Judith Shizuru
Academic Appointments
- Associate Professor, Medicine - Blood & Marrow Transplantation
- Member, Stanford Cancer Institute
Key Documents
Contact Information
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Clinical Offices
Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinic 875 Blake Wilbur Dr Clinic E Stanford, CA 94305 Tel Work (650) 723-0822 Fax (650) 724-6182
- Academic Offices
Personal Information Email Tel (650) 723-0822Not for medical emergencies or patient use
Professional Overview
Clinical Focus
- Cancer> Blood and Marrow Transplant
- Blood and Marrow Transplantation
- Hematology
Professional Education
| Fellowship: | Stanford University Medical Center CA (1997) |
| Internship: | UCSF Medical Center, CA USA (1993) |
| Medical Education: | Stanford University School of Medicine CA (1992) |
Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations
Scientific Focus
Current Research Interests
The research interests are to understand the cellular and molecular basis of resistance to engraftment of transplanted allogeneic bone marrow (BM) cells and to understand the way in which BM grafts modify immune responses. This research complements our interest in clinical BM transplantation and aspects of these studies are aimed at solving some of the major problems of BM transplantation which include graft-vs-host disease and BM engraftment failure. Conventional BM transplantation involves the transfer of heterogeneous populations of cells composed of rare hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and differentiated blood cell types. To study these issues our approach has been to transplant phenotypically purified cells under defined conditions. The specific projects in my laboratory include:
1) Identification of the cells and molecules responsible for resistance to engraftment of purified allogeneic HSCs. We and others have shown that cells with NK determinants constitute a significant barrier to allogeneic HSC engraftment, and that transplanted whole BM contains a population that facilitates engraftment. In these experiments our approach to identify the cell population(s) and mechanism by which HSC engraftment is resisted is to use recipient mice from strains that lack defined immune functions. We are studying the cells in BM and spleen that are bound and/or depleted by a-ASGMI, and in this way identify the candidate barrier populations.
2) Use of transplants of purified HSCs to induce tolerance to allo- and autoantigens, and study of the mechanisms by which such tolerance is induced. We continue to develop preclinical models for organ tolerance induction and treatment of autoimmune disease by using cell specific therapy. One goal is to decrease the morbidity of the recipient preparative regimen and to determine the lowest level of chimerism needed to induce immune tolerance. We propose to test donor/host strain combinations most relevant to human disease, including minor mismatched and haploidentical grafts.
3) Identification of the cells and molecules that confer graft vs leukemia/lymphoma (GVL) effects. We have developed a model of B cell lymphoma relapse after HSC transplant. To date our studies show that while purified allogeneic HSCs have no GVL activity, a population of BM cells that express CD3 and CD8 have significant GVL activity, and do not cause GVHD at the cell doses administered.
Clinical Trials
- Recruiting Fluticasone Propionate, Azithromycin, and Montelukast Sodium in Treating Patients With Bronchiolitis Obliterans Who Previously Underwent Stem Cell Transplant
- Recruiting Allogeneic Transplantation Using TL1 & ATG for Older Patients With Hematologic Malignancies
- Recruiting Double Cord Versus Haploidentical (Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network #1101)
- Recruiting A Database Study for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Marrow Injuries
- Recruiting Post T-plant Infusion of Allogeneic Cytokine Induced Killer Cells as Consolidate Therapy in Myelodysplastic Syndromes/Myeloproliferative Disorders
