Cytokine Signaling: Genes, Genomes and Drugs

Eleventh annual Philip S. Chen, Jr., Ph.D. Distinguished Lecture on Innovation and Technology Transfer
John J. O'Shea graduated Phi Beta Kappa from St. Lawrence University
with a Bachelor of Science degree, and then gained a Doctor of
Medicine degree from the University of Cincinnati. He carried out a
residency in Internal Medicine at the State University of New York
Upstate Medical University and did subspecialty training at the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH.
Dr. O ’ Shea has made fundamental discoveries related to the basic
mechanisms underlying cytokine signal transduction, molecules that are
critical for the development and functioning of the immune system. He
and his colleagues first cloned the human tyrosine kinase JAK3 and
discovered its role in signaling by interleukin-2. These insights led to the
discovery of JAK3 mutations as a cause of severe combined immunodeficiency.
The demonstration of the role of Janus kinases in cytokine signaling
led Dr. O ’ Shea and his colleagues to propose that targeting JAKs
would represent a new class of immunomodulatory drugs. He was
awarded a U.S. patent for his work on Janus family kinase inhibitors and
developed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with
the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which generated one such compound.
This drug, tofacitinib, is now approved for the treatment of
rheumatoid arthritis and is the first oral therapy for rheumatoid arthritis
approved in ...

Source: Videocast - All Events - October 4, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Tags: Upcoming Events Source Type: video