Warren Shlomchik Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Immunobiology » Immunology » B.A. Harvard College 1984; M.D. University of Pennsylvania 1989 Dr. Warren Shlomchik's lab studies Graft-vs.-Host Disease (GVHD) and Graft-vs.-Leukemia (GVL) in murine models of allogeneic stem cell transplantation. T cells that accompany stem cell grafts are key players in alloSCT. They can mediate a potent anti-neoplastic effect by recognizing host malignant cells as non-self. They are also critical for reconstituting anti-infectious T cell immunity. However, as currently practiced, alloSCT has two key drawbacks. First, donor T cells can mount a global attack on normal host tissues such as skin, liver, and intestines in a process called Graft-vs.-Host Disease (GVHD). Because of GVHD, all patients receive some type of immunosuppression which reduces GVHD, but at the cost of decreased immune reconstitution and GVL. Second, many neoplasms such as blast crisis CML are resistant to GVL for reasons yet to be elucidated. Dr. Shlomchikıs lab uses murine models of GVHD and GVL to understand basic principles of antigen presentation, T cell activation, and T cell effector function with a goal of developing new therapeutic approaches to overcome these obstacles. Anderson B.E., McNiff, J.M., Jain, D., Blazar, B.R,, Shlomchik, W.D., and Shlomchik, M,J. (2005). Distinct roles for donor- and host-derived antigen-presenting cells and costimulatory molecules in murine chronic graft-versus-host disease: requirements depend on target organ. Blood 105(5):2227-34. Kaplan, D.H., Anderson, B.E., McNiff, J.M., Jain, D., Shlomchik, M.J., and Shlomchik, W.D. (2004). Target antigens determine graft-versus-host disease phenotype. J. Immunol. 173(9):5467-75. Matte, C.C., Liu, J., Cormier, J., Anderson, B.E., Athanasiadis, I., Jain, D., McNiff, J., and Shlomchik, W.D. (2004). Donor APCs are required for maximal GVHD but not for GVL. Nat Med.(9):987-92. Anderson, B.E., McNiff, J.M., Matte, C., Athanasiadis, I., Shlomchik, W.D., and Shlomchik, M.J. (2004). Recipient CD4+ T cells that survive irradiation regulate chronic graft-versus-host disease. Blood 104(5):1565-73. Matte, C.C., Cormier, J., Anderson, B.E., Athanasiadis, I., Liu, J., Emerson, S.G., Pear, W., and Shlomchik, W.D. (2004). Graft-versus-leukemia in a retrovirally induced murine CML model: mechanisms of T-cell killing. Blood 103(11):4353-61. Shlomchik, W.D. (2003). Antigen presentation in graft-vs-host disease. Exp. Hematol. (12):1187-97. Shlomchik, W.D., et al. (1999). Prevention of Graft-vs.-Host Disease by inactivation of host antigen presenting cells. Science 285:412-415.