Photo of a virus infected cell

Immunology

Photo: Virus infected cell courtesy of Pixabay.com.

The fundamental goal of the research in the Immunology Focus Group is to gain a better understanding of the immune system and how it can be harnessed to benefit human health. Research focuses on understanding mechanisms underlying the host immune response and its contributions to pathology, as well as how the immune system can be manipulated to exert beneficial effects. The faculty trainers in this Focus Group come from a number of departments across campus including the School of Medicine, the School of Veterinary Medicine, the School of Pharmacy, the School of Engineering and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Research in the Immunology Focus Group spans the spectrum from basic to translational and clinical immunology. Studies are performed in fish, rodents, primates and humans, and involve state of the art techniques and cutting edge technology.

Immunology Focus Group research projects include:

  • Immunotherapy to treat graft versus host disease and various forms of cancer
  • T cell based vaccines for cancer and HIV infection
  • Generation of vaccines against pathogenic fungi
  • HIV-induced immune disorders
  • Mechanisms of immune cell (innate and T cell) memory
  • Effects of Zika virus infection during pregnancy
  • Gut microbiome alterations induced by gender and route of HIV infection
  • Pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis
  • Contributions of the unfolded protein response to arthritis and brucellosis
  • Role of CD8 T cells in acute and chronic viral infections
  • Effects of vitamins on autoimmune and neurodegenerative disease
  • Extracellular nucleotides as modifiers of the immune response and their contributions to asthma
  • Regulation of antigen-specific T regulatory cells and their contribution to allergic inflammation

The following is a link to the Immunology Research Community at the UW-Madison, many of whom are also trainers in the CMB program.

Headshot

Focus Group Chair Lisa Arendt
Comparative Biosciences Department
Obesity, breast cancer, mouse models
lmarendt@wisc.edu

Focus Group Members

Margaret Alexander

Credentials: Medical Microbiology Department

Position title: Diet, microbiota, immune interactions

Email: mralexander2@wisc.edu

Adam Bailey

Credentials: Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Department

Position title: Viral Pathogenesis, Zoonosis, & Medical Countermeasures

Email: albailey@wisc.edu

David Beebe

Credentials: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department

Position title: Investigating cellular scale phenomena from physical and biological sciences perspectives

Email: djbeebe@wisc.edu

Curtis Brandt

Credentials: Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Department

Position title: Virology, Herpes Simplex Virus, antivirals, gene therapy

Email: crbrandt@wisc.edu

Matt Brown

Credentials: Surgery

Position title: Pluripotent Stem Cell Immunogenicity

Email: brownm@surgyer.wisc.edu

Christian Capitini

Credentials: Pediatrics Department

Position title: Adoptive cell therapies (NK cell and CAR T cell infusions), Bone marrow transplant, GVHD

Email: ccapitini@pediatrics.wisc.edu

Pippa Cosper

Credentials: Human Oncology

Position title: Chromosomal instability, radiation sensitivity, DNA tumor viruses

Email: cosper@wisc.edu

Huy Dinh

Credentials: Oncology Department

Position title: Computational biology, Tumor microenvironment heterogeneity

Email: huy.dinh@wisc.edu

David Evans

Credentials: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department

Position title: Host-pathogen interactions for HIV and SIV

Email: dtevans2@wisc.edu

Thomas Friedrich

Credentials: Pathobiological Sciences Department

Position title: Immunity to influenza and AIDS viruses

Email: thomasf@primate.wisc.edu

Marta Gaglia

Credentials: Medical Microbiology and Immunology

Position title: Virus-host interactions in influenza viruses and herpes viruses

Email: Marta.Gaglia@wisc.edu

Anna Huttenlocher

Credentials: Pediatrics Department

Position title: Cell migration; inflammation; innate immunity

Email: huttenlocher@wisc.edu

Tu-Anh Huynh

Credentials: Food Science Department

Position title: C-di-AMP signaling in bacterial physiology and pathogenesis

Email: thuynh6@wisc.edu

Melissa Kinney

Credentials: Biomedical Engineering Department

Position title: Stem cell systems biology

Email: melissa.kinney@wisc.edu

Bruce Klein

Credentials: Pediatrics Department

Position title: Host-fungal pathogen interactions

Email: bsklein@pediatrics.wisc.edu

Laura Knoll

Credentials: Medical Microbiology & Immunology Department

Position title: Molecular analysis of host/parasite interactions

Email: ljknoll@wisc.edu

Bo Liu

Credentials: Surgery Department

Position title: Cell death, signal transduction, extracellular matrix, inflammation, vascular disease

Email: bliu24@wisc.edu

Sara McCoy

Credentials: Medicine Department

Position title: Mesenchymal stromal cell immunobiology

Email: ssmccoy@medicine.wisc.edu

Colleen McDowell

Credentials: Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Department

Position title: Molecular pathways of glaucoma pathogenesis

Email: cmmcdowell@wisc.edu

Douglas McNeel

Credentials: Medicine Department

Position title: Development of immunological treatments, and vaccines in particular, that can eradicate prostate cancer

Email: dm3@medicine.wisc.edu

Shigeki Miyamoto

Credentials: Oncology Department

Position title: Regulatory mechanisms of Rel/NF-kappaB transcription factors

Email: smiyamot@wisc.edu

Emma Mohr

Credentials: Pediatrics Department

Position title: Defines congenital viral infection outcomes

Email: emohr2@wisc.edu

Zachary Morris

Credentials: Human Oncology

Position title: Radiotherapy to immune-modulate tumor microenvironments

Email: zmorris@humonc.wisc.edu

Shelby O'Connor

Credentials: Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Department

Position title: Host immunity to SIV/HIV and Mtb

Email: slfeinberg@wisc.edu

David O'Connor

Credentials: Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Department

Position title: Pathogenetics of SIV and HIV Infections

Email: dhoconno@wisc.edu

Claire O'Leary

Credentials: Pediatrics

Position title: Tuft cells, immunology, microbiome

Email: coleary@wisc.edu

Jon Odorico

Credentials: Surgery Department

Position title: Embryonic stem cells to generate insulin producing cells for the treatment of diabetes and to study pancreatic islet development

Email: jon@surgery.wisc.edu

Federico Rey

Credentials: Bacteriology Department

Position title: Gut microbiome, diet and cardiometabolic health

Email: ferey@wisc.edu

Rebecca (Becky) Richards

Credentials: Pediatrics

Position title: Engineering next-generation CAR-T cells for blood cancers

Email: rmrichards3@wisc.edu

Lixin Rui

Credentials: Medicine Department

Position title: Molecular pathogenesis of lymphoma

Email: lrui@medicine.wisc.edu

Krishanu Saha

Credentials: Biomolecular Chemistry Department

Position title: Human stem cell engineering

Email: ksaha@wisc.edu

John-Demian (JD) Sauer

Credentials: Medical Microbiology & Immunology Department

Position title: Host-pathogen interactions

Email: sauer3@wisc.edu

Miriam Shelef

Credentials: Medicine Department

Position title: Immune cells, autoimmunity, and arthritis

Email: mshelef@medicine.wisc.edu

Melissa Skala

Credentials: Biomedical Engineering Department

Position title: Metabolism, cancer, microscopy

Email: mcskala@wisc.edu

Judith Smith

Credentials: Pediatrics Department

Position title: Stress regulation of cytokine production

Email: jsmith27@pediatrics.wisc.edu

Paul Sondel

Credentials: Pediatrics Department

Position title: Clinical immunotherapy of cancer and tumor immunology

Email: pmsondel@humonc.wisc.edu

Marulasiddappa Suresh

Credentials: Pathobiological Sciences Department

Position title: T cell responses to viral infections

Email: sureshm@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu

Owen Tamplin

Credentials: Cell & Regenerative Biology Department

Position title: The hematopoietic stem cell niche

Email: tamplin@wisc.edu

Deric Wheeler

Credentials: Human Oncology Department

Position title: Mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapies

Email: dlwheeler@wisc.edu

John Yin

Credentials: Chemical & Biological Engineering Department

Position title: Molecular virology, computational biology, biochemical engineering

Email: john.yin@wisc.edu

John-Paul (JP) Yu

Credentials: Radiology Department

Position title: Neuroimaging, neuropsychiatric disorders, autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, systems neuroscience

Email: jpyu@uwhealth.org