The Brennen laboratory takes a rigorous, multi-disciplinary, team-based approach towards developing innovative therapeutic and prognostic strategies for prostate cancer with an emphasis on exploiting vulnerabilities within the tumor microenvironment towards this goal. To accomplish this goal, we are strategically pursuing novel therapeutic platforms, including stromal-targeted prodrugs, protoxins, and radiolabeled antibodies, in addition to cell-based therapy and drug delivery; all of which are designed to reduce toxicity to peripheral non-target tissue (i.e. side effects) while maximizing anti-tumor efficacy (i.e. therapeutic benefit). Currently, many of these strategies are focused on overcoming stromal barriers to anti-tumor immune responses such that men suffering from prostate cancer can share in the immense, revolutionary power of immunotherapy that is transforming care for many with advanced disease in other tumor types previously thought to be unmanageable using conventional approaches. Unfortunately, prostate cancer has largely proven refractory to these powerful approaches thus far and requires novel mono- or combinatorial treatment strategies to unleash the full potential of the immune system and generate personalized anti-tumor responses with the capability of producing long-term durable responses or even cures in these men.

Zheng’s research focuses on two R01-funded projects; first, the group has developed a pancreatic cancer immunotherapy research program on a neoadjuvant therapy platform as well as a number of preclinical models of pancreatic cancer for developing innovative immunotherapy strategies. The group has applied the knowledge gained from pancreatic cancer immune-based therapies to the development of a colorectal cancer GVAX vaccine. Second, the group is aimed at understanding the mechanistic roles of the tumor microenvironment in cancer development and metastasis and identifying new targets for pancreatic cancer therapies by dissecting the tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer.

The Franck Housseau Lab focuses on the role of the microbiome in colorectal tumorigenesis and on developing a better understanding of the tumor immune microenvironment. The lab is currently working to define the biomarkers of a pre-existing antitumor immune response in metastatic colorectal cancer to define a population of patients eligible for checkpoint blockade therapies.

Research in the Meredith McCormack Lab deals primarily with pulmonary diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and the role of environmental exposures in lung diseases. We have researched the factors that contribute to inner-city asthma, with a focus on how particulate matter air pollution impacts pulmonary function. We are also part of the LIBERATE clinical study, which is focused on patients who experience difficulty breathing and have been diagnosed with severe emphysema. We also have a longstanding interest in the effects of race/ethnicity, poverty and urbanization on nutrition and food allergies.

Research in the Robert Lawrence Lab examines how industrial agriculture, food security and human rights affect the environment.

xResearch in the Shyam Biswal Lab focuses on therapeutic resistance of cancer due to a gain-of-function mutation in transcription factor Nrf2. Using patient-derived xenografts in humanized immunocompetent mice and GEM models, we aim to understand the mechanisms of oncogenic cooperation and metabolic adaptation in cancer cells. We’re also investigating the systemic and pulmonary effects of air pollution as well as the health effects of recent tobacco products, such as electronic cigarettes and water pipes.

Research in the Adam D. Sylvester Lab primarily focuses on the way in which humans and primates move through the environment, with the aim of reconstructing the locomotor repertoire of extinct hominins and other primates. We use a quantitative approach that involves the statistical analysis of three-dimensional biological shapes, specifically musculoskeletal structures, and then link the anatomy to function and function to locomotor behavior.

The overall goal of the Auditory Brainstem Library is to understand how abnormal auditory input from the ear affects the brainstem, and how the brain in turn affects activity in the ear through efferent feedback loops. Our emphasis is on understanding the effects of different forms of acquired hearing loss (genetic, conductive, noise-induced, age-related, traumatic brain injury-related) and environmental noise. We are particularly interested in plastic changes in the brain that compensate for some aspects of altered auditory input, and how those changes relate to central auditory processing deficits, tinnitus, and hyperacusis. Understanding these changes will help refine therapeutic strategies and identify new targets for treatment. We collaborate with other labs in the Depts. of Otolaryngology, Neuroscience, Neuropathology, the Wilmer Eye Institute, and the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins, in addition to labs outside the university to increase the impact and clinical relevance of our research.

Research in the Alan Scott Lab involves several important areas of genomics. Our team collaborates on a study to investigate the exon and genome sequence variants that determine phenotype, with a specific focus on the genetic bases of cleft lip and palate. We are also involved in assessing and improving genomic technologies to provide next-generation sequencing and analysis of sequence data to the clinical environment. In addition, we have a longstanding interest in the problem of gene annotation and the evolutionary genomics of vertebrates, especially endangered species.

The mission of the Johns Hopkins University Dermatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology (DACI) Reference Laboratory is to provide comprehensive, high-quality diagnostic allergy and immunology testing to patients throughout North America with asthma, allergy and immunologic disorders. We offer an extensive menu of laboratory tests that includes allergen-specific IgE measurements to approximately 300 pollen, epidermal, mold spore, mite, food, drug, venom and occupational allergen specificities. We specialize in Hymenoptera (insect sting) venom-specific IgE and IgG antibody measurements. In addition, the DACI Laboratory performs hypersensitivity pneumonitis precipitin panels, serum cotinine, and environmental mold measurements.