Jianxun Jim Song, PhD
Professor, Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology
Texas A&M University, United States, China
Professor in the Department of Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology, the Texas A&M University Health Science Center, United States. The base of expertise on T cell biology needed to perform his research began to develop while he was a postdoctoral scholar and research scientist from the years 2001-2007 under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Croft at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology. He became a junior faculty at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in 2007, and extended his research on Developmental Immunology and Stem Cell Biology. As a PI on previous university-, foundation-, or NIH-funded grants, he laid the groundwork for the research by developing highly reactive T lymphocytes from pluripotent stem cells (PSC). His laboratory was the first to show that induced PSC differentiate into functional T cells for cell-based therapies. In addition to having the expertise to be successful with the research, he offers leadership and administrative skills that were developed during his independence as a mentor of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. He has a demonstrated record of successful and productive research projects in the area.
The primary focus of my research is the investigation of the cellular regulation of T-cell immunity and tolerance, and how membrane-bound costimulatory molecules control T-cell function and immune disease. Membrane-expressed receptors termed costimulatory molecules are essential for T-cell responses and play important roles in the immune system to guard the body against harmful microorganisms. Most effort is being expended to develop and optimize strategies for utilizing highly reactive T lymphocytes for cell-based therapies. Because of the plasticity and potentially unlimited capacity for self-renewal, stem cell-derived T lymphocytes have great potential in the treatment of diseases (e.g., chronic viral infection, cancer, and autoimmune disease). Also, the function of T lymphocytes is tightly associated with metabolic reprogramming.
