Immune System and Inflammation Archives - Sanford Burnham Prebys

Related Disease
HIV/AIDS, Infectious Diseases, Molecular Biology

Phenomena or Processes
Host-Pathogen Interactions, Infectious Disease Processes, Inflammation, Innate Immunity

Anatomical Systems and Sites
Immune System and Inflammation

Research Models
Clinical and Transitional Research, Computational Modeling, Human, Human Cell Lines, Mouse, Mouse Cell Lines, Primary Cells, Primary Human Cells

Techniques and Technologies
Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Cellular and Molecular Imaging, Drug Discovery, Drug Efficacy, Gene Expression, Gene Knockout (Complete and Conditional), Gene Silencing, High-Throughput/Robotic Screening, RNA Interference (RNAi), Systems Biology

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Education and Training

2010: Postdoctoral associate, Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University
2009: PhD, Computer Science, Yale University
2003: M.Phil., Computer Science, The University of Hong Kong
1999: B.Eng., Computer Engineering, The University of Hong Kong

Google Scholar profile

F1000 Faculty profile

YouTube: Bioinformatics micro-modules

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Dr. Yu Xin (Will) Wang received his PhD at the University of Ottawa where he identified cellular asymmetry and polarity mechanisms regulating muscle stem cell self-renewal and skeletal muscle regeneration. He then carried out postdoctoral training at Stanford University School of Medicine developing single cell multi-omic approaches to characterize the regenerative process and what goes awry with disease and aging.  

“I’ve always had a passion for science and became fascinated with how the body repairs and heals itself when I was introduced to the potential of stem cells in regenerative medicine. I was struck by the ability of a small pool of muscle stem cells that can rebuild and restore the function of muscle. My lab at Sanford Burnham Prebys aims to better understanding the repair process and harness our body’s ability to heal in order to combat chronic diseases and even counteract aging.”

Education and Training

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Stanford University School of Medicine
PhD in Cellular Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Canada
BS in Biomedical Sciences, University of Ottawa, Canada

Prestigious Funding Awards

2020: NINDS K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award

Honors and Recognition

Governor General’s Gold Medal – Canada

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Kevin Tharp studies the interplay between mitochondrial metabolism and the physical properties of the tumor microenvironment, using genetically engineered mouse models and bioengineered human tumor models to define the mitochondrial programming unique to cancer cells in the tumor microenvironment.

His goal is to develop new therapies that block the metabolic adaptations that cancer cells use to metastasize, a major cause of cancer-associated mortality.

“I study how cells make decisions about their metabolic programming, which I expect will enable us to develop new therapeutics against metastatic tumor cells.”

Tharp previously worked as a postdoctoral scholar in the Center for Bioengineering & Tissue Regeneration at UCSF Health.

He completed his PhD in metabolic biology at UC Berkeley and his Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry and molecular biology at UC Santa Cruz, where he graduated with honors and the Dean’s Award in Chemistry.

He has received meritorious funding awards from the Sandler Foundation and the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute for his postdoctoral research.

Google Scholar profile

Xueqin (Sherine) Sun seeks to better understand the genetic and epigenetic underpinnings of cancers, using genome editing technologies, animal and patient-derived models, and other tools to develop more effective cancer therapies.

“My lab is interested in studying how DNA or the machinery that interprets it leads to the transformation of normal cells into cancerous cells and concurrently, their specific vulnerabilities. Identifying these intrinsic vulnerabilities and targeting them properly is profoundly important to developing effective cancer therapies.”

Another aspect of Sun’s work is understanding how cancer cells and tumors change their circumstances and environment to improve survival, including hiding from or repressing the immune system.

“Changes to DNA itself and the way how DNA is interpreted by cells can transform normal cells into cancer cells. And transformed cells propagate by enhancing the misinterpreted DNA information, which in turn becomes the Achilles’ heel of cancer cells. Our goal is to find out how DNA information is misinterpreted in different ways and how to correct it to halt cancer.”

At Sanford Burnham Prebys, Sun and colleagues will employ a host of leading-edge tools and approaches, including functional genomics, artificial intelligence, structural biology, large-scale drug screening, and advanced imaging/spatial technologies.

Sun conducted her postdoctoral fellowship at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory under the guidance of Alea Mills, PhD, a professor at the National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center at Cold Spring Harbor.

She received her PhD from Wuhan University in China.

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Dr. Bradley received her doctorate from the University of California Berkeley, in 1981 in studies of CD4 T cell subsets that regulate humoral immune responses. Her work on the regulation of CD4 T cells continued during her postdoctoral training at The Oregon Primate Research Center and at the University of California, San Diego where she was appointed Assistant Research Professor in 1991. It was at this time she developed NIH sponsored her research program on CD4 T cells and discovered the key associations between migration and function. She joined The Scripps Research institute as an Assistant Professor in 1996 where she expanded her work on CD4 T cells into the arena of autoimmunity and discovered the essential role of the cytokine, interleukin-7, in the regulation of CD4 cell homeostasis.

She joined the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in 2001 as an Associate Professor, and was promoted to Professor in 2005. She joined Sanford Burnham Prebys as a Professor in the Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases Center in 2009. Dr. Bradley is recognized as a key contributor in the field of CD4 T cell biology, is an invited speaker at many national and international meetings, and serves on several study sections for the NIH as well as the Welcome Trust, Medical Research Council, and the JDRF.

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Dr. Blaho began her research career focused on how bioactive lipids contribute to the innate immune response against bacterial infection, characterizing roles for eicosanoids in the generation and resolution of Lyme arthritis pathology. The wild diversity of lipid species led Dr. Blaho to Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City to pursue postdoctoral training in the field of sphingolipids, particularly sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), and its receptors. Advancing to Instructor at Weill Cornell and later, Research Assistant Professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys, Dr. Blaho continued her research in lipid chaperones and receptor signaling, with an emphasis on cell-type differential effects on hematopoiesis and immunity in response to cell stressors. In August of 2019, Dr. Blaho joined the faculty at the Institute as an Assistant Professor in the Immunity and Pathogenesis program.

Why do you do what you do?

The immune system has the power to protect us from invading pathogens and cancer or to initiate a “self-destruct” sequence that consumes us with inflammation and autoimmunity. It is fascinating to me that a simple ubiquitous fat molecule like S1P can control the birth and destiny of immune cells.

Education

2014-2016: Instructor, Weill Cornell Medicine, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Neuroscience
2009-2014: Post-doctoral training, Weill Cornell Medicine, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
2007-2009: Post-doctoral training, University of Missouri, Columbia, Veterinary Pathobiology
2007: PhD, University of Missouri, Columbia, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology – BS

Funding Awards and Collaborative Grants

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute R01
American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant
2014-15: Leon Levy Neuroscience Foundation Grant
2015: Foundation LeDucq SphingoNet Young Investigator Grant
2009-12: National Cancer Institute Individual Ruth L. Kirschstein Post-doctoral Fellowship

Honors and Recognition

2017: British Journal of Pharmacology Lecture: FASEB Summer Research Conference on Lysophospholipids and Related Mediators – from bench to clinic.
2014: Leon Levy Foundation Neuroscience Fellow
2010: Keystone Scholarship, Bioactive Lipids: Biochemistry and Diseases
2008: Keystone Scholarship, Eicosanoids and Other Mediators of Chronic Inflammation
2007: Young Investigator Award in Inflammation, Eicosanoid Research Foundation
2004: National Academy of Sciences Christine Mirzayan Policy Fellow, Institute of Medicine Board on Health Sciences Policy

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