Gerald T. Nepom, M.D., Ph.D

Gerald T. Nepom, M.D., Ph.D

Director, Benaroya Research Institute; Director of Immune Tolerance Network, and Affiliate Professor, Immunology

Dr. Nepom received his Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Harvard. He attended the University of Washington, receiving his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1977 and his M.D. in 1978. After post-doctoral work in immunogenetics in the Department of Pathology at Harvard Medical School, he returned to Seattle, joining the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington Medical School Faculty in 1982. Since 1985 he has been Member and Director of the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason.

Contact Info

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason
1201 Ninth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101-2795
Phone: 206-287-8812
Fax: 206-233-7638

Research Areas

  • Tolerance & Autoimmunity

LAB

Benaroya Research

Pubmed

Gerald Nepom on PubMed

Projects in Dr. Nepom's laboratory are focused on identifying and understanding molecular and genetic mechanisms contributing to triggering of autoimmune disorders. A combination of in vitro studies, preclinical models, and human T cell profiling is used to evaluate autoreactive T cell lineage and fate determination. Translational and clinical applications include evaluation of the role of HLA class II genes in the etiology of type I diabetes and adult and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and use of immunological monitoring tools for predicting disease susceptibility and response to therapy in clinical trials.

1. Bollyky PL, Wu RP, Falk BA, Lord JD, Long SA, Preisinger A, Teng B, Holt GE, Standifer NE, Braun KR, Xie CF, Samuels PL, Vernon RB, Gebe JA, Wight TN, Nepom GT. ECM components guide IL-10 producing regulatory T-cell (TR1) induction from effector memory T-cell precursors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 May 10;108(19):7938-43. Epub 2011 Apr 25.

2. Nepom GT, St Clair EW, Turka LA. Challenges in the pursuit of immune tolerance. Immunol Rev. 2011 May;241(1):49-62. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065X.2011.01003.x.

3. Sanda S, Bollyky J, Standifer N, Nepom G, Hamerman JA, Greenbaum C. Short-term IL-1beta blockade reduces monocyte CD11b integrin expression in an IL-8 dependent fashion in patients with type 1 diabetes. Clin Immunol. 2010 Aug;136(2):170-3. Epub 2010 May 18.

4. Bollyky PL, Evanko SP, Wu RP, Potter-Perigo S, Long SA, Kinsella B, Reijonen H, Guebtner K, Teng B, Chan CK, Braun KR, Gebe JA, Nepom GT, Wight TN. Th1 cytokines promote T-cell binding to antigen-presenting cells via enhanced hyaluronan production and accumulation at the immune synapse. Cell Mol Immunol. 2010 May;7(3):211-20. Epub 2010 Mar 15.

5. Durinovic-Belló I, Wu RP, Gersuk VH, Sanda S, Shilling HG, Nepom GT. Insulin gene VNTR genotype associates with frequency and phenotype of the autoimmune response to proinsulin. Genes Immun. 2010 Mar;11(2):188-93. Epub 2010 Jan 7.

B.A., Biochemistry, Harvard University
Ph.D., Biochemistry, University of Washington
M.D., University of Washington

Research Assistant Member:
Paul Bollyky, bollyky@uw.edu

Laboratory Staff:
Barbara Droker, bdroker@benaroyaresearch.org
John Gebe, jgebe@benaroyaresearch.org
Jessica Matthis, jmatthis@benaroyaresearch.org
Tuan Nguyen, rcrtxn@benaroyaresearch.org
Anton Preisinger, apreisinger@benaroyaresearch.org
Betty Yue, byue@benaroyaresearch.org