UCCRC Core Facilities: Human Immunological Monitoring

Scientific Director:  Thomas F. Gajewski, MD, PhD

Technical Director:  Yuanyuan Zha, PhD

Phone: 773-702-4812

Web Site:   http://him.bsd.uchicago.edu

The Human Immunologic Monitoring (HIM) Facility provides service to clinical cancer investigators to measure immunologic endpoints and other pharmacodynamic parameters in subjects participating in clinical trials. The Facility serves as a specialized laboratory to perform scientific analyses that include: 1) Evaluating changes in immune response parameters in response to immunotherapeutic interventions; 2) Monitoring biologic effects of other pharmacologic agents using lymphocytes or other hematopoietic cell subsets as a surrogate tissue; and 3) Interfacing with the cGMP Facility to carry out the preparation of clinical-grade products, such as cancer vaccines, for administration to patients.

Services

  • Preparation of peptide-based cancer vaccines;
  • IFN-γ ELISPOT and peptide/tetramer analysis;
  • Flow cytometry for specific T cell subsets and activation markers;
  • mRNA isolation and analysis of gene expression profiling data in the tumor microenvironment;
  • ELISA assays for angiogenesis factors; and
  • Western blot analysis for specific signal transduction intermediates.