Jun Yan, M.D., Ph.D. Professor of Surgery, Microbiology, and Immunology, and Pharmacology and Toxicology, Endowed Chair in Translational Research, Brown Cancer Center, Director, Division of Immunotherapy, UofL School of Medicine.

Dr. Yan’s current major research interests are to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which yeast-derived polysaccharide b-glucan modulates immunosuppressive myeloid cells to enhance antitumor immunotherapy using mouse tumor models and human cancer patients.

In addition, this laboratory has recently discovered that gdT cells are the major cellular source of inflammatory cytokine IL-17 in psoriatic skin lesions and human colon cancer. This line of research investigates the roles of innate gdT cells in health and diseases. They are interested in gdT17 cell development, metabolism, and signaling pathways that regulate their activation and function.

The third major area of interest in Dr. Yan’s laboratory involves the roles of B-cells in the regulation of autoreactive T-cell activation and tolerance using a murine systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) model as well as human lung cancer.  They are interested in B cell repertoire and how T-B cell collaboration in cancer shapes antitumor T-cell response. Knowledge gained from these studies has led them to develop effective vaccines for cancer and autoimmune diseases.

He is also working as Principal Investigator of the Center for Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy, Kentucky

Jun Yan, M.D., Ph.D. — School of Medicine University of Louisville