Faculty Member

Scientific Interests

Nancy Bennett, M.D.

Bennett specializes in understanding infection and how well vaccines keep infectious threats at bay. She leads Rochester's part in several multi-site networks that track vaccine effectiveness and infection rates. She has shown that very high rates of immunization against the flu in people over age 65 are possible, and that special programs to immunize people in this age group result in lower rates of hospitalization and are cost effective. The study played a role in bringing about Medicare coverage of flu vaccination. She showed that interventions by community groups and health organizations could boost vaccination rates against pneumococcus dramatically. She has also studied how much it actually costs to administer flu vaccine in a physician's office. Her group is currently analyzing the dissemination of practice guidelines related to adult and childhood vaccines. http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/crh/about.htm

Robert Betts, M.D.

Betts was part of a recent national study showing that an experimental vaccine appears effective at preventing reactivation of a shingles infection and easing symptoms for those who do develop shingles. Nearly 2,000 people in Rochester took part in the study. Now researchers are studying long-term effects of the vaccine.

William Bowers, Ph.D.

Bowers is exploring whether a modified, harmless form of the herpes virus might be useful for creating a vaccine that would spur a patient's immune system to fight Alzheimer's disease effectively. He is also part of a team studying whether the herpes virus might be useful as a component of a vaccine that would protect a person against HIV.

Carl D'Angio, M.D.

D'Angio has found that infants born extremely prematurely should be immunized on the same normal schedule as full-term babies. He is currently assessing the effects of several vaccines on premature infants, including the vaccines for chickenpox, pneumococcus, and measles-mumps-rubella.

Stephen Dewhurst, Ph.D.

Dewhurst is working on new ways of introducing genes that would help the body defend itself against HIV. Finding ways to introduce genes that spur a response from the immune system is a field of broad interest. Rochester researchers are exploring the use of viruses that infect bacteria - known as bacteriophages - because of their low-cost, efficiency, and safety. Studies in mice are underway. He is also exploring whether a modified form of the herpes virus might be useful as a component of a vaccine that would protect a person against HIV.

Ann Falsey, M.D.

Falsey conducts research on respiratory syncytial virus. The team has found that the infection affects nearly as many people as the common flu. Her team has tested and continues to test several potential vaccines made by pharmaceutical firms continues.

Howard Federoff, M.D., Ph.D.

Federoff has pioneered the use of the herpes simplex virus as a way to deliver genetic information into the nervous system. The system gives his team pinpoint control over where and when to turn on genes. The technology is now used in a variety of experimental vaccine systems, including studies against HIV and liver cancer.

Deborah Fowell, Ph.D.

Fowell studies how the immune system develops into a diverse set of cells that protect our health. Current studies focus on the basic mechanisms that regulate effector T cell differentiation; she specializes in studying the signals that drive differentiation of regulatory T cells, or T regs, and the mechanisms of their regulatory activity.

John Frelinger, Ph.D.

Frelinger's team created transgenic mice that express human prostate-specific antigen (PSA) almost exclusively in their prostates, exactly like human males, providing scientists with an animal model in their search for a more effective treatment for prostate cancer. The team is also exploring the use of immunotherapy against HIV.

Francis Gigliotti, M.D.

For two decades Gigliotti's group has studied Pneumocystis carinii, an opportunistic infection that most often targets people who have cancer, AIDS or transplant patients, causing a severe form of pneumonia. They've identified and characterized the epitopes, or portions of the organism, that are recognized by protective monoclonal antibodies. Research in mice so far is promising, and the work could someday lead to the testing of vaccines against P. carinii in people.

Constantine Haidaras, Ph.D.

Haidaras works closely with Francis Gigliotti in studies of Pneumocystis carinii, an opportunistic infection that most often targets people who have cancer, AIDS or transplant patients, causing a severe form of pneumonia. They've identified and characterized the epitopes, or portions of the organism, that are recognized by protective monoclonal antibodies. Research in mice so far is promising, and the work could lead to the testing of vaccines against P. carinii in people.

Christine Hay, M.D.

Hay leads the Rochester portion of a national herpes vaccine study, which is seeking a total of 7,500 women at 43 sites across the country to participate. The team is studying the effectiveness of an experimental vaccine against genital herpes, which infects at least one of every five women and men. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 1 million people are infected each year in the United States alone. Rochester is one of the lead sites nationally.

Sharon Humiston, M.D.

Humiston studies the effectiveness and availability of vaccines. In a recent study she found that most doctors are in favor of vaccinating healthy infants and toddlers against the flu, but they are concerned about costs and parental fears about vaccines.

Barbara Iglewski, Ph.D.

Iglewski focuses on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic microbe and an important cause of disease in immunocompromised persons, as well as persons with burns or cystic fibrosis. The organism can be extraordinarily resistant to antibiotics, largely because the bacteria form themselves into sticky clusters called biofilms. She is analyzing how P. Aeruginosa protease genes are regulated as part of an effort to decipher how the cells communicate with each other, which could eventually lead to new ways to target the pathogen.

Xia Jin, M.D., Ph.D.

Jin focuses on the role of CD8+ T cells in the pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, and he also studies the development of vaccines against HIV more broadly. His team is exploring the feasibility of identifying CD8+ T-cell antiviral factor using using a combination of genetic and proteomics methodologies.

Michael Keefer, M.D.

Keefer leads the University's HIV Vaccine Trials Unit, one of 25 sites worldwide that make up the global HIV Vaccine Trials Network, or HVTN, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Rochester is one of only four sites nationwide that has been doing human studies with a variety of candidate vaccines since the first units were created in 1988. Nearly 800 volunteers from Rochester have participated in its studies, a rate of community participation that is among the highest of any city in the world. Currently the unit is conducting 14 different studies of potential vaccines. Keefer is also part of a team that is exploring whether a modified form of the herpes virus might be useful as a component of a vaccine that would protect a person against HIV. Results in mice look promising and are ongoing.

Alexandra Livingstone, Ph.D.

Livingstone studies CD8+ T cell memory. The team has developed model systems for generating long-lasting CD8+ T cell memory under conditions where the antigen is unlikely to persist for more than a few days. The team is using new techniques to ask basic questions about the behavior of CD8+ memory T cells, to design successful vaccination strategies against pathogens.

Edward Messing, M.D.

Messing is involved in several major national multi-center studies to try to treat or prevent prostate or bladder cancer. Working closely with Deepak Sahasrabudhe, he is currently involved in two studies testing an experimental vaccine against prostate cancer.

Jim Miller, Ph.D.

Miller seeks to unravel basic cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie T cell recognition of antigen. T cell activation is associated with a dramatic reorganization of cell surface receptors, cytosolic signaling molecules, and cytoskeletal elements within the adhesion complex that forms between a T cell and antigen presenting cell. The team has found that the selective engagement of adhesion and costimulatory molecules can differentially regulate the organization of proteins within this "immunological synapse."

Timothy Mosmann, Ph.D.

Mosmann specializes in the study of the Th1 and Th2 subsets of CD4+ T cells, which induce different types of effector functions that are useful in combating different pathogens. He also studies naive, uncommitted CD4 T cells that can differentiate into Th1 or Th2 phenotypes within a few days of initial stimulation, or that can remain uncommitted. These primed, precursor cells (Thpp) produce IL-2 and proliferate rapidly, allowing expansion of antigen-specific cells during an immune response before commitment to a particular effector phenotype. Cells producing only IL-2 also persist for several weeks after immunization, suggesting that these cells may also provide an expanded pool of uncommitted T cells for subsequent immune responses. We are currently analyzing the functions and differentiation potential of these cells.

Jan Moynihan, Ph.D.

Moynihan studies the links between mind and body, such as the effects that stress can have on the immune system. She has found that older adults reporting high stress levels do not generate as strong an immune response to a flu shot as those reporting less stress. She also found that social support appears to be protective in older adults.

Craig Mullen, M.D.

Mullen is working to identify antigens in leukemia cells that might be suitable targets for immunotherapy. The team is currently working in mouse models. His team has also found that vaccination of recipients of stem cell transplants against microbial or leukemia antigens should be considered.

Martin Pavelka, Ph.D.

Pavelka's laboratory is developing new genetic methods to study the pathogenesis of tularemia, which is caused by Francisella tularensis, a highly infectious bacterium that has been developed into a biological weapon in the past.

Michael Pichichero, M.D.

Pichichero has led a wide-ranging series of studies focusing on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. He was an early proponent of acellular vaccines and in 2005 was lead author on two major multi-site studies showing that acellular versions of a whooping cough, or pertussis, vaccine for adults and adolescents are safe and effective. He was one of the first doctors to test new conjugate vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), meningococcus, and pneumococcus. Currently he is continuing a study which has shown that the small amounts of mercury contained in the preservative thimerosal in some vaccines do not result in dangerous levels of mercury in the bloodstream of infants.

Jacques Robert, Ph.D.

Robert founded the Xenopus laevis Research Resource for Immunology, the world's most comprehensive resource specializing in the use of the amphibian Xenopus laevis for immunological research. Several genetically defined inbred strains and clones are available for study. The facility also develops research tools such as transgenic animals, monoclonal antibodies, cell lines, DNA libraries and molecular probes. Robert is studying the immunological properties of heat shock proteins, especially their ability to generate potent anti-tumor responses.

Robert Rose, Ph.D.

Rose and colleagues developed technology that is key to vaccines against human papillomaviruses, sexually transmitted viruses that causes nearly all cases of cervical cancer in women, and likely other cancers as well. Two vaccines that incorporate the technology are currently in the final stages of testing. The team is also studying alternate vaccine delivery systems, such as edible vaccines.

Deepak Sahasrabudhe, M.D.

Sahasrabudhe is involved in two studies testing an experimental vaccine against prostate cancer. One is aimed at patients with metastatic cancer in whom hormone therapy is no longer effective; the other is for patients who have had their prostates removed and now have a rising PSA level.

Andrea Sant, Ph.D.

Sant's team is investigating how the immune system processes new information to target pathogens, and how immune cells work together to present a new antigen to the immune system. The team is focusing on immunodominance, which describes how the immune system decides which pieces, or epitopes, of disease-causing molecules to target. The research may become a tool that researchers use one day to customize how strongly a vaccine triggers a response from the immune system.

Mark Shelly, M.D.

Shelly has evaluated a new type of pneumonia conjugate vaccine, based on the same type of technology initially developed at the University to create the Hib vaccine, for use in people over the age of 65.

Peter Szilagyi, M.D.

Szilagyi focuses on vaccine compliance and surveillance. He runs a New Vaccine Surveillance Network, funded by CDC, to gauge how effective vaccines are in preventing childhood illness, and to monitor how effectively and widely the vaccines are administered. In addition, he has found that by simply tracking children's immunizations and calling on those families whose children fall behind on their shots, doctors can dramatically increase the number of children who are vaccinated as well as increase the likelihood of those children returning for regular, preventive checkups.

Toru Takimoto, Ph.D.

Takimoto is examining the molecular mechanisms of paramyxovirus infection, replication, and assembly to develop applications in the prevention or remedy of paramyxovirus disease. Paramyxoviruses include various important human and animal pathogens, such as parainfluenza, respiratory syncytial, and measles viruses. The team is studying the functions of viral envelope glycoproteins to initiate infection, protein-protein interaction between viral polymerase proteins and host cell proteins required for the replication and transcription of the viral genome, and mechanisms of viral assembly and budding.

David Topham, Ph.D.

Topham studies the human immune system at a basic level, and then works closely with physicians to test or improve current vaccines against specific diseases. He has found that live vaccines bring about a qualitatively different type of immune respond than inactivated vaccines. He is also working on understanding how immune "memory" is maintained, and is investigating immune mechanisms that prevent or eliminate influenza infections. He is exploring ways to create a vaccine that would protect against emerging strains of flu, such as avian or bird flu, with the goal that a vaccine directed primarily at one strain could provide some protection against other strains. He is also studying precisely how the immune system responds to the smallpox vaccine, using technologies that were not available when smallpox was eradicated from the natural world in 1979, and he is studying a new malaria vaccine that uses a novel immune stimulator to promote more vigorous responses to the vaccine by promoting immune memory.

John Treanor, M.D.

Treanor is one of the world's leading vaccine researchers. He heads the Rochester Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units, part of an elite network of centers established by NIH to assess the safety and effectiveness of potential vaccines. The center has tested vaccines against flu, smallpox, anthrax, malaria, whooping cough, rotavirus, pneumonia, and a host of microbes. He is also a member of the CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices and helps each spring to decide on the strains of flu that the vaccine to be made available in the fall will protect against. Recently he led a national study of more than 1,000 participants that showed that a flu vaccine used in other parts of the world is safe and effective in the United States also, and he led a national study that showed that lower doses of flu vaccine can protect many people, offering a way to extend the supply of flu vaccine when it's scarce. He is currently leading a nationwide study of 450 people of an experimental vaccine against the most virulent form of bird flu, and he led a nationwide study of the smallpox vaccine to see how a booster shot affects the protection of people who were vaccinated as children.

Edward Walsh, M.D.

Walsh conducts research on respiratory syncytial virus. The team has found that the infection affects nearly as many people as the common flu. His team has tested and continues to test several potential vaccines made by pharmaceutical firms continues.

Brian Ward, Ph.D.

Ward studies poxvirus morphogenesis, emphasizing the intracellular envelopment process. While variola (the causative agent of smallpox) remains the most deadly member of the family, several other members, including monkeypox, tanapox, cowpox, vaccinia, Yaba-like disease virus and molluscum contagiosum, are capable of causing disease in humans. Ward's team uses molecular virological techniques along with live video microscopy and cell biology to study viral egress with the goal of understanding the molecular mechanism employed by poxviruses to produce intracellular enveloped virions. The research should provide insight into such cellular processes as protein trafficking, membrane and vesicle formation, and intracellular trafficking.

Geoffrey Weinberg, M.D.

Weinberg coordinates a number of clinical vaccine trials for the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. He also directs the activities of the Pediatric HIV Program, which participates in NIH-funded, multicenter clinical trials of pediatric HIV therapy. Other areas of research interest include the molecular epidemiology of P. carinii and Haemophilus influenzae, and vaccine immunology.

Terry Wright, Ph.D.

Wright studies the opportunistic pathogen Pneumocystis carinii and has demonstrated that in the absence of CD4+ T cells, a chronic CD8+ T cell-mediated inflammatory response is mounted against P. carinii. Although this response cannot protect against infection, it does contribute significantly to lung injury and respiratory impairment.

Mingtao Zeng, Ph.D.

Zeng's research involves using a harmless, modified adenovirus to deliver a packet of genetic material - antigens - that would spur the body to fight disease. Among the targets that his laboratory is working on are anthrax, botulism, pneumococcus, and tularemia. Several of the vaccines would be delivered either nasally or through a skin patch and would bring about the capability of rapid mass vaccination at low cost.

Weiping Zheng, Ph.D.

Zheng studies the molecular events that lead to the differentiation of Th1 and Th2 cells from naïve CD4 T cells. The team has have isolated genes differentially expressed in either Th1 or Th2 cells by using representational difference analysis (RDA). The transcription factors Hlx and GATA-3 play causative roles in the differentiation of Th1 and Th2 cells, respectively. Future work will focus on DNA-protein and protein-protein interactions related to these two transcription factors.