|Institution||School of Medicine and Dentistry|
|Address||University of Rochester Medical Center|
School of Medicine and Dentistry
601 Elmwood Ave, Box 675
Rochester NY 14642
||1992||Honors Program in Medical Education Scholarship | Northwestern University|
||Northwestern University Medical Scientist Training Program Scholarship|
||Selected Participant-Woods Hole Marine Biology Laboratory|
||American Society of Transplant Physicians Young Investigator Award|
||Technology Innovation Award - Cleveland Clinic|
B cells and plasma cells participate in the adaptive immune response, and are responsible for antibody production, antigen presentation, and modulation of immune responses by other immune cells. Differentiation of B cells into an antibody secreting state to plasma cells helps the immune system defend against viral pathogens, provides long-lived protective immunity after vaccination or infection, and causes antibody mediated rejection of kidney transplants. Thus, it is essential to understand how B cell differentiation and antibody production is regulated if we are to enhance B cell anti-viral and vaccine responses, or to prevent transplant rejection. My laboratory focuses on studying B cell activation and differentiation using cell culture, animal models, and translational studies of human immune responses to vaccination in normal subjects and immune suppressed transplant recipients. We use innovative mathematical modeling and statistical analyses to gain insights from complex and large experimental data sets. Our experiments often involve daily analysis of gene expression and cellular phenotypes from single subjects over 5-10 days after vaccination. The scientific questions we are focused on include:
1. What is the timing of B cell differentiation and antibody secretion, and how can we alter the molecular and cellular events to improve vaccine responses?
2. What are the molecular gene expression signatures of a successful B cell vaccine response?
3. How can we use mathematical models to create individualized treatment protocols for kidney transplant patients with antibody mediated rejection or allosensitization?
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