Defining mechanisms of pathogenesis in cutaneous leishmaniasis to develop new approaches to therapy

IIG Seminar Phil Scott received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1980 where he studied immunoregulatory mechanisms in experimental cutaneous leishmaniasis, and from there went to Dr. Alan Sher ’ s laboratory at NIH where he defined the role of CD4+ Th1 and Th2 cells in controlling leishmaniasis. He left NIH in 1989 to return to Penn, and rose through the ranks to become Professor of Immunology in 1995. During his time at Penn he served for 12 years as Chair of the Department of Pathobiology in the School of Veterinary Medicine, and is currently Vice Dean for Research& Academic Resources. Dr. Scott ’ s current research is focused on understanding the immunologic responses that promote protection and pathology in cutaneous leishmaniasis, with the goal of developing a leishmania vaccine and effective immunotherapies for patients. To meet this objective, his laboratory works in three distinct areas. First, the laboratory uses experimental murine infections with leishmania to elucidate the role of T cell subsets and cytokines in promoting resistance to this parasite. This work has most recently demonstrated that skin resident T cells are important for protection, and ongoing work is testing how best to induce these protective T cells. Second, combining studies in mice and patients, and in collaboration with Edgar Carvalho (Federal University of Bahia, Brazil), Dr. Scott ’ s lab has discovered one of the pathways that mediate immunopathologic responses occurri...
Source: Videocast - All Events - Category: General Medicine Tags: Upcoming Events Source Type: video