Research in this area concentrates on weakening both the acute and chronic phases of immune responses, to facilitate the acceptance of foreign organ and tissue transplants. Program members focus on the basic biology of immune cell nonreactivity (tolerance) to foreign organs and tissues as well as on the use of new immunomodulatory agents to promote transplant acceptance without endangering patients’ abilities to resist infections. Recent advances suggest that cellular reagents, such as tolerogenic dendritic cells, may have the potential to inhibit immune responses to antigens expressed and presented by these cells.
Participating Faculty and Labs
Diana Metes, M.D.
Immune responses to EBV in immunosupressed patients; adoptive immunotherapy; Natural killer (NK) cells and delayed xenograft rejection
Adrian E. Morelli, M.D., Ph.D.
Role of dendritic cells in peripheral tolerance and transplantation
Angus W. Thomson, Ph.D., D.Sc.
Transplantation tolerance; dendritic cell function.
Heth Turnquist, Ph.D.
Cytokine immunobiology; Innate immune cell regulation of immunity and tolerance; Transplant immunology; Alarmins; Characterization and application of regulatory immune cells in transplantation