Current Protocols Editorial Board: Immunology

Dr. Coligan received his Ph.D. from Indiana University and did postdoctoral research at the City of Hope Research Institute. After 2 years as an assistant professor at Rockefeller University, he became a founding member of the Laboratory of Immunogenetics, NIAID, NIH. He has served as head of the Biological Resources Branch and Laboratory of Molecular Structure. In 1998, he joined the Laboratory of Allergic Diseases and became chief of the Receptor Cell Biology Section. In 2007, this section moved to the Laboratory of Immunogenetics.

The primary focus of Dr. Coligan's research is the receptors that dictate natural killer (NK) cell function. NK cells are an integral component of the innate immune response against infectious diseases and malignant transformation. In addition to their ability to lyse infected and transformed cells, they serve as a potent source of cytokines for potentiating both the innate and adaptive immune responses. His interests encompass all facets of factors that regulate NK-cell receptor expression, ligand recognition, signal transduction, and intracellular trafficking, with particular emphasis on the NKG2 family of receptors.

Barbara E. Bierer

Barbara E. Bierer, M.D. is Senior Vice President, Research at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Bierer, a graduate of Harvard Medical School, completed her internal medicine residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital and her hematology and medical oncology training at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Bierer maintained a research laboratory in the Department of Pediatric Oncology at DFCI and was appointed Director of Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation at DFCI and Children's Hospital in 1993. In 1997, she was named Chief of the Laboratory of Lymphocyte Biology at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. She returned to DFCI in July 2002, as Vice President of Patient Safety and Director of the Center for Patient Safety. In 2003, Dr. Bierer moved to the Brigham and Women's Hospital to assume her current position.

Dr. Bierer's laboratory research interests include mechanisms of T cell activation and of immunosuppression, interests that complement her clinical commitment to bone marrow and stem cell transplantation. In addition to her academic responsibilities, Dr. Bierer is the President of the Board of Directors of the Association for Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP). She serves on the Board of Directors of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and on the Medical and Scientific Advisory Boards of ViaCell, Inc. She is on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute of Aging, NIH. In addition to her research and administrative role at the BWH, Dr. Bierer also sits on a number of editorial Boards, including serving as Editor, Current Protocols in Immunology; Deputy Editor, Journal of Immunology; Deputy Editor, Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation; Board of Consulting Editors, The Journal of Clinical Investigation; and the Editorial Boards of American Journal of Transplantation and Blood.

From http://www.faseb.org/faseb/board/bierer.htm

Dr. Margulies received his MD and PhD degrees from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and did residency training in internal medicine at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. Following three years as a Research Associate in the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of the NICHD at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, he joined the Laboratory of Immunology, NIAID, where he is now Chief of the Molecular Biology Section. As an officer in the United States Public Health Service, he has received a number of awards, including the USPHS Outstanding Service and Distinguished Service Medals. He retired from the USPHS in 2008 with the rank of Captain, and now serves as a Senior Investigator in the Senior Biomedical Research Service. Dr. Margulies has served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Immunology, and now serves on the Editorial Board of Molecular Immunology. He reviews regularly for many journals and foundations.

Dr. Margulies has focused his research interests on molecular mechanisms involved in the control, expression, and function of receptors in the immune system. As a graduate student he developed cell fusion methods for studying the somatic cell genetic control of immunoglobulin production, revealing the cis-active regulation of antibody synthesis in cultured cells. As a post-doctoral fellow he showed the genetic basis for the extreme polymorphism of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) encoded genes, and performed the first studies mapping the location of functional sites of MHC proteins. As an independent investigator his interests have progressed from the genetics to the detailed function and structure of MHC molecules and molecules with which they interact. His work includes biophysical measurements of the interaction of MHC molecules with T cell receptors and NK cell receptors, and the development of TCR transgenic systems for the study of autoimmunity. His structural studies lead to a precise understanding of how MHC class I molecules bind to receptors on natural killer (NK) cells, and how the T cell co-receptor CD8 recognizes the MHC-I molecule. Ongoing projects explore the structure, function, and mechanism of action of a set of MHC-I-like molecules made by the cytomegaloviruses that function to assist the virus in evading the host immune response.

Warren Strober

Dr. Strober is a leader in the study of mucosal antibody responses, oral tolerance, and gastroenterological diseases caused by immunologic abnormalities. His discoveries concerning the mucosal immune system have formed the basis of our knowledge of IgA B cell development and the mechanisms of mucosal inflammation. Dr. Strober is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Distinguished Achievement Award of the American Gastroenterological Association and the PHS Distinguished Achievement Medal. In addition, he has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Humboldt University, Berlin. Dr Strober has provided leadership to the scientific community as chair of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology and as president of the Society for Mucosal Immunity.