Specific Clinical/Research Interest: Immunopathogenic mechanisms of food allergic disorders and asthma; immunomodulatory therapies

Current Students:
Postdoctoral Fellows: Jacob Kattan, MD

Research Personnel: Alexander Grishin, PhD; Madhan Masilamani, PhD, Jing S Lin, PhD, Luda Bardina, MS; Galina Grishin, MS; Gustavo Gimenez, BS, Mohanapriya Kamalakannan, BS

Summary of Research Studies:
Our laboratory is evaluating immunopathologic mechanisms of food allergic disorders. Specifically we are identifying allergenic proteins at a molecular and structural level, and investigating the interaction between IgE antibodies and allergenic proteins and the immune response at a cellular and molecular level. Studies utilize patient specimens and murine models in an attempt to elucidate underlying mechanisms. Allergenic proteins in egg, milk, peanut, several tree nuts, shrimp and some fish have been fully characterized and full-length cDNAs isolated and cloned. A number of therapeutic strategies are under investigation utilizing murine models of anaphylaxis and asthma including the use of recombinant proteins, DNA vaccines, and CpG-conjugated proteins. Several early stage, human clincial trials are in progress to treat food allergic disorders including oral and sublingual immunotherapy, herbal therapies, and engineered recombinant protein vaccines.

In addition, our laboratory is serving as the mechanistic center for the NIAID Inner City Asthma Consortium and the Consortiium for Food Allergy Research. The asthma consortium is investigating the role of allergic sensitization in inner city children and its potential role in the increased morbidity and mortality found in this population. The overall goal is to determine whether the nature and quantity of environmental allergens within the inner city, especially cockroach, are unique in their ability to determine and drive the intensity of allergic inflammation in sensitized children residing in the inner city and thus the severity of their asthma.

The food allergy consortium is investigating the immunologic mechanisms associated with the devleopment of peanut allergy and the development of tolerance ["outgrowing"] to egg and milk allergy, the immunologic consequences of oral immunotherapy for egg allergy, and the immunologic consequences of sublingual immunotherapy for peanut allergy. The lab employs a variety of techniques to identify and purify proteins including SDS-PAGE, immunoblotting and HPLC. Recombinant proteins are generated from cDNA isolated from appropriate cDNA libraries. A variety of techniques are utilized to study both humoral and cellular responses of patient groups and controls. Characterization of cellular responses includes intracytoplasmic staining, mRNAgeneration, and characterization of cytokines secreted into cell supernatants. Similar studies are conducted in the murine models.

Jaffe Food Allergy Institute