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.
Focus Group Chair Lisa Arendt
Comparative Biosciences Department
Obesity, breast cancer, mouse models
lmarendt@wisc.edu
Focus Group Members
Adam Bailey
Credentials: Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Department
Position title: Viral Pathogenesis, Zoonosis, & Medical Countermeasures
Email:
albailey
David Beebe
Credentials: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department
Position title: Investigating cellular scale phenomena from physical and biological sciences perspectives
Email:
djbeebe
Curtis Brandt
Credentials: Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Department
Position title: Virology, Herpes Simplex Virus, antivirals, gene therapy
Email:
crbrandt
Matt Brown
Credentials: Surgery
Position title: Pluripotent Stem Cell Immunogenicity
Email:
brownm
Christian Capitini
Credentials: Pediatrics Department
Position title: Adoptive cell therapies (NK cell and CAR T cell infusions), Bone marrow transplant, GVHD
Pippa Cosper
Credentials: Human Oncology
Position title: Chromosomal instability, radiation sensitivity, DNA tumor viruses
Email:
cosper
Huy Dinh
Credentials: Oncology Department
Position title: Computational biology, Tumor microenvironment heterogeneity
Email:
huy.dinh
David Evans
Credentials: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department
Position title: Host-pathogen interactions for HIV and SIV
Email:
dtevans2
Thomas Friedrich
Credentials: Pathobiological Sciences Department
Position title: Immunity to influenza and AIDS viruses
Email:
thomasf
Bruce Klein
Credentials: Pediatrics Department
Position title: Immunology and pathogenesis of diseases due to fungi
Email:
bsklein
Anna Huttenlocher
Credentials: Pediatrics Department
Position title: Cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate cell migration and chemotaxis in cancer and inflammation
Email:
huttenlocher
Tu-Anh Huynh
Credentials: Food Science Department
Position title: C-di-AMP signaling in bacterial physiology and pathogenesis
Email:
thuynh6
Melissa Kinney
Credentials: Biomedical Engineering Department
Position title: Stem cell systems biology
Email:
melissa.kinney
Laura Knoll
Credentials: Medical Microbiology & Immunology Department
Position title: Pathogenesis and developmental regulation in the parasite toxoplasma
Email:
ljknoll
Yun Liang
Credentials: Medical Microbiology & Immunology Department
Position title: Molecular basis for sexual dimorphism
Email:
liang95
Colleen McDowell
Credentials: Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Department
Position title: Molecular pathways of glaucoma pathogenesis
Email:
cmmcdowell
Douglas McNeel
Credentials: Medicine Department
Position title: Development of immunological treatments, and vaccines in particular, that can eradicate prostate cancer
Email:
dm3
Shigeki Miyamoto
Credentials: Oncology Department
Position title: Regulatory mechanisms of Rel/NF-kappaB transcription factors
Email:
smiyamot
Emma Mohr
Credentials: Pediatrics Department
Position title: Defines congenital viral infection outcomes
Email:
emohr2
Zachary Morris
Credentials: Human Oncology
Position title: Radiotherapy to immune-modulate tumor microenvironments
Email:
zmorris
Shelby O'Connor
Credentials: Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Department
Position title: Host immunity to SIV/HIV and Mtb
Email:
slfeinberg
David O'Connor
Credentials: Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Department
Position title: Pathogenetics of SIV and HIV Infections
Email:
dhoconno
Claire O'Leary
Credentials: Pediatrics
Position title: Tuft cells, immunology, microbiome
Email:
coleary
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
Federico Rey
Credentials: Bacteriology Department
Position title: Gut microbiome, diet and cardiometabolic health
Email:
ferey
Rebecca (Becky) Richards
Credentials: Pediatrics
Position title: Engineering next-generation CAR-T cells for blood cancers
Email:
rmrichards3
Lixin Rui
Credentials: Medicine Department
Position title: Molecular pathogenesis of lymphoma
Email:
lrui
Krishanu Saha
Credentials: Biomolecular Chemistry Department
Position title: Human stem cell engineering
Email:
ksaha
John-Demian (JD) Sauer
Credentials: Medical Microbiology & Immunology Department
Position title: Host-pathogen interactions
Email:
sauer3
Miriam Shelef
Credentials: Medicine Department
Position title: Immune cells, autoimmunity, and arthritis
Email:
mshelef
Melissa Skala
Credentials: Biomedical Engineering Department
Position title: Metabolism, cancer, microscopy
Email:
mcskala
Judith Smith
Credentials: Pediatrics Department
Position title: Stress regulation of cytokine production
Email:
jsmith27
Paul Sondel
Credentials: Pediatrics Department
Position title: Clinical immunotherapy of cancer and tumor immunology
Email:
pmsondel
Marulasiddappa Suresh
Credentials: Pathobiological Sciences Department
Position title: T cell responses to viral infections
Email:
sureshm
Owen Tamplin
Credentials: Cell & Regenerative Biology Department
Position title: The hematopoietic stem cell niche
Email:
tamplin
Deric Wheeler
Credentials: Human Oncology Department
Position title: Mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapies
Email:
dlwheeler
John Yin
Credentials: Chemical & Biological Engineering Department
Position title: Molecular virology, computational biology, biochemical engineering
Email:
john.yin
John-Paul (JP) Yu
Credentials: Radiology Department
Position title: Neuroimaging, neuropsychiatric disorders, autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, systems neuroscience
Email:
jpyu