HyeMee Joo, Ph.D.

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SUMMARY

Solid organ and hematopoietic cell transplantations are radical therapies for fatal conditions. However, post-transplant immune complications, including graft rejection and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), limit the extended use of these therapies. Current treatment strategies in post-transplantation mainly rely on the use of nonspecific immunosuppressants that can lead to a wide range of adverse effects including cytomegalovirus infections and leukemia relapse.

Dr. Joo's laboratory uses cutting-edge technologies to understand cellular and molecular mechanisms of allograft rejection and GVHD. Dr. Joo's laboratory further investigates how to promote and maintain alloantigen-specific immune suppression in transplantation patients without interfering with host immunity against microbial infections and cancer.

Focus areas

• Dendritic cell-mediated immune tolerance. Dr. Joo and her colleagues study anti-dendritic cell surface receptors that affect the generation and function of regulatory cells, limiting inflammatory response in human in vitro and animal in vivo transplantation models.
• Discovery of novel therapeutic targets. Dr. Joo and her colleagues investigate clinically useful therapeutic targets for early diagnosis of post-transplantation rejection.
• Regulatory B cells and immune tolerance in transplantation patients. Dr. Joo and her colleagues investigate subsets of regulatory B cells that are associated with immune tolerance in transplantation patients.

Significance to patient care

The ultimate goal of Dr. Joo's research is to improve current post-transplantation treatments and diagnostic tools for rejection. Data from these studies will contribute to the rational design of therapeutics for post-transplantation complications.