Academic Section(s):
Microbiology and Immunology
Education:
B.S. Environmental Biology, Saint Mary’s University
B.S. Biology, Saint Mary’s University
M.S. Microbiology, Southern Illinois University
Ph.D. Microbiology, Southern Illinois University
Fellowship:
Postdoctoral Scholar, Cell Biology, Stanford University
Clinical/Research Interests:
I have been characterizing the Major Histocompatibility Complex for more than four decades. For my M.S. I utilized protein chemistry to characterize mouse MHC proteins and for my Ph.D. I utilized molecular biology to study mouse MHC mutants. As a Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University I studied the impact of human MHC (HLA) diversity on disease outcomes and in 1993 I started a laboratory at the University of Oklahoma Health Campus that includes: (1) an ASHI/CLIA clinical lab that HLA types transplant patients and research samples including humanized mice, and (2) a research laboratory that comparatively analyzes naturally loaded ligands harvested from the HLA of healthy and unhealthy cells. In 1999 I founded the biotech company Pure Protein and in 2014 I founded Pure MHC. These companies focused on HLA-based immune therapies for cancer & infectious disease.
Having served as Chief Scientist for 25 years, I retired from the Pure companies in 2024. My academic research lab has assessed changes in HLA ligand presentation that result from HIV, Mtb, influenza, CMV, WNV, Borrelia, Bartonella, and Babesia infection. We have identified HLA/ligand complexes derived from these infectious agents. We have also identified peptide ligands distinct to various cancers including breast, ovarian, AML, and melanoma. The therapeutic value of the HLA/peptide ligands that we discover has been validated by Drs. Mike Diamond and Ted Hansen at Washington University in their successful testing of a T cell eliciting vaccine for West Nile virus. In the field of oncology, Drs. Gerry Linette and Beatriz Carreno used HLA/peptides that we identified to successfully develop a T cell eliciting vaccine that treated and cured patients of melanoma.
As the Director of a CLIA/ASHI accredited Clinical HLA Typing Laboratory, I maintain contemporary HLA typing methods that include Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) approaches on the Oxford Nanopore and Illumina MiSeq platforms as well as an FDA approved companion diagnostic HLA typing approach with Sanger Sequencing on the ABI 3500DX platform. I served as ASHI President in 2020 and 2021. Eight students have earned their Ph.D. in my laboratory and I have served on more than 50 Ph.D. committees. I have taught Medical, Dental, Graduate, and undergraduate students, I have been course director for four immunology courses, and I serve on the graduate student recruitment committee, and I look forward to future characterizations of HLA.
Select Honors and Accomplishments:
Professor University of Oklahoma Health Campus
George Lynn Cross Research Professor
Robert Glenn Rapp Presidential Professor
Presbyterian Health Foundation Endowed Professor
Scientific Founder Pure MHC & Pure Protein
Director, Clinical HLA Typing Laboratory
Past President, American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics