Prof Brian Nickoloff Professor and Associate Chairman of Pathology Director, Oncology Institute Deputy Director, Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center Director, Skin Disease Research Program Loyola University of Chicago Medical Center USA

Research interests

His primary research interests involve the following: immunobiology of psoriasis; defining death pathways in normal and diseased skin; developing dendritic cell-based vaccination for advanced melanoma; as well as identifying new therapeutic agents interfering with Notch signaling as chemopreventative and interventional targets in skin cancers, including melanoma. He is also funded to elucidate the pathophysiology of cutaneous graft versus host disease. Most recently, he has turned his attention towards defining the ability of umbilical cord-derived stem cells to modulate the behavior of melanoma cells.

Accomplishment

He has made several original observations that have been translated into therapies for psoriatic patients including the discovery of the role of LFA:ICAM-1 in T cell-mediated dermatoses, and identification of alternate B7 co-stimulatory family members; as well as defining the cytokine network in psoriasis. He developed and validated a novel animal model for psoriasis using SCID mice.

Award

In 2003, he received the American Skin Association Award for his research accomplishments in psoriasis, and has received numerous NIH grants covering basic human skin biology, as well as for a Phase I FDA-approved physician-initiated IND using dendritic cells pulsed with autologous tumor lysate, and to devise new methods for treating graft versus host disease in the setting of bone marrow transplantation.

Publications

320 publications and 40 book chapters

Editorial board of numerous journals including American Journal of Pathology, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Investigative Dermatology, International Journal of Cancer and American Journal of Dermatopathology