List of participating partners
1. Professor Alejandro Madrigal, Co-ordinator of AlloStem, The Anthony Nolan Research Institute, Royal Free Hospital, London, UK.
The Anthony Nolan Trust was the first unrelated bone marrow register to be set up in the world and is now a leading Institute for research into stem cell transplantation. The research at The Anthony Nolan Research Institute is mainly focussed on studying and improving the factors that affect the outcome of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, such as graft versus host disease and graft versus leukaemia, and in addition, reducing transplant-related infections.
www.anthonynolan.org.uk
2. AlloStem Ltd, is a company incorporated in England for the specific purpose of managing the AlloStem project.
www.allostem.org
3. Professor Leonid Alexeev, NRC Institute of Immunology and National Oncology Research Centre, Moscow, Russia
Professor Alexeev's group has been involved in the development and use of primer kits to detect and monitor SCT after a number of opportunistic infections and is working on the role of genes in transplant rejection. The group is in the process of establishing a cord blood bank.
4. Professor Jirina Bartunkova, Institute of Immunology, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
The Institute of Immunology 'FOCIS Center' is the leading facility among Czech clinical immunology groups, and was the first in the Czech Republic to deal with dendritic cells for immunotherapeutic purposes in preclinical settings. On the basis of their experience with childhood leukemia, namely expression of aberant molecules and detection of minimal residual disease, they elaborated a preclinical model for the generation of DC-based vaccine for the immunotherapy of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Since 2001, they have expanded their DC-program toward solid tumors, namely ovarian cancer and continue to optimize cultivation condition for DC-based vaccines studying various maturation agents.
http://imunologie.lf2.cuni.cz/english/index.htm
5. Dr. Javier Bordone, ITMO Fundacion Mainetti, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Fundacion Mainetti is a well-recognised Institute with a solid onco-hematology service and since 1993 has been a leading centre in stem cell transplantation performing over 300 transplants. In addition, it has several laboratories fully dedicated to immunogenetic studies. Dr. Bordone's group have been leaders in stem cell transplantation for the past ten years.
6. Professor Dominique Charron, Immunology, IUH, Hôpital Saint Louis, Paris, France.
The Hopital Saint Louis is the largest medical centre in France devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of leukaemia. Following the discovery of the HLA system (Jean Dausset Nobel Prize), the Immunology Department has become a leader for immunogenetics (donor selection) and immune reconstitution (prevention of infection) in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Basic and translational research programmes aimed at optimising the GVL effect and development of anti-leukemic vaccines are actively conducted.
7. Dynal Biotech ASA, Wirral, UK (Mr. Peter Maquire).
Dynal Biotech was founded in 1986, with the specific objective of exploiting the potential of proprietary magnetisable particles (Dynabeads®) within the field of Life Sciences. Dynal Biotech has led the development of immunomagnetic separation with a wide range of research products designed for the isolation of cells, proteins and nucleic acids.
8. Professor Hermann Einsele, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik II, Wuerzburg, Germany.
Professor Einsele's group at Tuebingen University established a methodology to generate and expand large-scale CD8+ and CD4+ antigen-specific T cells under GMP conditions. The groups' specific expertise is enrichment, expansion and genetic manipulation of antigen-specific T cells.
9. Professor Fred Falkenburg, Leiden University Medical Centre, The Netherlands.
Prof. Falkenburg's group has made important contributions in differentiating the properties of GvL and they developed a method to generate in vitro expanded leukaemia reactive T cells under GMP conditions and were the first to show the efficacy of administration of these leukaemia reactive T cells for the treatment of leukaemia. They developed methods for the monitoring of T cell responses against haematological malignancies and of T cell receptor gene transfer of T cells responsible for anti leukaemic reactivity.
10. Professor Manuel-Nicolás Fernández, Hospital Universitario Clinica Puerta de Hierro, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.
The Haematology Department is a leading clinical research unit devoted to the development of innovative transplantation procedures to treat haematological diseases. Their research in this field now concentrates on the use of cord blood transplantation as a basis for immunotherapy against leukaemia and other haematological neoplasms. Early hematopoietic recovery and efficient immune reconstitution as to provide immune protection against infection and effective anti-tumour immunotherapy with low graft versus host undesirable effects are the essential objectives of the group's research effort.
Hospital http://www.cph.es/
University http://www.uam.es/
11. Dr. Juan Garcia, Centre de Transfusio I Banc de Teixits, Barcelona
Dr. Garcia's group has been one of the leaders of cord blood banking and has made important contrinutions to the understanding of haematological disease different components of cord blood cell sources and established methods of stem cell differentiation.
12. Professor Els Goulmy, Leiden University Medical Centre
Professor Els Goulmy's group is the pioneer of human minor Histocompatibility antigens. They have systematically studied alloimmunity to minor H antigens. They described the function, genetics, tissue distribution and biochemical identification of several minor H antigens including the H-Y minor H antigens and various autosomally encoded minor H antigens. Currently, their research includes: identification and modulation of GvHD associated minor H antigens T cell epitopes, in situ investigation of the mechanisms of minor H antigen induced GvHD, identification of novel minor H target antigens associated with GvL and GvT, and pre-clinical studies for SCT based minor H antigen specific tumour therapy.
LUMC: http://www.lumc.nl
Research program: www.lumc.nl/1090/programmes/16b16.html
13. Innate Pharma (Dr. Francois Romagne)
Innate Pharma is an SME in Marseille that develops immunotherapeutic strategies based on the manipulation of non-conventional lymphocytes gamma delta T-cells and NK cells. Innate has also an NCE stimulating gamma delta T-cells which is entering into clinical trials.
14. Professor Andrzej Lange L. Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland
Professor Andrzej Lange starting his scientific work in the field of immunology and immunogenetics discovering in early 70's association between HLA and autoimmunity in the individuals exposed to carcinogenic asbestos fibres.
Experience in the latter fields helped him to establish Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit and National Polish Bone Marrow Donor Registry with at present 18 yrs of tradition. Studies in the field of clinical transplantation and transplantation immunology resulted in a number of papers contributing to the literature.
More information from website:
http://www.iitd.pan.wroc.pl and
http://www.dctk.wroc.pl
15. Professor Franco Locatelli
Prof. Locatelli leads the largest programme of childhood allogeneic HSCT in Italy and has made important contributions in the field of allogeneic transplantation of heamatopoietic stem cells. In the Pavia's Unit, all the types of allograft (i.e. cord blood transplants, T cell depleted transplants from HLA-partially matched relatives, matched unrelated donor transplants) are routinely employed in the treatment of children with either malignant or non-malignant disorders. It is credited as one of the most qualified centres worldwide in paediatric HSCT and adoptive immunotherapy for prevention and treatment of both leukaemia relapse and infectious complications occurring in immunocompromised individuals. In particular, Professor Locatelli's group pioneered the use of cord blood transplants in Italy and represent one of the most experienced European centres in this field. In addition, Professor Locatelli's group provided seminal contributions in the study of immune reconstitution, tumour immunology, induction of tolerance towards alloantigens and anti-viral cellular immunity in childhood allogeneic HSCT, improving the knowledge of the fundamental milestones in this type of therapy. Professor Locatelli is the President of the Italian association for Pediatric Hematology and Oncology.
http://www.sanmatteo.org/
16. MILTENYI BIOTEC GmbH, Begisch-Gladbach, Germany (Dr. Mario Assenmacher)
Miltenyi Biotec offers innovative tools for the magnetic isolation of specific cells, organelles or biomolecules to highest purity. The CliniMACS® system is an automated cell selection device. It is approved for clinical stem cell graft engineering using CD34 and CD133 selection and permits large-scale cell isolation of other cellular products such as dendritic cell precursors, T cell subsets and NK cells. In addition, pioneering technologies are made available like MACSiBead™ particles for activation and expansion of T cells or the Cytokine Secretion Assay for isolation of cytokine-secreting cells e.g. antigen-specific T cells.
www.MiltenyiBiotec.com
Contact:
Dr. Georg Rauser
+49-2204-8306-4530
GeorgR@miltenyibiotec.de
17. Prof. Alessandro MORETTA, Molecular Immunology laboratories
Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Sezione di Istologia
School of Medicine, University of Genova
Professor Allessandro MorettaÕs group works on Human NK cell physiology and the novel receptors involved in inhibition or triggering of NK cell function. The role of NK cells in: tumor cell recognition; killing.; and innate immune responses. The interaction of NK cells with myeloid and plasmacytoid Dendritic cells is also a focus.
18. Professor Lorenzo Moretta, Scientific Director, Giannina Gaslini Institute, Genova, Italy.
Lorenzo Moretta, M.D., is Full Professor of General Pathology and Pathophysiology at the University of Genova and Scientific Director of the Giannina Gaslini Children's Hospital, Genova, Italy. He is a world renowned researcher in the field of cytolytic effector cells including T lymphocytes and NK cells. Thanks to the discovery made by his lab of the major receptors and coreceptors controlling the functional activity of these cells, we now have a thorough appreciation of the molecular mechanisms involved in the killing of leukemic (and tumor) cells by the immune system.
http://www.gaslini.org
Contact:
Dr. Tom Wiley
+39-010-5636.807
tomwiley@ospedale-gaslini.ge.it
19. Professor Ricardo Pasquini Universidade Federal do Parana Brazil
Professor Pasquini's group were the first to perform bone marrow transplants in latin America. Professor Pasquini is an active participant in international research efforts.
20. Professor Pavel Pisa, Department of Oncology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm
The group belongs to the Karolinska Hospital Oncology Clinic, which is one of the largest in Europe with over 100 staff clinical oncologists and the Cancer Centre Karolinska, opened in 1998 to accommodate all of the Karolinska Institute's translational research in cancer. The clinic has a long tradition of experimental immunotherapeutic strategies and intensive clinical trial programmes. The group has done pioneering contributions with gene transfer and maturation signaling for clinical application of DC-based vaccines. Recently they have conducted the first European clinical trial with a plasmid DNA vaccine in cancer. Their research focus is the optimization of cancer vaccines in prostate and renal cell cancer.
21. Pro Immune Ltd
ProImmune is a leading provider of products and services for monitoring the state of the immune system, including recombinant Pro5® MHC Pentamers, serving a broad spectrum of customers in industry and the research base.
Pro5® MHC Pentamers can be used to evaluate T cell immunity in disease and in response to therapy, enabling investigators to accelerate their research and the discovery and development of new biopharmaceutical drugs in areas of major unmet need, such as cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmunity, and in transplantation.
22. Professor Hans-Georg Rammensee
Focal points of interest in the Department of Immunology include antigen processing, T-cell activation, tumor immunology, T-cell responses against infectious agents, T-cell responses against autoimmune disease and the function of natural killer cells. The Department of Immunology has great expertise in the identification and characterisation of natural MHC ligands. This expertise can be used to construct numerous peptide binding motifs, in particular of HLA molecules. The motifs are used to predict and determine peptides for immune therapies and T-cell diagnostics. To carry out the analysis of MHC-bound peptides, specific methods have already been developed in the Department (pool sequencing and mass spectrometry).
www.uni-tuebingen.de/uni/kxi/
23. Professor Robert Rees, Dean of Biomedical and Natural Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, UK.
Research in the area of cancer immunology/immunotherapy is conducted at the new Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Centre and focuses on the identification and use of cancer antigens/MHC-associated peptides to activate T-lymphocyte responses, incorporating techniques in molecular and analytical science. Facilities provide for "state of the art" research using mass spectrometry, proteins, bio-informatics and molecular and cellular immunology.
science@ntu.ac.uk
24. Professor Yair Weizmann Institute of Science.
Professor Resiner's group performed the first T-cell depleted BMT in 1980 and their work led to the successful treatment of patients with SCID. Subsequently they developed the megadose concept which enabled them to achieve stem cell transplant across major genetic barriers for leukaemia patients.
25. Professor Dolores Schendel, Director, GSF-Institute of Molecular Immunology, Munich, Germany.
The Institute of Molecular Immunology is a research institute of the GSF National Research Center for the Environment and Health. Research at the Institute is focused on haematology, oncology and immunology. Concepts are developed for modulating the immune system using cellular and molecular methods. New strategies are investigated for the immunotherapy and gene therapy of cancer, the treatment of autoimmune diseases and overcoming transplant rejection reactions. Clinical studies based on these strategies are designed and carried out in close cooperation with medical faculties of the two Munich universities.
www.gsf.de/imi/
26. Dr. Paul Travers, the Anthony Nolan Research Insitute
The group of Dr Paul Travers, based at the Anthony Nolan Research Institute in London, has a fundamental interest in the structural biology of antigen presentation which is applied to the development of new methods and reagents for the immunotherapy - the manipulation of immune responses, both in terms of vaccination and tolerance induction. The group is also interested in the T cell repertoire in patients after stem cell transplantation, both in in the determination of the factors that influence the development of the repertoire and in how this can be optimised. The Anthony Nolan Trust established the first unrelated bone marrow register to be set up in the world and maintains a Research Institute dedicated to research into all aspects of stem cell transplantation.
www.anthonynolan.org.uk
27. Professor Andrea Velardi, The Division of haematology and Clinical Immunology, University of Perugia, Italy (Head: Prof Massimo F Martelli)
developed the haploidentical haematopoietic stem cell transplant for patients with acute leukaemia without a compatible donor. The survival rate of the 150 mainly adult patients who have been transplanted to date overlaps with the survival rate after a matched sibling or unrelated donor. Prof Andrea Velardi's group discovered that Natural Killer (NK) cell alloreactivity has a strikingly positive effect on the control of leukaemia relapse after haploidentical haematopoietic stem cell transplants in patients with acute leukaemia. It also facilitated engraftment and prevented Graft versus Host. Guidelines for selecting an NK alloreactive donor have been published. Work is proceeding in identifying other targets, in exploiting NK cell alloreactivity as cell therapy in conditioning and in using NK alloreactivity as a form of adoptive immunotherapy.
www.unipg.it
28. Professor Eric Vivier, Centre d'Immunology de Marseille-Luminy (CIML)
Prof. Eric Vivier's group has revealed the critical role of ITIMs (Immunoreceptor Tyrosine-based Inhibition Motifs) in KIR and Ly49 inhibitory receptors. The group has also defined the large family of ITIM-bearing molecules and their activating counterparts. In addition, the laboratory has identified the signalling adaptor KARAP/DAP12. Together, these results have largely contributed to our present understanding of the signaling pathways that control NK cell activation. The Centre d' Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy is a worldwide renowned Institute devoted to Immunology; it has twenty laboratories and three EOPS animal facilities.
http://www.ciml.univ-mrs.fr/VIVIER_eric/EV-PRES-A01.htm
29. Dr. Laurence Zitvogel, Insitut Gustav Roussy
Prof. Zitvogel's laboratory has a recognized expertise in the field of the regulation of immune effectors of antitumor immune responses by antigen presenting cells or vesicles such as dendritic cells (DC) and exosomes. The innate resistance to tumors is the second working endpoint of the lab, devoted mostly to the study of the dendritic cell/natural killer cell cross talk and its implementation to DC vaccines. The role of Treg in restricting NK cells responses and the DC/NK cell cross talk is a pivotal research focus. Translationnal research is performed leading to development programm e projects conducted with biotechnology partners. LZ and Co. have launched a clinical trial in metastatic melanoma adressing the immunizing role of DC derived-exosomes pulsed with tumor peptides in stage IV patients. A phase II will follow in advanced lung cancer.