David J. Topham, Ph.D.

Contact Information

Phone Numbers

Administrative: (585) 273-1400

Office: (585) 273-1403

Fax: (585) 273-2452

Faculty Appointments

Professor - Department of Microbiology and Immunology , Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology (SMD)
Marie Curran Wilson and Joseph Chamberlain Wilson Professorship - Department of Microbiology and Immunology , Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology (SMD)

Biography

Professional Background

David Topham joined the faculty at the University of Rochester Medical Center in 1999 and was appointed in 2009 as Vice Provost and Executive Director of the Health Science Center for Computational Innovation (HSCCI), a partnership between the University and IBM. As Executive Director of the HSCCI, Dr. Topham's responsibility is to support collaboration in biomedical research using High Performance Computational Resources. He will bring together academic biomedical and health-related Research Investigators, High Performance Computational Biologists, and HP Research Computing resources. Dr. Topham provides strategic direction to the HSCCI and facilitates the development of research projects between UR scientists and its corporate partners, as well as support from state and federal agencies.

Dr. Topham is an Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, a member of the David H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology, and co-directs the New York Influenza Center of Excellence--one of the six national Centers of Excellence in Influenza Research and Surveillance supported by the National Institutes of Health. He has also served on IBM's Global Pandemic Steering Committee. His research interests are in the area of immune responses to influenza and experimental vaccines, and include computational modeling of the immune system.

Research

Virus infections of the respiratory tract are responsible for a great deal of illness and even death among the world's human population. Influenza, in particular, has a history of causing deadly pandemics and the continuing emergence of highly pathogenic H5 influenzas around the world is reason for concern. It is essential to understand how the immune system clears a virus infection and provides long term immunity if we are to design more rational vaccination and treatment strategies. The lab has a combined program in basic research using animal models of influenza infection and immunity, as well as a translational research program to study human immune responses to influenza infection and vaccination. Within these programs we are investigating the mechanisms that provide optimal immune protection against influenza virus. One particular focus is to understand how T cells are regulated in the environment of the lung tissue and airways. We believe this is the key to generating long-lived protective immunity against diverse influenza viruses, including potential pandemic strains. The concepts and information we gather from the animal models are being directly translated into the human situation. To this end, we have established the New York Influenza Center of Excellence, a robust, collaborative program for basic and translational investigation of influenza virology, pathogenesis, immunology, and vaccines.

Credentials

Education

1986
BS | University of Vermont
Biology

1992
MS | University of Vermont
Pathology

1994
PhD | University of Vermont
Cellular/Molecular Biology

Post-doctoral Training & Residency

1994 - 1999
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, Department of Immunology (Mentor, Peter C. Doherty)

Awards

2001
Scholar
Sponsor: Nathan Shock Center for the Study of Aging and Development
Location: University of Rochester

Patents

Patent Title: Arrayed Detector System for Measurement of Influenza Immune Response
Patent #: ZL200980125645.5
Issue Date: Mar 22, 2017
Country: China, People's Republic of
Invented By: Charles R Mace, Benjamin Locke Miller, Tim R Mosmann, David J Topham

Patent Title: Arrayed Detector System for Measurement of Influenza Immune Response
Patent #: 2286223
Issue Date: Jul 06, 2016
Country: Europe
Invented By: Charles R Mace, Benjamin Locke Miller, Tim R Mosmann, David J Topham

Patent Title: Arrayed Detector System for Measurement of Influenza Immune Response
Patent #: FR2286223
Issue Date: Jul 06, 2016
Country: France
Invented By: Charles R Mace, Benjamin Locke Miller, Tim R Mosmann, David J Topham

Patent Title: Arrayed Detector System for Measurement of Influenza Immune Response
Patent #: 60200903959
Issue Date: Jul 06, 2016
Country: Germany
Invented By: Charles R Mace, Benjamin Locke Miller, Tim R Mosmann, David J Topham

Patent Title: Arrayed Detector System for Measurement of Influenza Immune Response
Patent #: CH2286223
Issue Date: Jul 06, 2016
Country: Switzerland/Liechtenstein
Invented By: Charles R Mace, Benjamin Locke Miller, Tim R Mosmann, David J Topham

Patent Title: Arrayed Detector System for Measurement of Influenza Immune Response
Patent #: GB2286223
Issue Date: Jul 06, 2016
Country: United Kingdom
Invented By: Charles R Mace, Benjamin Locke Miller, Tim R Mosmann, David J Topham

Patent Title: Arrayed Detector System for Measurement of Influenza Immune Response
Patent #: 9,217,745
Issue Date: Dec 22, 2015
Country: United States
Invented By: Charles R Mace, Benjamin Locke Miller, Tim R Mosmann, David J Topham

Patent Title: Arrayed Detector System For Measurement of Influenza Immune Response
Patent #: 8,486,619
Issue Date: Jul 16, 2013
Country: United States
Invented By: Charles R Mace, Benjamin Locke Miller, Tim R Mosmann, David J Topham

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Publications

Journal Articles

2/25/2021
Wang L, Chu CY, McCall MN, Slaunwhite C, Holden-Wiltse J, Corbett A, Falsey AR, Topham DJ, Caserta MT, Mariani TJ, Walsh EE, Qiu X. "Airway gene-expression classifiers for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease severity in infants." BMC medical genomics. 2021 Feb 25; 14(1):57. Epub 2021 Feb 25.

2/9/2021
Pace RM, Williams JE, Järvinen KM, Belfort MB, Pace CDW, Lackey KA, Gogel AC, Nguyen-Contant P, Kanagaiah P, Fitzgerald T, Ferri R, Young B, Rosen-Carole C, Diaz N, Meehan CL, Caffé B, Sangster MY, Topham D, McGuire MA, Seppo A, McGuire MK. "Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, Antibodies, and Neutralizing Capacity in Milk Produced by Women with COVID-19." mBio.. 2021 Feb 9; 12(1)Epub 2021 Feb 09.

1/18/2021
Lorbach JN, Fitzgerald T, Nolan C, Nolting JM, Treanor JJ, Topham DJ, Bowman AS. "Gaps in Serologic Immunity against Contemporary Swine-Origin Influenza A Viruses among Healthy Individuals in the United States." Viruses.. 2021 Jan 18; 13(1)Epub 2021 Jan 18.

Books & Chapters

2009
Chapter Title: The Role of VLA-1 in Maintaining Virus-specific T cells in Peripheral Non-lymphoid Tissues
Book Title: Effector Memory T cell Subsets in the Extralymphatic Tissue
Author List: David J. Topham, Timothy R. Chapman, Martin Richter, and Joseph A. Hollenbaugh
Edited By: Ilan Bank
Published By: Research Signpost 2009 in Kerala, India

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