Michael Caligiuri, MD 

The OSU laboratory of Michael Caligiuri, MD, is a nationally
recognized leader in cancer immunology – finding ways to boost the human immune system’s innate capacity for fighting this disease.

Caligiuri, who directs both the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Division of Hematology and Oncology in the Department of Internal Medicine at OSU, is principal investigator for a $9.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to support a four-project, five-year study of immunity in cancer that involves several other scientists. 

Project 1, led by John Byrd, MD, takes the basic science discoveries of his laboratory and the three other projects and incorporates them into clinical studies involving antibodies, cytokines and cancer patients

Project 2, led by Susheela Tridandapani, PhD, works to understand how macrophages signal to natural killer cells and bind antibodies to boost the immune system.

Project 3 is led by Caligiuri, who is exploring the role of two subsets of human natural killer (NK) cells that appear to have two very different functions in surveying the body for cancer.

Project 4, led by Yang Liu, PhD, involves developing mouse models to show how strategies for manipulating the immune system may work in humans.

In another recent cancer immunology study, published in the April 2005 issue of the journal Immunity, Caligiuri and his MD/PhD student Aharon Freud discovered that human NK cells appear to develop in lymph nodes, not in the bone marrow as previously thought. NK cells are the third type of lymphocytes (white blood cells involved in immunity) in the body, besides T cells and B cells. Says Caligiuri: “Understanding where and how these cells develop will provide important insights as to how to manipulate NK cells for immune therapy against cancer and infectious disease.”

This is an example of translational research – applying basic laboratory discoveries to clinical care. The Caligiuri laboratory’s applications to clinical care are broad and always involve teams of scientists, clinicians and clinician-scientists (often in training).

“For example,” says Caligiuri, an OSU Distinguished University Scholar who holds the John L. Marakas Nationwide Insurance Enterprise Foundation Chair in Cancer Research, “following the characterization of several cytokine receptors in our laboratory, we have learned to modulate human NK cell production and survival in patients with immune deficiency. We are also modulating human NK cells in combination with the delivery of humanized monoclonal antibodies to treat lymphoma that is resistant to therapy with just the monoclonal antibody.”

Dr. Caligiuri’s co-investigators at OSU include: John Byrd, MD; William Carson III, MD; Amy Ferketich, PhD; Yang Liu, PhD; Jerry Nuovo, MD; and Susheela Tridandapani, PhD. His lab team members include: Kristy Arnoczky; Brian Becknell; Brad Blaser; Donna Bucci; Adrienne Dorrance; Aharon Freud; Tiffany Hughes; Tom Liu, MD, PhD; Charlene Mao; Rosanna Trotta, PhD; Noah Schwind; and Jianhua Yu, PhD.