Fathman Lab In the Division of Immunology & Rheumatology

Fathman Lab Members

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C. Garrison Fathman, M.D.

Dr. Fathman, Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology at Stanford University School of Medicine, also serves as Past Chairman of the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) and Director of the Center for Clinical Immunology at Stanford (CCIS).

For more information about Dr. Fathman, visit the Lab Home Page.

 


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Swati Acharya, PhD

Position: Post Doctoral Fellow

Education:

Postdoctoral: Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA
Graduate: Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA (PhD-Genetics)
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (M.S- Microbiology)
Andhra University, AP, India (M.S. – Applied Microbiology)
Undergraduate: Andhra University, AP, India (B.S. Chemistry)

Project: Graft versus host disease (GVHD) is a chronic and debilitating systemic inflammatory disease characterized by inflammatory cell recruitment to the skin, gastrointestinal tract and other organs, and leads to a systemic chronic debilitating disease. Identification, characterization and potential uses of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the prevention of autoimmune/inflammatory diseases such as GVHD, is an important therapeutic approach. Although the etiology of GVHD is reasonably well understood, and the sequence of events underlying the course of the disease is well researched, no good approaches to therapy of this disease have been developed. By using a gene identification molecular approach, we believe that new targets of therapeutic intervention can be developed through deciphering the genetic signature of Tregs.

My project involves: (1) Identification the core set of CD4+CD25+ Treg genes by performing cDNA comparative microarray analysis of CD4+CD25+ vs CD4+CD25-T cells from the thymus and spleen of BALB/c and B6 mice at several different time points (age) to identify the shared core set of expressed Treg genes: ‘the core Treg transcriptome’, (2) Validation of the ‘core transcriptome’ genes based on in vitro loss-of-function studies using functional genomics (RNAi), (3) Investigating the in vivo loss of function of genes tested in (2) above using a model of GVHD. If these studies are successful in demonstrating a Treg core transcriptome, a similar approach can be taken with human Tregs to identify genes associated with loss of function in studies in vitro. (4) Identification of lineage specific genes that are involved in the development of T regulatory cells.

Email:


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Pearl Chang

Position: Medical Student

Education:

Undergraduate: Stanford University, Class of 2004

Email:

 

 

 


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Remi J Creusot, PhD

Position: Research Associate

Education:

Postdoctoral: Stanford University
Graduate: PhD Immunology, University College London, UK
Undergraduate: BS Biochemistry, MS Microbiology & Enzymology, University of Nancy, France

Project: Pathogenesis of type I diabetes in the non-obese diabetic mouse model: initiation (role and specificity of T cells in the initial insulitic lesion), progression (from respectful to invasive insulitis), and role of stromal cells in the regulation of the autoimmune response. Cellular gene therapy of type I diabetes using modified dendritic cells (in vivo trafficking and mechanisms of therapy).

Email:


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Keiichi Kodama, MD/PhD

Position: Postdoctoral Scholar

Education:

Residency: Keio University, School of Medicine
Medical: Gunma University, M.D., Faculty of Medicine
Graduate: Keio University, Ph.D., School of Medicine

Project: Road Map Study

Email:

 


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Jack Lin, PhD

Position: Postdoctoral Scholar

Education:

Graduate: Dartmouth Medical School, Ph.D. Microbiology & Immunology
Undergraduate: Brown University, B.S. Biology

Project:1) The intersection of anergy genes and mTOR signaling in directing T cell activation and differentiation
2) Examining the mechanism of action of mTOR-targeting small molecule therapeutics and validation via RNA interference
3) Functional characterization of anergy-associated genes and their role in T cell activation and T cell lymphoma/leukemia
4) Utilizing novel genome-wide expression profile microarray screens on human lymphocytes and human lymphomas/leukemias to identify new targets for immunotherapy

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Leon Su, PhD

Position: Staff Scientist

Education:

Postdoctoral: Stanford University
Graduate: University of California, San Diego
Undergraduate: University of California, Berkeley

Project: Molecular Mechanisms of Peripheral T cell Tolerance

Email:


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Linda Yip, PhD

Position: Postdoctoral Fellow

Education:

Postdoctoral: Dept. of Surgery, University of California San Diego, USA
Graduate: Ph.D., Physiology, University of British Columbia, Canada
Undergraduate: B. Sc., Physiology, University of British Columbia, Canada

Project: Type 1 Diabetes develops due to the lack of T cell tolerance to islet antigens.  T cells which recognize self-antigen are normally deleted through central or peripheral tolerance mechanisms.  Central tolerance occurs in the thymus as developing T cells are exposed to self-antigens expressed in medullary thymic epithelial cells. Peripheral tolerance occurs when mature T cells circulate through the body and encounter peripheral tissue antigens on various cells, including those of the lymph nodes.  My work focuses on the identification and characterization of genes which regulate peripheral tissue antigen expression and peripheral tolerance during the development of Type I diabetes.

Email:

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