CIMD Seminars

Center for Immunology & Microbial Disease at Albany Medical College 47 New Scotland Ave., MC-151

Albany, NY 12208-3479

Phone: 518-262-6750

Fax: 518-262-6161

Web site:www.amc.edu/research/IMD/

November 6, 2014—11:00 a.m., Huyck Auditorium Dr. Jonathan Harton, Host

Adrian Ting, Ph.D.

Associate Professor in Clinical Immunology, Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital

“TLR4 Induces a TRIF/CASPASE-8-dependent Cleavage of CYLD to Protect Macrophages Against TNF-mediated Auto-necroptosis”

December 5, 2014—11:00 a.m., Huyck Auditorium Dr. Dennis Metzger, Host

Christopher P. Verschoor, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow, McMaster Immunology Research Center

Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University

“Pneumococcal Infection in the Elderly: at the Crossroads of Aging, Inflammation, and the Upper Respiratory Tract”

December 11, 2014—11:00 a.m., Huyck Auditorium Dr. Carlos de Noronha, Host

Vinett KewalRamani, Ph.D.

Head, Model Development Section, HIV Drug Resistance Program

Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute

“HIV-1 Co-factor CPSF6: A Hitchhiker’s Ride to the Nucleus ”

December 18, 2014—11:00 a.m., Huyck Auditorium Dr. Dennis Metzger, Host

Jorge Vidal-Graniel, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Hubert Department of Global Health, Division of Infectious Diseases

Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University

“TBA”

Dr. MacNamara Featured in Albany Med Today

Katherine C. MacNamara, Assistant Professor, is attempting to understand more about the role of

stem cell function in the body’s defense against a variety of infectious diseases. Her goal is to answer

the question: What makes a great immune response against an infection, and how can we harness that

to develop new treatments?

Specifically, she is studying the function of stem cells that reside in the bone marrow, known as hem-

atopoietic stem cells (HSCs). HSCs maintain blood production, including cells of the immune system,

throughout life.

Dr. MacNamara and her team are examining the changes that occur in the hematopoietic system in a

mouse model of ehrlichiosis, an emerging tick-borne illness that causes disease symptoms in mice and

humans including anemia and thrombocytopenia (low blood platelet count). She has found an important

role for interferon gamma, a molecule that is produced during infections, in modulating HSC function. Mice deficient in interferon

gamma are not able to control this infection. She states that the possibility of manipulating interferon gamma during an acute in-

fection has tremendous potential for the development of new therapies for infectious diseases.

Volume XII, Issue III

Oct/Nov 2014

Center for Immunology & Microbial Disease at Albany Medical College

CIMD Newsletter Inside this issue:

Grant Submissions 2

Annual NYIC Meeting 2

Grant Awards 3

Conferences, Meetings, and

Study Sections 3

Peer-reviewed Publications 3

Albany Med Today Spotlight 4

Seminars 4

CIMD Annual Research Retreat

The Center for Immunology and Microbial Disease held its Annual

Research Retreat at Pat’s Barn, located in the Rensselaer Technology

Park in Troy, NY, August 5, 2014. The Retreat is planned and orga-

nized by a select group of CIMD students.

The format of this year’s retreat included more presentations, em-

phasis on student research posters, and prize raffles. We also had a

chance to welcome staff who joined CIMD since last year’s retreat, as

well as meet the graduate students joining our Program. They are: Jon-

athan Cho, Angelica Costello, Seemaben Patel, and Jesse Rabinowitz.

Following lunch, everyone enjoyed indoor and outdoor games in-

cluding volleyball, lawn toss, Frisbee, backgammon, chess, cards, and

the annual CIMD group picture.

Angelica Costello

Seemaben Patel Jesse Rabinowitz

Jonathan Cho

CIMD Newsletter

Recent Grant Submissions

Page 2

Dorina Avram, Ph.D., BcL11b in Immune Regulation (5 years), NIH, $1,975,000

Dorian Avram, Ph.D., Mechanism of MALT1 Regulation by HECTD3 Ubiquitin Ligase (5 years), NIH, $553,000

Guangchun Bai, Ph.D., Pneumococcal c-di-AMP Signaling (5 years), NIH, $1,975,000 (resubmission)

Guangchun Bai, Ph.D., Cyclic di-AMP in TB Pathogenesis (2 years), NIH, $434,500 (resubmission)

Mario Canki, Ph.D., Rational Design of Novel HIV-CD-4 Entry Inhibitors Without Loss of CD4 Function, (2 years), NIH, $442,130

James R. Drake, Ph.D., In Vivo Analysis of BCR-Mediated Antigen Presentation, (2 years), NIH/NIAID, $158,000 (resubmission)

James R. Drake, Ph.D., Immune Function in Low Vaccine Responder Children (5 years), NIH, $80,327. (In collaboration with Dr.

Michael Pichichero, University of Rochester)

James R. Drake, Ph.D. and Jonathan A. Harton, Ph.D., Functional Impact of Disease-Associated HLA Class II Membrane Proxi-

mal Polymorphisms, (5 years), NIH/NIAID, $3,144,136

Yoichi Furuya, Ph.D., Identifying Protective Immune Mechanisms Against Viral-Bacterial Co-Infections, (2 years) American Lung

Association, $87,825

Edmund J. Gosselin, Ph.D., Adjuvant Elimination via a Dual-Targeted Multifunction Mucosal Vaccine Platform, (5 years), NIH,

$1,601,520

Edmund J. Gosselin, Ph.D., An Adjuvant-Independent Dual-Targeted (Multi Function) Mucosal Vaccine Platform (2 years), NIH,

$416,346 (Resubmission)

Jonathan A. Harton, Ph.D., Role of Myeloid Cells in Francisella tularensis Pathogenesis and Immunity, (2 years), NIH, $434,500

Jonathan A. Harton, Ph.D., Genetic Biomarkers of Inflammation in the Pathophysiology of Rheumatoid Arthritis, (2 years), NIH/

NIAMS, $421,345

Jonathan A. Harton, Ph.D., Molecular Regulation of Inflammasome Activation During Flu Infection, (2 years), NIH, $24,048

Kate C. MacNamara, Ph.D., Regulation of Myelopoiesis in Coinfections, (5 years), Burroughts Wellcome Trust, $500,000

Dennis W. Metzger, Ph.D., Viral-Bacterial Co-Infections in the Elderly, (5 years), NIH, $1,975,000

William O’Connor, Jr., Ph.D., Cytokine Control of Intestinal Homeostasis, (5 years), NIH, $2,041,500

The 17th Annual Upstate New York Immunology Conference was held at The

Sagamore Resort and Conference Center in Bolton Landing, NY, October 19-22,

2014.

This year’s event was attended by approximately 100 participants and included

two keynote speakers, Dr. Arturo Casadevall (Albert Einstein College of Medi-

cine) and Dr. Michael Cancro (University of Pennsylvania), symposium presenta-

tions, American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Young Investigator Awards/

eBioscience Travel Awards (given to trainees based on the scientific content of

their poster abstracts.), short oral poster presentations, a cruise on Lake George,

and several team-building activities.

Financial support was provided by corporate sponsors (including three platinum

level sponsors-BD Biosciences, BioLegend, and ThermoFisher), participating insti-

tutions, and a new five-year NIH grant.

17th Annual Upstate New York Immunology Conference

Conferences, Meetings, and Study Sections

Dennis W. Metzger, Ph.D., was invited to

give a presentation entitled, “Death from

Influenza—Secondary Bacterial Infections

are a Major Culprit,” at the 3rd Annual Influ-

enza Research and Development Confer-

ence in Boston, MA, July 9-11, 2014.

Kouacou V. Konan, Ph.D., was invited to

give a presentation entitled, “Modulation of

Hepatitis C Virus Genome Replication by the

Glycosphingolipid Biosynthetic Machinery,”

at the 14th International Congress of Bacteri-

ology and Applied Microbiology in Montreal,

Canada, July 27-August 1, 2014.

Dennis W. Metzger, Ph.D., was invited by

the American Association of Immunologists

to give a lecture entitled, “Vaccines: Pro-

gress and Challenges,” during the 2014 AAI

Advanced Course in Immunology in Boston,

MA, August 1, 2014.

Dennis W. Metzger, Ph.D., was invited to

give a seminar entitled, “Death from Influen-

za—Secondary Bacterial Infections are a

Major Culprit,” at the University of Connecti-

cut in Storrs, CT, September 18, 2014.

Edmund J. Gosselin, Ph.D., was invited to

give a symposium seminar entitled,

“Development of an Adjuvant-Free Mucosal

Vaccine Platform,” at the 17th Annual Up-

state New York Immunology Conference in

Bolton Landing, NY, October 19-22, 2014.

Dennis W. Metzger, Ph.D., was asked to

serve on the National Institutes of Health

Immunology and Host Defense Study Sec-

tion in Alexandria, VA, October 22-24, 2014.

Edmund J. Gosselin, Ph.D., was asked to

serve on the National Institutes of Health

Vaccines Against Microbial Diseases Study

Section in Washington, DC, October 30,

2014.

Avram D and Califano D. The multifaceted roles of Bcl11b in thymic and peripheral T cells: impact on immune diseases. J Immunol. 193:2059-65, 2014.

Underwood AJ, Zhang Y, Metzger DW, and Bai G. Detection of cyclic di-AMP using a competitive ELISA with a unique pneumococcal cyclic di-AMP

binding protein. J Microbiol Methods. 107C:58-62, 2014.

Yang J, Bai Y, Zhang Y, Gabrielle VD, Jin L, and Bai G. Deletion of the cyclic di-AMP phosphodiesterase gene (cnpB) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

leads to reduced virulence in a mouse model of infection. Mol Microbiol. 93:65-79, 2014.

Furuya AK, Sharifi HJ, and de Noronha CM. The curious case of type I IFN and MxA: Tipping the immune balance in AIDS. Front Immunol. 5:419,

2014.

Bitsaktsis C, Pham G, and Gosselin EJ. 2014. Targeting inactivated F. tularensis to Fc receptors intranasally increases recruitment and activation of

dendritic cells in the lungs and enhances the generation of effector memory CD4+ T cells via an IL-12-dependent pathway. Infect and Immun., in press.

Bitsaktsis C, Babadjanova Z, and Gosselin EJ. 2014. In vivo mechanisms involved in enhanced protection utilizing an FcR-targeted mucosal vaccine

platform in a bacterial vaccine and challenge model. Infect Immun., in press.

Pham GH, Iglesias BV, and Gosselin EJ. 2014. Fc receptor-targeting of immunogen as a strategy for enhanced antigen loading, vaccination, and pro-

tection using intranasally administered antigen-pulsed dendritic cells. Vaccine, in press.

Konan KV and Sanchez-Felipe L. Lipids and RNA virus replication. Curr Opin Virol. 9C:45-52, 2014.

Khan I, Katikaneni DS, Han Q, Sanchez-Filipe L, Hanada K, Ambrose RL, Mackenzie JM, and Konan KV. Modulation of hepatitis C virus genome

replication by glycosphingolipids and four-phosphate adaptor protein 2. J Virol. 88:12276-95, 2014.

Steiner DJ, Furuya Y, and Metzger DW. Does type I Interferon limit protective neutrophil responses during pulmonary Francisella tularensis infection?

Front Immunol. 5:355, 2014.

Furuya Y, Roberts S, Hurteau GJ, Sanfilippo AM, Racine R, and Metzger DW. Asthma increases susceptibility to heterologous but not homologous

secondary influenza. J Virol. 88:9166-81, 2014.

Peer-reviewed Publications

Page 3 Volume XII, Issue III

Grant Awards

Lei Jin, Ph.D., received a one-year, $329,900 grant National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in

support of his research entitled, “Mechanisms of STING-mediated Mucosal Vaccine Adjuvant of Cyclic di-GMP.”

Edmund J. Gosselin, Ph.D., received a two-year, $150,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and

Infectious Diseases in support of his research entitled, “An Adjuvant-independent Dual-targeted (Multi-function) Mucosal Vaccine Plat-

form.”

Dennis W. Metzger, Ph.D., received a five-year, $50,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health in support of the Annual Upstate

New York Immunology Conference.