Pramod Kumar Srivastava

Pramod Kumar Srivastava (born 15 August 1955) is an American immunologist and physician serving as the Eversource Energy chairman in experimental oncology at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He is known for his work on cancer vaccines.[1][2][3][4]

He is the scientific founder of Antigenics (AGEN), the New York-based biotech company.[2][3]

Early life and education

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Srivastava completed his Ph.D. at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India, and his MD from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.[2][4][5]

Career

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Srivastava was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in 1989. He moved to Fordham University as an associate professor of biology in 1993 and became a full Professor in 1995. During this time, Srivastava co-founded a biotechnology company, Antigenics, in 1994.[2][6]

In 1997, he was appointed physician health services professor of medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He became the founding director of the Center for Immunotherapy of Cancer and Infectious Diseases.[5]He was also the founding chairman of the Department of Immunology. Since 2011, he has been the director of the Carole and Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.[1][2][4]

Scientific and clinical work

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Srivastava made contributions to neuroimmunology. His laboratory first identified the temperature receptors (TRPV receptors) on dendritic cells and reported the consequences of the engagement of these receptors on immune tolerance in the gut. In addition, Srivastava investigated neuroimmunology interactions and showed how the sympathetic nervous system is critical for the normal development of neutrophils and that dysregulation of this pathway leads to the generation of the immune suppressive myeloid-derived suppressor cells, which promotes the proliferation of regulatory T cells.[1]

Publications

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Srivastava has more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and more than 200 awarded patents in the field of cancer immunology including:

  • Oral ingestion of Capsaicin, the pungent component of chili pepper, enhances a discreet population of macrophages and confers protection from autoimmune diabetes.Doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/mi.2011.50
  • Duan F, Duitama J, Al Seesi S, Ayres CM, Corcelli SA, Pawashe AP, Blanchard T, McMahon D, Sidney J, Sette A, Mandoiu II, Srivastava PK. Genomic and bioinformatic profiling of mutational neoepitopes reveals new rules to predict anticancer immunogenicity. J Exp Med. (2014) 211:2231-48. PMID: 25245761
  • Binder RJ, Srivastava PK.  Peptides chaperoned by heat shock proteins are a necessary and sufficient source of antigen in cross-priming CD8+ T cells.  Nature Immunology (2005) 6(6):593-9. PMID: 15864309 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/ni1201
  • Basu S, Binder RJ, Suto R, Anderson KM, Srivastava PK.  Necrotic but not apoptotic cell death releases heat shock proteins, which deliver maturation signal to dendritic cells and activate the NFB pathway. International Immunology (2000) 12 (11), 1539-1546. PMID: 11058573 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/intimm/12.11.1539
  • Binder RJ, Han DK, Srivastava PK.  CD91 is a receptor for heat shock protein gp96.  Nature Immunology (2000) 1 (2), 151-155. PMID: 11248808 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/77835
  • Tamura Y, Peng P, Liu K, Daou M, Srivastava PK. Immunotherapy of metastatic lung cancer by heat shock protein preparations. Science (1997) 278(5335):117-120,1997. PMID: 9311915 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.278.5335.117
  • Suto R, Srivastava PK. A mechanism for the specific immunogenicity of heat shock protein - chaperoned peptides. Science (1995) 269, 1585-1588. PMID: 7545313 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.7545313

Further reading

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "UConn Health tests its own biotech breakthroughs". Hartford Business Journal. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  2. ^ a b c d e Courant, Hartford (2016-01-22). "Farmington Doctor Is Battling Cancer At Genetic Level". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  3. ^ a b Street Journal, Laura JohannesStaff Reporter of The Wall (1999-11-18). "Tailor-Made Cancer Vaccines Show Promise in Early Trials". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  4. ^ a b c #author.fullName}. "Your best shot". New Scientist. Retrieved 2023-12-07. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ a b By (1998-02-17). "RESEARCHERS TURN TO HUMAN IMMUNE SYSTEM". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  6. ^ Weiss, Rick (1996-02-27). "CANCER VACCINE". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-12-07.