The Human Immune Monitoring Center (HIMC) provides state-of-the-art assays that measure biomarkers relevant to the immune system or specific pathogens. Examples of biomarkers that are specifically relevant to cancer include changes in lymphocyte signaling pathways, serum cytokines and specific immune responses that target tumor cells. This shared resource offers SCI members specialized assays that monitor the effects and efficacy of immunotherapies and vaccination strategies that are becoming increasingly important alternatives or adjuvants to conventional cancer treatment. In addition, pathogens have been implicated in the etiology of many cancers, and the HIMC offers an array of methodologies for pathogen identification. The HIMC initiated operations in 2007 and has attracted many faculty users in the past six years. We expect an increasing demand for the services of HIMC as new recruitments, projects and clinical trials related to the immune modulation of cancer are developed by the SCI. The HIMC offers standardized assays to analyze secreted cytokines (using Luminex and MesoScale Discovery platforms), cell subsets and functions (by flow cytometry and CyTOF) and gene expression (by microarray, qPCR, and targeted RNAseq). It also provides sample processing and biobanking services, and it maintains an integrated, online database of assay results and clinical/demographic data with a total operating budget of $2M. Since 2009, over 55 SCI members have used the shared resource, representing all program affiliations. Dr. Holden Maecker is the Facility Director and an expert in cancer immunology and immune monitoring. Oversight is provided by the HIMC Advisory Committee, headed by Dr. Mark Davis, SCI member and an internationally renowned expert in lymphocyte recognition and immune monitoring technologies. Future goals of the HIMC are to introduce a standardized targeted RNAseq panel for gene expression and T cell receptor sequencing of single-sorted T cells. In addition, single cell tissue (e.g., tumor biopsy) isolation, processing and cryopreservation will be developed as well as online access to the BioBank inventory for investigators to quickly create queries and reports.
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