I-HDS and TCI-BSRF (Biostatistics Shared Resource Facility) invites you to join its Biostatistics Seminar Workshop being held, Thursday, Feb. 14^th at 2:00pm in room 8-101 in the Hess (CSM) Building, 8^th Floor. Our featured guest will be Amir Horowitz, PhD, Asst. Prof., Oncological Sciences, ISMMS.

Talk Title: "Harnessing NK cells to improve anti tumor immunity and immunotherapies for hematologic and solid tumor malignancies”

Background:

This talk will describe how polymorphisms in HLA-A and HLA-B genes regulate cell-surface expression of HLA-E and how levels of HLA-E expression determine thresholds for immune inhibition and activation that strongly predict prognosis/survivorship in cancer patients as well as predict tumor response/resistance to immunotherapies. The talk will cover some background on Natural Killer cell biology, HLA class I and KIR immunogenetics and clinical data from Dr. Horowitz’s current, unpublished research.

Biography:

Dr. Amir Horowitz joined the Department of Oncological Sciences and the Precision Immunology Institute and Tisch cancer Institute in May, 2017. He obtained his PhD at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in Immunology and Infectious Diseases in London, UK and previously received a BSc from Cornell University in Plant Sciences, plant genetics and pathology. Dr. Horowitz performed his postdoctoral studies at Stanford University on HLA class I and KIR immunogenetics, immunology, structural biology and epidemiology where he studied how HLA class I simultaneously presents antigens to CD8 T cells as well as regulates Natural Killer cell functions.