare of their lupus and reduce the chances that a person who is at risk for lupus will develop the disease. It also holds promise for other autoimmune diseases in which B cells play a role in disease pathogenesis, such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes mellitus.
Liron Caplan, MD, PhD
Dr. Caplan is the section chief for rheumatology at the Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center (DVAMC). Liron engages in clinically-oriented epidemiologic and health service research within the fields of pharmacoepidemiology and auto-immunity/rheumatology. Areas of interest include retrospective analysis of databases to understand long-term medication adverse drug reactions, interventions to optimize medication use, as well as construction and maintenance of patient registries. Dr. Caplan is Director of the Spondyloarthritis program at the University of Colorado and DVAMC, and has worked with the Program to Understand the Longterm Outcomes in SpondyloARthritis (PULSAR) registry, Veterans Affairs Rheumatoid Arthritis registry, and National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases, among others.
Kevin D. Deane, MD, PhD
Dr. Deane is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology/Department of Medicine. His research focused on the natural history of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and in particular on the ‘preclinical’ period of RA that is characterized by circulating autoantibodies and other markers of immunologic dysfunction that precede the onset of arthritis. More specifically, Kevin’s major translational research efforts are to understand how RA-related autoimmunity may initially be generated at a mucosal site. He has expertise in collection and analyses of biospecimens including saliva, gingival samples, sputum, stool and cervico-vaginal fluid for inflammation, RA-related autoantibodies and microbial factors. In addition, Dr. Deane is the PI on a multi-site NIH-funded clinical trial for the prevention of RA. This trial is entitled ‘StopRA’ (www.stop-ra.org), and entails identifying individuals with serum elevations of RA-related autoantibodies that indicate high risk for onset of arthritis within several years, and treating these individuals with an immunomodulatory therapy (or placebo) to determine if progression to clinically-apparent RA can be halted.
Kristen Demourelle, MD, PhD
Dr. Demoruelle is an Associate Professor in the Division of Rheumatology. Her research focuses on understanding mucosal site involvement in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), with a particular focus on the lung and female genital tract. She studies autoantibody generation and immune dysregulation including aberrant neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation at these mucosal sites to better understand how RA-related autoantibodies originate, how mucosal immune dysregulation contributes to the development of RA-related lung disease and how mucosal sites may contribute to sex differences in the development of RA. Her ultimate research goals are to identify novel mechanism-specific mucosal-based pathways of disease development that can be therapeutically targeted for the prevention of RA and RA-associated lung disease.
Aryeh Fischer, MD
Dr. Aryeh Fischer is Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine with a dual appointment in the Divisions of Rheumatology and Pulmonary Sciences as faculty within the Center for Lungs and Breathing. Aryeh’s specific area of clinical and research expertise is within autoimmune associated lung diseases, and autoimmune interstitial lung disease in particular. He has developed clinical expertise with patients referred nationally for evaluation of autoimmune lung disease. Dr. Fischer has served as an invited lecturer on autoimmune and interstitial lung diseases at numerous national and international pulmonary and rheumatology conferences and has published extensively within this domain. He currently serves on the steering committee of four international clinical trials investigating novel therapeutics for autoimmune interstitial lung disease and pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Ashley Frazer-Abel, PhD, D(ABMLI)
Dr. Frazer-Abel is the Director of Exsera BioLabs and member of the Division of Rheumatology. Exsera is a laboratory focused on autoimmunity and complement immunology. Dr. Frazer-Abel and Exsera work with researchers across the Anschutz campus, providing diagnostic testing for both UCH and Children’s Hospital. In addition, Exsera works with Biotech and Pharmaceutical companies working through the FDA drug development process. With the regulatory environment and the experience in assay validation, Exsera is also able to take a research assay and bring it to the validation level necessary to be used for clinical diagnosis; translating research to patient care. Ashley is a recognized expert on complement testing with a special interest in developing novel assays to meet the growing needs presented by the explosion of complement therapeutics.
Robert Fuhlbrigge, MD, PhD
Dr. Fuhlbrigge is a Professor of Pediatrics – Rheumatology and is the Section Head for Pediatric Rheumatology at the Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Isaac Harley, MD
Dr. Harley is a Clinical & Research Fellow in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Isaac is interested in defining the etiology of autoantibody-mediated autoimmune disease and determining whether there are useful applications of genomics for therapeutics, diagnostics or prognostics in rheumatic disease.
Michael Holers, MD
Dr. Michael Holers is Head, Division of Rheumatology at the University of Colorado Denver. The Holers' research group performs both basic and translational research. A longstanding interest has been to decipher the roles of complement receptors and membrane regulatory proteins in the immune response, with a special emphasis on autoimmune diseases. Complement is a complex system of serum proteins which, upon activation, covalently bind targets (bacteria, viruses, immune complexes) and marks them as foreign. The interaction of complement with B cell receptors also results in substantial enhancement of humoral and cellular immunity. In addition to this role, excessive activation of complement is centrally involved in autoimmunity and the tissue damage that occurs in many inflammatory diseases involving organs such as the kidney. The Holers’ laboratory has developed human and mouse models in which to study these complement related biologic processes and to develop novel complement inhibitors. Candidate therapeutics derived from these studies have been advanced to clinical trials in humans.
With regard to translational research, Dr. Holers is a co-founder of SERA (Studies of the Etiology of Rheumatoid Arthritis), which is focused on understanding the early pathogenesis and natural history of RA. In that regard, we now know that autoimmune diseases such as RA begin years before clinical signs and symptoms are apparent, when at-risk individuals manifest highly predictive autoantibodies in their serum. By studying individuals in this period of time, SERA investigators have made novel findings suggesting that RA is initiated through a process linked to mucosal inflammation. This observation also suggests that additional therapeutic and/or prevention strategies could be considered for individuals in this at-risk but asymptomatic period. It is also relevant to determine how individuals transition from this autoantibody-positive, at-risk period to clinically active disease, and several studies are underway that are related to understanding these questions.
Kristi Kuhn, MD, PhD
Dr. Kuhn is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Rheumatology. Kristi’s research focuses upon the general hypothesis that impairment of mucosal immune regulation can lead to systemic autoimmune disease. Current work examines how interactions between commensal bacteria and mucosal immune populations educate the peripheral immune response. The identification of the bacterial, T cell, and B cell properties required to establish a functional immune barrier of the intestine, and understanding the downstream immunologic effects with a focus on the development of rheumatologic disease are currently being determined. Dr. Kuhn’s clinical interest is spondyloarthritis with a special emphasis for those with overlapping inflammatory bowel diseases.
Katharine Moore, MD
Dr. Moore is an Assistant Professor in the section of Pediatric Rheumatology. Her specific research interests are in juvenile systemic sclerosis and in the association between antibody profiles, clinical phenotypes and HLA in juvenile systemic sclerosis. Katie also completed additional graduate training in clinical epidemiology and is interested in outcomes research for pediatric autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases.
Larry Moreland, MD
Dr. Moreland joined the faculty at CU Anschutz in May 2020 where he leads a newly created Interdisciplinary Joint Biology Program with initial funding from the Department of Orthopedics, Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology and the School of Medicine. Collaborations between Orthopedics, Radiology, and Rheumatology have led to the establishment of an Interdisciplinary Joint Biology Biorepository of joint tissue (synovium, cartilage, ligaments) and blood samples. A major focus will be to better understanding the molecular heterogeneity of disease pathways of our patient’s with musculoskeletal and autoimmune diseases with a goal for precision medicine. In addition to the research activities, Dr Moreland will have a clinical practice for patients with autoimmune and musculoskeletal diseases. He will be involved with mentoring and teaching medical students, residents, and fellows.
Alan Palestine, MD
Dr. Palestine is professor of ophthalmology and has secondary appointment as professor of medicine-rheumatology. He is chief of the section of uveitis and ocular immunology and director of the center for ocular inflammation at the Sue Anschutz-Rogers Eye Center. Dr. Palestine’s clinical and research interests focus on ocular inflammatory disease including uveitis (intraocular inflammation), scleritis and ocular pemphigoid. He has published extensively on opportunistic ocular infections in immunosuppressed patients and the use of immunomodulatory therapy in inflammatory eye disease. More recently, his research has also focused on the role of systemic inflammatory mediators in age-related macular degeneration and on ocular imaging analysis in inflammatory eye disease. He also has a strong interest in immune checkpoint inhibitor-related ocular inflammation and how these drugs cause a wide spectrum of ocular disease. Dr. Palestine is developing a biobank to facilitate research into the genetic and inflammatory processes that drive ocular inflammatory disease to investigate why patients with apparently similar disease diagnoses have markedly different disease outcomes and responses to therapy.
Christopher Striebich, MD, PhD
Dr. Striebich is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology and the Director of that division’s Clinical Trials Program. Chris’ interests are in the development and testing of novel immunotherapeutic agents in autoimmune rheumatologic diseases such as systemic lupus erythematous, Sjögren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, ANCA associated and other forms of systemic vasculitis, inflammatory myositis, psoriatic arthritis and other forms of spondyloarthritis
Fan Zhang, PhD
Dr. Zhang is an Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator at the Department of Medicine Division of Rheumatology and the Center for Health AI (Artificial intelligence). As a Computational Biologist, Dr. Zhang’s Computational Omics and Systems Immunology (COSI) laboratory https://fanzhanglab.org/ focuses on developing and using statistical machine learning methods, cutting-edge single-cell multi-omics, and systems immunology approaches to study inflammatory and immune-mediated disease pathogenesis. Fan is also an Investigator involved in the NIH funded Accelerating Medicines Partnership Rheumatoid Arthritis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (AMP RA/SLE) Consortium. Through collaborative work with rheumatologists and immunologists in the AMP, she has been leading the computational work of large-scale single-cell multi-omics data integration including single-cell RNA-seq, single-cell proteomics, single-cell CITE-seq, and CyTOF data from diseased samples from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. She has developed independent research programs including: 1. Develop and use statistical and computational methods to study patient heterogeneity for translational research, 2. Decipher pathogenic myeloid cell phenotypes and molecular mechanisms for inflammatory diseases using single-cell multi-omics integration, and 3. Integrate cross-disease tissue-blood single-cell datasets to identify shared/unique phenotypes which provide new insights into disease etiology and drug repurposing.
Ronald Gill, PhD
Dr. Gill is the Scientific Director of the Colorado Center for Transplantation Care, Research and Education (CCTCARE) and a Professor in the Department of Surgery. Ron’s lab has a long-standing interest in both the autoimmune pathogenesis in Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) as well as immunity and tolerance to cellular and solid organ transplants. Relevant to the HI3 program, Ron’s lab is very interested in continuing the development and pre-clinical testing of therapeutics that promote immune tolerance in both T1D and in transplantation. Moreover, they are also interested in developing assays for the human immune response to transplants in collaboration with the Transplant Division within the Department of Surgery.
Christene Huang, PhD
Dr. Huang is a Professor of Surgery with a dual appointments within the Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and the Division of Transplant Surgery. The Huang laboratory studies transplantation immunology with a particular focus on developing clinically relevant protocols for the establishment of transplantation tolerance. Dr. Huang’s research involves using basic immunologic approaches to develop clinically relevant strategies for regulating inflammation, overcoming transplant rejection and improving tumor immunotherapy. Current research projects involve 1) Induction of stable vascularized composite allograft tolerance using a low-toxicity, transient chimerism approach; 2) Investigating novel approaches to block inflammation and prevent ischemia reperfusion injury; and 3) Studying mechanisms of B-cell tolerance to transplantation antigens.
Martin McCarter, MD
Dr. McCarter is a Professor of Surgery specializing in GI Tumor/Endocrinology. Martin’s laboratory is focused on identifying mechanisms of cancer induced immune suppression and identifying ways to interrupt the process. Current projects focus on myeloid derived suppressor cells in melanoma patients; defining, analyzing and targeting these cells to enhance immune-therapeutic interventions. The laboratory is involved in translational science based human clinical trials. In addition, the lab maintains a biobank of human spleen cells and collaborates widely with a variety of investigators utilizing human intestinal tissues.
Vikas Patel, MD
Dr. Patel is a Professor of Orthopedics and serves as the Chief of Orthopedic Spine Surgery at the University of Colorado. Vikas is involved in several clinical trials aimed at reducing infection risk after spine surgery. The CLOVER trial is a phase 3, randomized, observer-blinded placebo-controlled study sponsored by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals that evaluates an investigational vaccine that may help to prevent Clostridium difficile infection. The study will assess whether the vaccine prevents the disease, and whether it is safe and well tolerated. Each subject will receive 3 doses of Clostridium difficile vaccine or placebo and be followed for up to 3 years after vaccination for potential Clostridium difficile infection. The STRIVE study is a phase 2, randomized, double-blinded placebo-controlled study sponsored by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals which evaluates whether the SA4Ag vaccine can safely prevent postoperative Staphylococcus aureus infections in patients who are undergoing elective spinal fusion surgery. Each subject will receive one dose of the SA4AG vaccine at least 10 days prior to surgery, and be followed for six months post-vaccination to assess for infection or adverse events.
Richard Schulick, MD, MBA
Dr. Schulick is a Professor and Chair of Surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Zhirui Wang, PhD
Dr. Wang is an Associate Professor of Surgery with dual appointments within the Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and the Division of Transplant Surgery. Dr. Wang’s main interest and expertise is using a unique diphtheria toxin-resistant yeast Pichia Pastoris expression system as a platform to develop diphtheria toxin-based recombinant immunotoxins/fusion toxins for specific depletion of targeted cell populations in vivo. Dr. Wang’s lab has successfully developed 9 diphtheria toxin based recombinant immunotoxins including anti-human CCR4 immunotoxin for targeting CCR4+ tumors and Tregs; Ontak®-like IL-2 fusion toxins (human, porcine and murine versions) for depleting IL-2R+ cells including CD25+ Tregs; 3) anti-porcine CD3 immunotoxin for depleting porcine CD3+ T-cells. Some of them have the potential to have pharmaceutical applications in humans and some are useful research reagents in large animal models for treatment of cancers and autoimmune diseases as well as transplantation tolerance induction. Current research projects involve 1) develop a rapid hematopoietic stem cell mobilization protocol using Groβ + AMD3100 in swine model; 2) develop an improved recipient conditioning protocol using CD45 immunotoxin in swine model without radiation procedure and without GVHD side effect; 3) IL2-CCR4 bispecific immunotoxin for targeting CCR4+CD25+ tumors and Tregs; 3) Improved human EGF fusion toxin for targeting EGFR+ tumors.
Yuwen Zhu, PhD
Dr. Zhu is an Assistant Professor of Surgery, and his research interest is to dissect the molecular hardwires through which tumor cells communicate with immune cells, particularly T lymphocytes. Yuwen’s current research focus is to identify and characterize novel immune checkpoints that shape the tumor microenvironment. The ultimate goal is to translate laboratory findings into the development of new therapeutic options for cancer.
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