Stanford Immunology–

Research Program

The Graduate Program in Immunology currently includes 57 faculty members from many departments/divisions. 

Faculty-student BBQ

Admissions Dinner 2011 - Immunology Faculty

Biochemistry
Biological Sciences
Computer Science
Developmental Biology
Genetics
Infectious Diseases & Geographic Medicine
Microbiology & Immunology
Molecular & Cellular Physiology
Neurology & Neurosciences
Neurosurgery
Otolaryngology
Pathology
Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Structural biology
Surgery
Urology
Department of Medicine/Divisions:
Blood & Bone Marrow Transplant
Cardiovascular Medicine
Gastroenterology &Hepatology
Hematology
Oncology
Immunology & Rheumatology
Infectious Diseases
Radiology
Department of Pediatrics/Dvisions:
Human Gene Therapy
Immunology & Allergy
Infectious Diseases
Neonatology
Systems Medicine

Administrative Structure

Under the direction of Dr. Patricia Jones, the Executive Committee is responsible for running the day-to-day activities of the Immunology Program. The following committee leadership positions comprise the Executive Committee: 1) Chair for the Pre-doctoral Program, Dr. Sheri Krams, 2) the Chair of Center for Clinical Immunology at Stanford (CCIS), Dr. C. Garrison Fathman, and 3) the Chair for the Postdoctoral Program, Dr. Magali Fontaine. The Predoctoral Committee oversees policy and procedures regarding the recruitment, selection, and academic progress of graduate students in the program. The function of the Postdoctoral Committee is to identify and fund competitive postdoctoral fellows who have already chosen an Immunology Program faculty member as their mentor. 4) Dr. C. Garrison Fathman is the director of CCIS, which also provides many important educational outreach programs and clinical Immmunology research opportunities for our trainees. The Program is administered by Maureen Panganiban, through the Immunology Program Office, housed in 1215 Welch Road, Modular A, Room 96, and assisted by the Program Coordinator, Nicki Barnes. The Charter for the Program in Immunology describes the organizational structure and responsibilities for each chair and committee in the program. The Immunology Program's Charter has been ratified by the Program faculty and approved by Dean Phillip Pizzo of the Medical School in 2002; it is frequently held up as a model for the other interdepartmental programs at Stanford University.

A Brief History

The interdepartmental PhD Program in Immunology was founded in 1987 to provide - for the first time - coordinated graduate training in immunology with a stellar group of faculty studying basic and clinical immunology in many departments in the Schools of Medicine and Humanities & Sciences.   In that year, the request for degree-granting authority was approved and training grant support became available through a supplement to an existing postdoctoral training grant in Molecular and Cellular Immunobiology from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the NIH.  Pat Jones (Biology) directed the Program for its first six years, followed by Mark Davis (Microbiology and Immunology), Eugene Butcher (Pathology), Chris Garcia (Microbiology and Immunology/Molecular and Cell Physiology), and Olivia Martinez (Surgery), who has been the Director since 2008. 

The Program has been renewed several times (most recently in 2008), and the NIH training grant has been continuously funded since its inception, with the most recent 5-year renewal in 2010.  It now funds 12 pre-doctoral (graduate students) and 10 post-doctoral slots each year.  The Program has consistently been ranked in the top 3 graduate programs in immunology in the US News and World Report rankings.   Currently there are 51 graduate students in the Program, along with 57 faculty in 26 departments and divisions who are eligible to serve as graduate student advisors.

Stanford Immunology joined the Institute of Immunity, Transplantation and Infection in January 2011.

Stanford Immunology's faculty members have a broad spectrum of expertise and represent some of the most outstanding scientists in their respective areas. The research interests of our faculty cover the major areas of modern immunology including cellular, molecular, clinical, and structural immunology, and many aspects of the function of the immune system in each of these areas. Research includes studies of the development and function of T- and B- lymphocytes, natural killer cells, regulatory T-cells, macrophages, dendritic cells, and the specific tissues and organs that contribute to host defenses.  The program has a strong molecular component and many of the laboratories have focused on key molecules in the induction and expression of immune responsiveness.  These include the molecules encoded by the major histocompatability complex, T-cell receptors, immunoglobulins, costimulatory and accessory molecules, adhesion molecules including selectins and integrins, and chemoattractant receptors.  Studies in progress range from analysis of gene expression using microarrays and robotic sequencers, to studies of evolution, to protein biochechemistry, large scale antibody microarrays and the 3-dimensional structure of a number of important proteins by protein crystallography.  A number of faculty are focusing on the cellular interactions that are characteristic of lymphocytes, from the architecture of the “immunological synapses” that they form to the specific molecular interactions and signaling cascades that accompany activation, beginning with their characteristic cell surface receptors, intracellular signal transduction molecules, and transcription factors regulating gene expression in immune cells.  Another major strength of the program is the wealth of new tools and technologies available to immunologists that are well supported here by key laboratories and core facilities in the Immunology program.  These include confocal microscopy for cell imaging, cDNA microarrays of both mouse and human genes for gene expression profiling, large scale microarrays of antibodies to proteins, lipids and carbohydrates, and transgenic core facilities, as well as the availability of a large reservoir of transgenic and knock-out mouse strains for use in all of these studies.  Our faculty members have introduced new technologies in the field, including the development of the protein and antibody-based microarrays, and tetramer and MHC peptide arrays, and now CYTOF. 

A number of our faculty also focus on the applications of these basic findings to clinical diseases, ranging from type I diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis to a number of infectious diseases, allergy and several types of cancer.  Immune-derived cells and factors that participate in the regulation of immunologic and non-immunologic processes with direct relevance to disease are studied.  In many of these diseases, mechanisms of self-tolerance fail and the immune system begins to react against itself as autoimmunity, or fails to react adequately against new proteins expressed in cancer cells.  Array methodologies for autoantibody detection in autoimmune patients and for functional T-cell profiling in vaccine studies have also been pioneered at Stanford. Studies in human immunology and on human diseases are increasingly emphasized.  The Human Immune Monitoring Center (HIMC) is a new facility, lead by Holden Maecker, Director, was jointly developed by the Institute of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Disease (Mark Davis, ITI) and the Center of Clinical Immunology at Stanford (C. Garrison Fathman, CCIS). The laboratory is charged with developing and implementing assays that will monitor the health of the human immune system and to make these assays available to the Stanford Medical research community and others, as resources permit.  Our faculty have access to other institutional training grants, but this NIAID training grant supports the widest range of immunological research.

Program Faculty

The research interests of our faculty cover the major areas of modern immunology

The Great Gulf

The Great Gulf

Courtesy of G.R. Crabtree

including cellular immunology, molecular immunology, clinical immunology, structural immunology, and many aspects of the function of the immune system in each of these areas. Research includes studies of the development and function of T- and B- lymphocytes, natural killer cells, regulatory T- cells, and the specific tissues and organs that contribute to host defenses. The program has a strong molecular component and many of the laboratories have focused on key molecules in the induction and _expression of immune responsiveness. These include the molecules encoded by the major histocompatability complex, T-cell receptors, immunoglobulins, costimulatory and accessory molecules, adhesion molecules, including selectins and integrins, and chemoattractant receptors. Studies in progress range from analysis of gene _expression using microarrays and robotic sequencers, to studies of evolution, to protein biochemistry, large scale antibody microarrays and the 3-dimensional structure of a number of important proteins by protein crystallography. A number of faculty are focusing on the cellular interactions that are characteristic of lymphocytes, from the architecture of the "immunological synapses" that they form to the specific molecular interactions and signaling cascades that accompany activation, beginning with their characteristic cell surface receptors, intracellular signal transduction molecules, and transcription factors regulating gene _expression in immune cells. Another major strength of the program is the wealth of new tools and technologies available to immunologists that are well supported here by key laboratories and core facilities in the Immunology program. These include confocal microscopy for cell imaging, cDNA microarrays of both mouse and human genes for gene _expression profiling, large scale microarrays for antibodies to proteins, lipids and carbohydrates, and transgenic core facilities, as well as the availability of a large reservoir of transgenic and knock-out mouse strains for use in all of these studies. A number of faculty also focus on the applications of these basic findings to clinical diseases, ranging from type I diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis to a number of infectious diseases, allergy and several types of cancer. In many of these diseases, mechanisms of self-tolerance fail and the immune system begins to react against itself in autoimmunity, or fails to react adequately against new proteins expressed in cancer cells. Array methodologies for autoantibody detection in autoimmune patients and for functional T-cell profiling in vaccine studies have also been pioneered at Stanford. When the training grant was first awarded, the Immunology Program included seventeen faculty; the number of preceptors has now grown to forty-four. Participating faculty members all have active sponsored research either directly relevant or closely related to immunology.

Collaborations

Interactive and collaborative research activities among the participating preceptors of this training program have been substantial in the past funded period. For example, Michael Cleary and Irving Weissman have collaborated on studies to identify leukemia stem cells in an expiermental mouse model of leukemogenesis. Edgar Engleman and Irving Weissman have worked together to define the ontogeny of specific lineages of dendritic cells, which play a major role in antigen processing and presentation for immunotherapy of cancer. Stephen Galli and Michael Cleary apply microarray techniques to investigate important issues in oncogene signaling pathways, immunological transcriptional responses, and tumor taxonomy. Lawrence Steinman and Stephen Galli have collaborated on the role of histamine receptors in Th1 autoimmunity and discovered the phenomenon of anaphylaxis to self. Lawrence Steinman and Garry Fathman have collaborated on the modulation of autoimmune diseases and participate together on a program project with Garry Nolan. Drs. Butcher and Weissman have collaborated in studies of hematopoetic stem cell chemotactxis and trafficking. The training program has fostered bench to bedside translational research under the guidance of Garry Fathman in the CCIS, and has led to many important interactions between faculty members and their labs linking work on allergy, immunity to cancer, autoimmunity and microbiology. This has culminated in successfully funded PO1 and U19 applications.

 

 

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