Education: 1982 B.S. (Biology), University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 1986 M.S. (Immunology), University Of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL 1992 Ph.D. (Immunology), University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY Professional Experience: 1992-1996 Post-doctoral research fellow, Department of Biology, Univ. of California, San Diego, CA 1996-1997 Post-doctoral research scientist, Trudeau Institute, Saranac Lake, NY 1997-2003 Research Assistant Member, Trudeau Institute, Saranac Lake, NY 1999-pres Adjunct Assistant Professor, Albany Medical College 2002-2005 Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Vermont 2003-2004 Research Associate Member, Trudeau Institute, Saranac Lake, NY 2004-pres Associate Member, Trudeau Institute, Saranac Lake, NY 2005-pres Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Vermont

Research Interests

My laboratory is interested in how aging influences the immune system. This is important because older people are more susceptible to infections and also exhibit reduced vaccine efficacy. We are using models that involve the response to a specific protein and also an infectious virus (influenza). The study of influenza and aging is particularly important since the elderly are highly susceptible to influenza infection. Since we are interested in vaccine efficacy, we are examining the effect of age on the cognate helper activity of CD4 T cells. We have found profound changes in T cell help that result in reduced humoral responses. Interestingly, we have also observed that age has little negative impact on B cell function in our models. These results have lead us to examine what factors are necessary for robust helper activity in CD4 T cells. One of our goals is to determine if the use of various kinds of adjuvants can overcome this age-related defect and enhance the efficacy of vaccines in elderly populations.