Gerald T. Nepom, M.D., Ph.D.
Affiliate Professor, Immunology

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason
1201 Ninth Av Seattle, WA 98101
Tel: 206.223-8812
Fax: 206.223-7638
Email: nepom@benaroyaresearch.org

Gerald Nepom's Web Page at BRI

Dr. Nepom received his bachelors 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.

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.

Recent publications:

Bollyky PL, Lord JD, Masewicz SA, Evanko SP, Buckner JH, Wight T, and Nepom GT.  Cutting edge: High molecular weight hyaluronan promotes the suppressive effects of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells.  J Immunol 179: 744–747, 2007.  PMID: 17617562. 

von Herrath M, Nepom GT.  Animal models of human type 1 diabetes.  Nat Immunol 10:129-132, 2009.  PMID: 19148193. 

Long SA, Walker MR, Rieck M, James EA, Kwok WW, Sanda S, Pihoker C, Greenbaum CJ, Nepom GT, Buckner JH.  Functional islet-specific Treg can be generated from CD4+ CD25- T cells of healthy and type 1 diabetic subjects.  Eur J Immunol 39:612-620, 2009. PMID: 19180473. 

Concannon P, Rich SS, Nepom GT.  Genetics of type 1A diabetes.  N Engl J Med 360:1646-1654, 2009.  PMID: 19369670. 

Gebe JA, Yue BB, Unrath KA, Falk BA, Nepom GT.  Restricted autoantigen recognition associated with deletional and adaptive regulatory mechanisms.  J Immunol 183:59-65, 2009.  PMID: 19535636.  . 

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Updated November 2009