The scientific discipline of Immunology has always had an outstanding reputation in Denver. Approximately 50 faculty level immunologists provide a wide diversity of immunologic expertise in T and B cell biology and development, host defense, inflammation, apoptosis, autoimmunity, and structural biology related to immune function and dysfunction. Research by immunologists in Denver, including both UCCC members as well as non-members, has included many discoveries of high cancer relevance. The overall goal of the UCCC Program in Immunology/Imrnunotherapy is to describe how the basic elements of immunity affect cancer processes, and how cancer cells can evade the immune system. This understanding will provide avenues to develop new intervention strategies to reduce the cancer burden, both through prevention and treatment. The program has 43 full and 8 associate members holding primary appointments in the Departments of Cell and Structural Biology, Dermatology, Immunology, Medicine, Neurology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Radiology, Radiation Oncology and Surgery. The group includes several high-ranking scientists, including Chairs of the Departments of Immunology, Dermatology and Neurology, three members of the National Academy of Sciences, the Head of the Basic Immunology Division at National Jewish, the Directors of the Denver VA Flow Cytometry Core and the UCCC Immunology Core Laboratory, the Neuro-Oncology Clinical Trials Disease Chairman, the Director of Cancer Immunology of the Donal Monk Cancer Research Foundation, and the Head of the Denver National Jewish Medical and Research Center Division of Pediatric Allergy-Immunology. The Program members have over 17 million dollars in annual direct cost funding (-2.4 million from NCI) and of the 17 new Full Members recruited to the '17f program, six have received NCI funding. The future plan is to build on the successes in translating basic immunology into clinical interventions designed to prevent and treat cancer. This will be achieved by continuing strategic recruitments of immunologists with cancer translation interests, and by continuing to encourage the outstanding basic immunologists in Denver to focus their research interest in cancer and immunity.
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