IMMUNOTOXICOLOGYSpecialty Section
Summer Edition
2018-2019
Executive Committee
President
Jamie DeWitt
Vice President
Emanuela Corsini
Vice President-ElectMark Collinge
Secretary/Treasurer
Stacey Anderson
Past President
Victor Johnson
Senior Councilor
Jessica Lynch
Junior Councilor
Jennifer Wheeler
Postdoc Representative
Alesandro Venosa
Student Representative
Alexa Murray
The Immunotoxicology Specialty
Section (ITSS) Newsletter ispublished three times a year
(Summer, Fall, and Winter). If you
would like to share an item of interest
with members of the ITSS, please
send it to the Communications
Committee Chair. All comments andsuggestions are welcome.
Alesandro Venosaavenosa@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Alexa Murray
Alexa.Murray18@gmail.com
Jennifer Wheeler
Jennifer.Wheeler@bms.com

August 2018

President’s Message

When I first became involved in the ITSS, I was in the second year of mypostdoc with Dr. Robert Luebke in what was known as the
Immunotoxicology Branch of the Experimental Toxicology Division of
the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory of
the US Environmental Protection Agency (And to increase thecomplexity, I was a trainee through a cooperative training agreementwith the Curriculum in Toxicology at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill; try putting all of that on your CV!). I had come to Dr.
Luebke’s lab after completing doctoral training and a brief postdoc inenvironmental toxicology with focusesin developmental
neurotoxicology and cardiotoxicology in wildlife models at Indiana
University in Bloomington, IN. I wanted to learn immunotoxicological
techniques because I thought it was one of my weak areas as anenvironmental toxicologist. I learned many techniques through mypostdoc, but then something strange happened. I fell in love with thefield of immunotoxicology and felt that I had finally found mycommunity of scientists in the ITSS.
The ITSS became my main professional network and the support that I
have received from my ITSS mentors is priceless. Dr. Luebke was themost amazing mentor I’ve ever had, but I’ve also received mentorshipand advocacy from Dr. MaryJane Selgrade who led the
Immunotoxicology Branch, Dr. Dori Germolec who is the group leader
for Systems Toxicology at the NTP, and Dr. Rod Dietert at Cornell
University. I could easily grow this list into the double digits, not toname drop the famous immunotoxicologists who have supported me in
my career, but to demonstrate that immunotoxicologists are vitallyconnected to one another much like the interconnectedness of theimmune system we study.
President’s Message…………..…………………………………….……1
Outgoing President’s Message………………………….………...……3
Student Postdoctoral Committee Report ……............……........…..6
2018 ITSS Award Winners…………...….…….......……….………........72019 Program Update………..............................................................11
Member Spotlight: Kym Gowdy…………………………………….….12
2018 ITSS Committee Lists………….................................................14
Endowment Fund………………………………………………….……..15
Job Opportunities...............................................................................16
Recent ITSS member honors and publications...............................20

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President’s Message, continued
This brings me to the core of this message:
What can the ITSS do for you? I’m asking all
members, from senior members throughstudent members. What can we do more of? What can we do less of? What can we do differently? Whatcan we do that’s new and different? If you have ideas, please share them with us by emailing me atdewittj@ecu.edu and put “ITSS suggestions” in the subject line of your email. We will use yoursuggestions to shape and reshape the ITSS to better suit your needs if we need to do so. So please doreach out to us; promotion and progression require an initiating event!
Please also welcome the newest members of the 2018-2019 ITSS Executive Committee who started theirterms on May 1, 2018: Dr. Mark Collinge, Vice President-Elect (Pfizer); Dr. Jennifer Wheeler, JuniorCouncilor (Bristol-Myers Squibb Company); Dr. Alessandro Venosa, Postdoctoral Representative(University of Pennsylvania); and Alexa Murray, Graduate Student Representative (Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey). For those of you who feel the need to step up your volunteerism, keep in mind
that we will need to elect a new Vice President-Elect(four-year term, beginning as Vice President-Elect, then toVice President, President, and Past President), Secretary/
Treasurer (two-year term), and Junior Councilor (two-year
term, with ascension to Senior Councilor in secondyear). We also have openings on our committees (seepage 14 of the newsletter). If you get bitten by thevolunteer bug, please nominate yourself for one of these
positions by dropping me or the respective committee
chair an email.
As the 2018-2019 ITSS Executive Committee moves into its third month of existence, one question thatyou may be asking is “what are they doing?” Here’s a quick overview:• Monthly teleconferences to make sure that we are informed, engaged, and on track not only with ITSS
goals and priorities, but with SOT goals and priorities for specialty sections.
• Growing the ITSS Mitzi and Prakash Nagarkatti Research Excellence in Immunotoxicology Award
endowment fund. This was created through a generous donation by Dr. Mitzi Nagarkatti and Dr.
Prakash Nagarkatti. The ITSS awarded Juyoung Shim in honor of Drs. Prakesh and Mitzi
Nagarkatti. To donate to this fund, log into SOT through this portal and select the Mitzi andPrakash Nagarkatti Research Excellence in Immunotoxicology Award for your donation. Our Past
President, Dr. Vic Johnson, has agreed to continue to work with SOT to grow this fund.
• Actively supporting our International Scientific Exchange and Collaboration program. This has largely
been used to support our partnership with the Japanese Society of Immunotoxicology (JSIT) throughthe exchange of speakers/meeting attendees at JSIT and SOT. We are hoping to grow this program tomultiple partners across multiple countries.

August 2018

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President’s Message, continued• Updating our “best practices” documents for each committee to ensure that we are current,
consistent, and reproducible in our practices.
• Strategizing new pathways to proposal development and submission from ITSS members for SOT
Annual Meeting presentations. The establishment of the Science Advisory Subcommittee comprisedof ITSS past presidents was designed, in part, to come up with basic ideas for program proposals
that other ITSS members could develop for submission.
• Responding to needs of SOT and from you.
These bullets are a small sample of what we do as
a committee. We are all part of the ITSS Executive
Committee because you, the ITSS membership,
voted for us. We like to think that you did so
because you have faith in us to effectively leadthe Specialty Section. Let us know how we’re
doing. If you have ideas, please share them with
us by emailing me at dewittj@ecu.edu and put“ITSS suggestions” in the subject line of youremail. Thank you!

Dr. Jamie DeWitt
President, ITSS2018 - 2019

Outgoing President’s Message
As outgoing President of the Immunotoxicology Specialty Section, I am very proud of the success andprogress that ITSS experienced during the 2017-2018 year. Success of the Specialty Section relies on manyfactors starting with the ITSS membership. The 2017-2018 Executive Committee was blessed to havegood members who were willing and excited to participate in the many important committees that
the ITSS relies on for operations. I would like to personally thank the 2017-2018 Executive Committee
and subcommittees for all their hard work and dedication to ITSS and for making my term as
President so enjoyable.
August 2018

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Outgoing President’s Message, continued
I will touch on a few highlights from the past year consistent with the goals that we set. The first goal wasto promote educational opportunities and communications for immunotoxicologists and scientists
interested in the field. Emanuela Corsini provided excellent leadership for the education committee andtheir hard work resulted in a successful mentoring event at the SOT meeting focusing on our young
scientists and career development. The committee also provided valuable support for a second T-cellbiology course (T-cell Biology and Application to Immunopharmacology and Immunotoxicology Course)
sponsored by ILSI/HESI that was held in Munich, Germany on April 4-5, 2018. Another Gold Star for
immunotoxicology education was the 2018 SOT CE Course An Introduction to the Basics of
Immunotoxicity Testing chaired by Jamie DeWitt and Sarah Blossom that attracted over 150 participants,a shining testament to the interest in immunotoxicology. As you can tell from recent communications, thecurrent Education Committee is striving to continue this success and is actively alerting membership to
educational opportunities (i.e., webinars and courses) as they arise. Great work! The hard work of our
Communications Committee, led by Jessica Lynch, was essential to this success. I must mention anotherendeavor that they took on, the ITSS website. If you have not been to the website in a while, you need togo there now as it has change dramatically – for the better! Thanks for all the hard work and efforts fromthe Education Committee and Executive Committee for getting this to go live. Brian (graduate student
representative) designed some of the artwork and Angie (postdoc representative) worked with Raul at
SOT to get everything in shape for publication of the new website. We are very proud of the outcome,please check it out (https://www.toxicology.org/groups/ss/imtox/index.asp).
Our second goal was to foster and expand ITSS’s international relationships and collaborations.
The ITSS-JSIT partnership was strong this past year. Danuta Herzyk was the ITSS delegate selected
to present the Special Lecture (Immunotoxicity Assessment of Biopharmaceuticals) at the 2017 JSIT
meeting in Towanda, Japan. This was a special meeting for the international exchange program as I
worked diligently with Dr. Kazu Nakumura, 2017 JSIT President to provide some special touches fortheir meeting. Dr. Jack Dean was honored as the 2017 Eminent Scholar for SOT’s Eminent Toxicology
Lecture Series (I encourage you the check out the series -http://www.toxicology.org/education/edu/
eminent.asp). Kazu and I thought it would be a great educational opportunity for the Japanese
immunotoxicologists to learn the history of field through Jack’s lecture, Immunotoxicology: A Historical
Perspective and his lecture became the opening talk at the 2017 JSIT meeting. Kazu was also keen on
informing JSIT of the ongoings of ITSS and asked if I was willing to make a movie. Absolutely, I made avideo highlighting the current and future activities of ITSS and our fantastic graduate student andpostdoctoral representatives provided perspectives from the young ITSS scientists, special thanks
to Brian and Angie! We continued to foster international exchange by working with JSIT to submit
a program proposal for the 2019 SOT meeting. We also initiated a similar collaboration with ourEuropean immunotoxicology colleagues that led to a program proposal for the 2019 SOT meeting,thanks to Emanuela Corsini and Marc Pallardy for working with me on that effort. Very successful year
for international exchange.

August 2018

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Outgoing President’s Message, continued
Goal three was to build our endowments. Endowment funds
are vital to ITSS and provide much needed funding for young
immunotoxicologists to travel to SOT meeting and present
their exciting and novel research. In this way, endowment
funds support the growth and vigor of ITSS. The permanent
ITSS HESI Endowment continues to grow with a balance of$61,935. I would like to represent ITSS in thanking Drs. Mitzi
and Prakash Nagarkatti for establishing the “Mitzi andPrakash Nagarkatti Research Excellence in Immunotoxicology
Award Fund” with their generous seed funding. ITSS membership did their part also as contributions overthe past year have grown the fund to $43,162. Let’s make a push for $50K this year and make the fundpermanent (see information below in this newsletter on how to contribute and maximize yourcontributions).
Our final goal was to formulate the ITSS Scientific Advisory Committee and defined its charge. Under theleadership of Peyton Myers, the first SAC was successfully formed from the current presidency as well as
a number of past presidents (Dori Germolec, Gary Burleson, Rodney Dietert, and Jean Regal). Thanks toeveryone who participated in the discussions and generated topics for potential program proposals. We
will continue to build the SAC starting with the roster for this year, ITSS Past Presidents, I will be knocking,ha, ha.
ITSS was blessed with great membership and a fantastic hard-working Executive Committee and it shows.
Jamie DeWitt has taken the reigns as current President of ITSS and is already hitting home runs. I am
confident in the current Executive Committee to foster another fruitful year for ITSS. It was a great honor
and pleasure serving as ITSS President and I sincerely thank everyone for their guidance, support, andhard work.
With great regards,
Dr. Vic Johnson
Past President, ITSS 2017-2018

August 2018

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Student & Postdoctoral Report
Dear trainees,
As the summer is in full swing, we would
like to take this opportunity to thankeveryone for participating at theGraduate Student/Postdoc Mixer as wellas the other events hosted at the 57th
Annual SOT Meeting in San Antonio,
Texas.
We had great attendance at the CE course and symposium session organized by
ITSS. We also had about 25 people participate in the Networking Event. At the
Networking Event the participants had the opportunity to interact with diverse
panelists from academia, industry, and government. The participants were able toconnect with experts in these fields to learn about their positions and seek advice
on career planning. Based on the positive feedback received, we are working onorganizing more scientific and career development events within SOT for next year.
We welcome all feedback so that we can continue to improve trainee experienceand involvement at the meeting. One way to make your ideas and suggestions
heard is to participate in the ITSS committees. This is a great way to connect withother ITSS members and enhance your professional network. There are 4 different
committees
withinITSS:Awards,Program,
Education,andCommunication/Membership. We encourage students and postdocs to engage in acommittee as this can be a wonderful opportunity for establishing connections
within the ITSS community. If you would like to get more involved, please contact
us at avenosa@pennmedicine.upenn.edu or alexa.murray18@gmail.com.

We look forward to working with you!
Dr. Alessandro Venosa and Alexa Murray

August 2018

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2018 ITSS Award Recipients
Vos Award for Lifetime Career Achievement in Immunotoxicology
The Vos Award for Lifetime Career Achievement in Immunotoxicology is presented to anindividual in recognition of career achievements in advancing the field of immunotoxicology
through service, leadership, and scientific contributions.

Dr. Jack Paul Uetrecht
Professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy,
University of Toronto

Outstanding Senior Immunotoxicologist Award
The Outstanding Senior Immunotoxicologist Award is presented to an individual whose work
has made significant contributions to the field of Immunotoxicology. This award is forscientists in academia, industry, or those who have had an impact on regulatory issues, andhas distinguished themselves as leaders in their chosen area of immunotoxicology.

Dr. M. Firoze Khan
Professor, Department of Pathology,
University of Texas Medical Branch

August 20187

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2018 ITSS Award Recipients, continued
Outstanding Young Investigator Award
The Outstanding Young Investigator Award is presented to an individual whose work has madesignificant contributions to the field of Immunotoxicology. This award is for scientists inacademia, industry, or those who have had an impact on regulatory issues, having 10 years orless of experience since obtaining their highest degree.

Dr. Marie-Soleil Christin-Piché
Scientific Director of Immunology, Charles River Laboratories

Mitzi and Prakash Nagarkatti Research Excellence in Immunotoxicology
Travel Award
Dr. Juyoung Shim
Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Maine
Triclosan Effects on Protein Kinase C and Phospholipase D in
Mast Cells
Authors: J.K. Shim, L.M. Weatherly, M.A. Caron, L.B.
Gerchman, T.J. Briana, S. Hattab, J.A. Goose

Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) Immunotoxicology
Young Investigator Travel Award
Dr. Alessandro Venosa
Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, Perelman School of
Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Alveolar Epithelial Cells Drive Recruitment and Phenotypic
Activation of Immune Effector Cells in Lung Surfactant Protein-C
Dysfunction
Authors: A. Venosa, Y. Tomer, S. Jamil, M.F. Beers
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2018 ITSS Award Recipients, continued
Best Paper of the Year 2017

Brandon Lewis
Comparative Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary
Medicine, Louisiana State University
Early Postnatal Secondhand Smoke Exposure Disrupts
Bacterial Clearance and Abolishes Immune Responses in
Muco-Obstructive Lung Disease
Authors: B. W. Lewis, R. Sultana, R. Sharma, A. Noël,Langohr, S. Patial, A.L. Penn and Y. SainiBest Presentation by a Postdoctoral Trainee Award

Dr. Alessandro Venosa
Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, Perelman
School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Alveolar Epithelial Cells Drive Recruitment andPhenotypic Activation of Immune Effector Cells in
Lung Surfactant Protein-C Dysfunction
Authors: A. Venosa, Y. Tomer, S. Jamil, M.F. Beers

August 2018

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2018 ITSS Award Recipients, continued
Best Presentation by a Student AwardFirst Place

Second Place

Catherine G. Burke
University of Rochester

Michael D. Rizzo
Michigan State University

Developmental Activation of the
Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor(AHR) Durably Alters the
Responsive Capacity of CD4+ T
Cells

HIV-Infected Cannabis Users
Display Lower Levels of Circulating
CD16+ Monocytes and Plasma IP10 Compared to Non-Using HIVInfected Individuals

Third Place

Souvarish Sarkar
Iowa State University
Voltage-Gated Potassium Channel
KV1.3 Contributes to Sustained
Microglial Activation and
Neuroinflammation in Neurotoxicity
Models of Parkinson's Disease
August 201810

Immunotoxicology Specialty Section

SOT 2019: Accepted ITSS Endorsed Proposals
One of the most important challenges of the ITSS
program committee is to encourage our members
to submit proposals for the next SOT Annual
Meeting. This requires new and attractive ideas
and a lot of work. One has to contact thepossible speakers, who must not only accept tospeak but must also write an abstract. This year
we really managed to stimulate our members with 11 proposals submitted! Of these,
three proposals and two CE courses have been accepted!
• Mark Collinge and Michael Brehm:The Current Application, Limitations and Recent
Advances in Humanized Mouse Models for Pre-Clinical Toxicology Studies (Symposium)• Alessandro Venosa and Andrew Gow: Immune-Epithelial Cell Crosstalk in Lung
Toxicology and Disease (Symposium)• Nigel Walker and Vic Johnson: Understanding the Impact on the Immune System ofOccupationally-Relevant Exposures to Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (Workshop)• Emanuela Corsini and Jamie DeWitt: Mechanistic Understanding and Quantitative Risk
Assessment in Immunotoxicology (CE course)• Sarah J Blosson and Cheryl Rockwell: Microbiome and Developmental Immunotoxicity:
From Study Design and Analysis to Regulatory Guidance (CE course)
I want to wholeheartedly thank all our members for sending in such high quality proposals.
Although not all of the proposals were accepted, we must not let this knock us down, butrather serve as a stimulus to persevere! It is only with everyone's effort that we will beable to have more and more immunotoxicology at our congress. Thanks again to everyone!
Dr. Emanuela Corsini
Vice President, ITSS
Program Committee Chair

Save the Date!

August 201811

Immunotoxicology Specialty Section

Member Spotlight: Dr. Kym Gowdy
Dr. Kym Gowdy is an assistant professor in thedepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology at
the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina
University.
When did you begin your career in immunotoxicology?
My career as an immunotoxicologist began when I started my
PhD in 2004. My PhD was in Dr. Ian Gilmour’s lab where wefocused on the pulmonary immune response to air pollutants,
specifically the innate immune response.

What was your most rewarding experience involving ITSS?

There have been many. I always find the ITSS meetings at SOT very rewarding for
networking. Each year this gathering allows me to interact with the leaders in the field of
immunotoxicology.

What motivated you to be a part of ITSS?

Again, networking and career development. This SS allows people junior in their career
multiple opportunities to get involved and interact with leaders in the field.

How did you make the transition from Postdoc to your current job?

The transition included me writing a K99 and having a direct conversation with mypostdoc mentor about my desire to pursue a faculty position. My mentor was very
supportive and allowed me to carve out a scientific avenue in his laboratory that I could
take with me when I started my own lab. I was very fortunate to have such a supportive
postdoctoral mentor.

What experiences best prepared you for your job?

In 2013, I had two experiences that helped me. 1) I co-chaired the NIEHS Biomedical
Career symposia. This taught me to manage a team of approximately 15 people, balancea budget, manage my time accordingly, and use my network to recruit in speakers. The
second experience was Dr. Jamie DeWitt gave me the opportunity to travel to ECU to givea guest lecture in her Toxicology course (I gave the Immunotoxicology lecture). I had nevertaught before and this gave me the opportunity to build a lecture, effectively communicate
the material, and interact with graduate students as a “teacher” rather than peer.
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Member Spotlight, continued
What has been the largest benefit, for you, of being an active participant in an
SOT SS like the ITSS?

My peers nominated me for the Outstanding ITSS Young Investigator Award. I was beyond
flattered to be recognized by my colleagues in ITSS. That award is hanging on my officewall and makes me smile every time I see it.

Do you have any advice for someone who is considering becoming more
involved in a SS or SIG?

Choose one position and complete the tasks assigned to you to the best of your ability.

How has mentoring students impacted your personal and scientific growth?
Students keep me on my toes and ground me. The next generation of toxicologists arebeyond bright and motivated.

How does the future look in the immunotoxicology field?

Amazing! The amount of cutting edge tools and research available will definitely movethe field forward. I specifically excited to see how more sensitive flow cytometry tools likethe CyTOF improve our understanding of how toxicants alter the phenotype and functionof immune cells.

What do you like the most about working in academia?
Each day is different with its own challenges and successes.

What is one fun fact about yourself that you would like to share with others?
I am a huge animal lover. Dogs and cats especially.

Taken from https://www.chromocyte.com

August 201813

Immunotoxicology Specialty Section

2018-2019 ITSS Committee List
Program Committee

Chair: Emanuela Corsini
Nada Alakhras
Sarah Blossom
Weimin Chen
Peer Karmaus
Tracey Papenfuss
Ashwini Phadnis-Moghe
Cheryl Rockwell

Education Committee
Chair: Mark Collinge
Stefanie Burleson
Amy Sharma
Muthanna Sultan
Alessandro Venosa

Scientific Advisory
Committee
Chair: Vic Johnson
Mark Collinge
Emanuela Corsini
Jamie DeWitt

Volunteers Needed for Limited Number of Seats:Awards Committee
Chair: Jessica Lynch

Communications andMembership Committee
Chair: Jennifer Wheeler

jlynch18@ITS.JNJ.com

Jennifer.Wheeler@bms.com

Jeanine Bussiere

Alexa Murray
Alessandro Venosa
SOT membership is required. Must be willing to become a member of the ITSS and tocommit to service. Please see the Committees page of the ITSS website for details.
August 201814

Immunotoxicology Specialty Section

Endowment Funds: Lets keep them strong
and healthy!
I will speak for the entire ITSS membership in thanking Drs. Prakesh and Mitzi Nagarkatti for theirgracious donation that established a new ITSS Endowment Fund, now known as the “Mitzi and Prakash
Nagarkatti Research Excellence in Immunotoxicology Award Fund”. This fund is designed to encourage
and recognize graduate students and postdoctoral scholars for their excellence in research involving
mechanisms of immunomodulation in health and disease. The fund will provide travel awards forgraduate students and postdoctoral scholars to attend the SOT meeting providing them the opportunity
to present their research, gain valuable feedback from peers, learn cutting-edge science, and build a
network. In order to make this endowment fund permanent, ITSS has to bring the fund to a balance of$50K. Let’s work together to make this happen in the 2018-2019 term.
SOT has made it easy for members to contribute to the endowment. Please follow this link and scroll tofind the “Mitzi and Prakash Nagarkatti Research Excellence in Immunotoxicology Award Fund”. There arelinks to the online contributions page and to download the contribution form within the text of the funddescription. There is also a Donate Now button on the main SOT Endowment page.
A couple of tips to maximize your contribution. Many companies support contributions madeby employees to the endowment funds by matching your personal contribution. Please check withyour management to determine if a matching contribution from your company is available. This doubles
your contribution! Wait, it does not stop there. SOT has a matching fund program that everyone shouldtake advantage of. SOT will match dollar for dollar the first $60K in contributions to SOT endowment
funds. If you do the math, together these matches could quadruple your contribution. Let’s capitalizeon that math! Please remember, SOT funds come available on July 1 and get exhausted by December/
January so don’t wait if you want to get the match. Here is the current picture (as of 19 Jul 18) of the
SOT matching funds. As you can see, funds are already being matched.

Any and all contributions are welcome and greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Dr. Vic Johnson
2018-2019 ITSS Endowment Fund Steward
August 201815

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Job Opportunities
Associate Scientific Director, Immunological Toxicology (Johnson & Johnson)
Spring House, Pennsylvania
The Associate Scientific Director, Immunological Toxicology will evaluate potential immune systemrelated effects associated with large and small molecule therapeutics in our pipeline. The Associate
Scientific Director will work with Project Toxicologists and nonclinical safety team to provide strategic
and scientific input – to progress therapeutics from discovery to first-in-human and throughdevelopment. As an Associate Scientific Director additional responsibility will include:• Provides immunological expertise to nonclinical safety teams, designs strategies to evaluate potential
immunotoxicology risks, and participates in assessments. Strategies will include literature evaluation,
as well as, direct experimental approaches performed in-house and at Contract Research
Organizations (CROs).
• Interacts with CROs at multiple levels, including: transferring methods developed at Janssen,monitoring CRO validations, and the monitoring of immune endpoints during both GLP and non-GLP
studies.
• Independently designs, conducts and leads studies to evaluate the effects of immunomodulatorycompounds using various in vivo and in vitro model systems including, but not limited to, cytokine
assessment, immune response, flow cytometry and functional cell-based assays following Data
Integrity standards, and writes reports for regulatory submission.
• Investigates and develops novel experimental methods/technologies, contributes to improvement ofexisting methods and develops new in vitro/in vivo models to enhance our understanding of potential
immunotoxicology risk and translatability to humans in the clinic.
• Participates in communication of information and data presentation in oral and written format bothin-house and at appropriate external forums.
• Maintains an industry leading expertise in Immunotoxicology.
• Represents the organization to senior management and peer groups within Janssen and Johnson &Johnson.
• Maintains strong scientific network in academia and the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry toenable external interactions, consulting and recruiting.
• Be a mentor/coach to key scientific staff and guide/enable their career/professional development.
• Responsible for the development of all employees within the department by supporting thedevelopment of Human Resources Planning (HRP) programs including management development andtraining to meet current and future business needs.
• Provide an environment, which encourages the company's commitment to equal employment
opportunity and the value of a diverse work force.

August 201816

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Job Opportunities, continued
Associate Scientific Director, Immunological Toxicology (Johnson & Johnson)
Spring House, Pennsylvania, USA
Qualifications• PhD in immunology, immunotoxicology, toxicology or related discipline with 3 years of relevant
experience OR MS degree in immunology, immunotoxicology, toxicology or related discipline with 7
years of relevant experience OR a professional degree (DVM, VMD) with 3 years of relevant
experience is required• Established expertise in Immunotoxicology is required• Expertise in immunological techniques (e.g. flow cytometry, immunoassays) is required• Deep scientific expertise in immunology is preferred• Experience in pharmaceutical/biotechnology research management or related experience in drug
development is required• Knowledge of GLPs is required• Knowledge of Health Authority regulations and guidelines for drug development (e.g. ICH, FDA,
EMEA, PMDA) is preferred• Previous experience managing external partnerships (CRO’s) is required• Strong leadership skills with highly collaborative instincts• This role requires excellent communication and interpersonal skills, a high level of organizational
ability and attention to detail

Immunotoxicologist (US FDA)
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
This position is in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration/Center for Devices and Radiological Health/Officeof Science and Engineering Laboratories/Division of Biology, Chemistry, and Materials Science (DBCMS),
located at FDA’s state-of-the-art, consolidated White Oak campus in Silver Spring, Maryland. Research in
DBCMS focuses on toxicology, biocompatibility, and materials science aimed at understanding cellular andtissue responses to medical devices. Our immunotoxicology research program is the CDRH/FDA focal point
for developing approaches and methodologies to understand and minimize risks associated with exposure
to device-associated polymeric and metallic materials and chemicals. The person selected for this positionis expected to develop a research program to study immunotoxicity, biomarkers, and mechanism(s) ofdevice material/tissue interactions associated with adverse responses to extractables and leachables frompolymers and metal alloys. This position will require knowledge of biological mechanisms underlying
biological reactivity to implantable devices, detailed understanding of immunotoxicological aspects ofhypersensitivity and sensitization (including but not limited to allergy-related mechanisms), and knowledge
and skills on use of “Big Data” (bioinformatics) as related to the use of Next Gen Sequencing (NGS) andsimilar emerging technologies. The incumbent will prepare applications for internal grant submissions tofund research, prepare results for presentations at scientific meetings, and write manuscripts for
submission to peer-reviewed journals. The duties also include conducting biocompatibility safety reviewsof sponsor applications for medical devices (approximately 20-25% workload). The person selected shallhave a PhD or equivalent. Excellent verbal and writing skills are necessary. Applicants must have resided
in the U.S. for 3 of the last 5 years and should indicate this in the application package. Interested
applicants should provide a CV, narrative of research experience that would be applicable to the duties andresponsibilities below, bibliography, and contact information for at least three references.
August 201817

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Job Opportunities, continued
Immunotoxicologist (US FDA)
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Responsibilities• Design and conduct regulatory science research aimed at predicting adverse health responses related
to exposure to biomaterials, such as those resulting from leachables and extractables from medical
devices and long-term exposures to metals/polymers used in medical devices,using immunotoxicology approaches and tools including in vitro, in vivo, and computational models.
• Serve as a consulting reviewer for sponsor product submissions of biocompatibility, sensitization,
implantation, and immunotoxicity data for the assessment of potential adverse health responses
related to medical devices.
• Assist in training other members of the division in new techniques and methodologies in
immunotoxicology, biomarker discovery, and emerging technologies such as NextGen Sequencing,and molecular biology approaches;• Prepare and present laboratory findings within the Center and at national/international conferences,and publish findings in peer-reviewed journals;• Participate as a CDRH expert to national and international standards and guidance committees, and,as appropriate, serve in leadership roles on standards committees and expert advisory panels;• Actively participate as needed in pre-/post-market CDRH working groups and teams on issues related
to immunotoxicology.

Qualifications• Degree: (PhD or equivalent) in toxicology, immunology, or an appropriate discipline in the biological,
medical, or veterinary sciences that included at least 30 combined semester hours of courses intoxicology, immunology, chemistry, biochemistry, or physiology. Graduate coursework in toxicology
considered a plus.
• Demonstrated mastery of principles, practices, and theories in field of toxicology, immunology, andimmunotoxicology.
• A minimum of 3 to 5 years of post-PhD experience designing and conducting biomedical research
aimed at predicting adverse health responses of chemicals and materials with a specific focus on
immunotoxicity using in vitro, in vivo, and in silico models. Post-doctoral experience is a plus.

Principal Scientist (Bristol-Myers Squibb)
New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
The qualified candidate is an independently thinking, highly motivated scientist with strong knowledge ofthe immune system and investigative experience in the assessment of alterations in immune status andfunction. This person will contribute to the advancement of drug candidates across the portfolio byproviding immunotoxicology expertise to discovery and drug development teams to help address key
scientific issues associated with potential safety liabilities related to alterations in immune function,
understanding mechanism, and providing human risk assessment. The candidate will also serve as
representative of DSE on drug development teams for immunomodulatory drug candidates evaluating
and preparing regulatory submissions, providing a knowledgeable perspective to project teams and DSE
management on scientific and regulatory toxicology issues likely to impact the drug development process,and serving as study monitor on toxicology studies.
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Job Opportunities, continued
Principal Scientist (Bristol-Myers Squibb)
New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
Responsibilities• Serves as Toxicology Project Representative and CRO Study Monitor• Support DSE Toxicology project representatives on development teams as Immunotoxicology subject
matter expert• Responsible for the scientific and toxicologic evaluation of selected drug candidates;• Designs and coordinates mechanistic and toxicology studies to support project and discovery working
groups• Develops mechanistic approaches and utilizes molecular and emerging technology platforms toaddress toxicity issues that arise, particularly those associated with the immune system• Integrates available mechanistic, biochemical, toxicological, immunological, clinical, statistical,
toxicokinetic, and pathologic data into study reports for regulatory submissions• Meets reporting metrics and provides summary updates to management• Assures compliance with GLP and SOPs, safety and animal welfare guidelines

Qualifications• PhD in a relevant discipline (e.g., immunology, toxicology) with a minimum of 10 years
relevant experience.
• Comprehensive knowledge of animal and human biology and physiology, especially clinical andfunctional changes associated with toxicity and mechanism of action of disease or toxicity.
• Effective written and oral communication skills. Ability to manage multiple research activities.
• Provides and accepts inputs on study design and data interpretation and fosters a spirit of team work.
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex scientific problems.

For complete application details, please refer to the SOT Job Bank

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Immunotoxicology Specialty Section

Recent Member Honors and Publications
Anytime you have a new fully-published or electronically available article to report, or anachievement you would like to share with ITSS, please send to Alexa Murray at
alexa.murray18@gmail.com

Honors and Achievements
Dr. Kym Gowdy (Assistant Professor, East Carolina University) was awarded a grant fromthe NIH to study health effects of ozone on immune system function
Dr. Robert Tighe (Duke University) was awarded an NIH ONES award for his work on
CXCL10/CXCR3 regulation of ozone-induced epithelial permeability
Darcey Clark (principal scientist, La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company) presented ‘Casestudy: Concurrent Mast Cell and Complement Activation in the Cynomolgus Monkey’ at
the Applied Pharmaceutical Toxicology Meeting as part of a session on Acute
Anaphylactoid Reactions in Nonclinical Species
Juyoung Shim (PhD candidate, University of Maine) was awarded the Edith M. Patch
Outstanding PhD student award and Undergraduate Mentoring Award both from the
University of Maine
Helen Haggerty (Distinguished Research Fellow, Bristol-Myers Squibb) received theLifetime Achievement Award from the Biotechnology Specialty Section of SOT

Publications
Germundson DL, Smith NA, Vendsel LP, Kelsch AV, Combs CK, Nagamoto-Combs K. Oralsensitization to whey proteins induces age- and sex-dependent behavioral abnormality
and neuroinflammatory responses in a mouse model of food allergy: a potential role ofmast cells. J Neuroinflammation. 2018 Apr 23;15(1):120. doi: 10.1186/s12974-018-11460. PMID: 29685134
Berntsen HF, Bølling AK, Bjørklund CG, Zimmer K, Ropstad E, Zienolddiny S, Becher R,
Holme JA, Dirven H, Nygaard UC, Bodin J. Decreased macrophage phagocytic function due
to xenobiotic exposures in vitro, difference in sensitivity between various macrophage
models. Food Chem Toxicol. 2018 Feb;112:86-96. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2017.12.024. Epub
2017 Dec 16.

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Recent Member Honors and Publications
Publications
Impinen A, Nygaard UC, Lødrup Carlsen KC, Mowinckel P, Carlsen KH, Haug LS, Granum B.
Prenatal exposure to perfluoralkyl substances (PFASs) associated with respiratory tract
infections but not allergy- and asthma-related health outcomes in childhood. Environ Res.
2018 Jan;160:518-523. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.10.012. Epub 2017 Nov 6.
Lødrup Carlsen KC, Rehbinder EM, Skjerven HO, Carlsen MH, Fatnes TA, Fugelli P, Granum
B, Haugen G, Hedlin G, Jonassen CM, Landrø L, Lunde J, Marsland BJ, Nordlund B,
Professor KR, Sjøborg K, Söderhäll C, Cathrine Staff A, Vettukattil R, Carlsen KH; study
group. Preventing atopic dermatitis and ALLergies in Children-the PreventADALL study.
Allergy. 2018 Apr 30. doi: 10.1111/all.13468. [Epub ahead of print] No abstract available.
Herzyk DJ, Haggerty HG. Cancer Immunotherapy: Factors important for the evaluation ofsafety in nonclinical studies. The AAPS Journal (2018) 20: 28. DOI: 10.1208/s12248-0170184-3.
Weatherly, L. M., Nelson, A., J. Shim, J., Riitano, A. M., Gerson, E. D., Hart, A. J., de JuanSanz, J., Ryan, T., A. Sher, R., Hess, S. T., Gosse, J. A. Antimicrobial agent triclosan disrupts
mitochondrial structure, revealed by super-resolution microscopy, and inhibits mast cellsignaling via calcium modulation. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2018. Vol 348. pp 39-54. DOI:
10.1016/j.taap.2018.04.005
Johnson VJ, Germolec DR, Luebke RW, and Luster MI. (2018). Immunotoxicity Studies. In:
McQueen C (Ed.) Comprehensive Toxicology, 3rd Edition. Elsevier Ltd., Kidlington, United
Kingdom. Chapter 9.17, Pp. 255-270.
Burleson, SCM. and Johnson, VJ. (2018) Hypersensitivity Reactions in the Respiratory
Tract. In: McQueen, C. A., Comprehensive Toxicology, 3rd Edition. Elsevier Ltd., Kidlington,
United Kingdom. Chapter 11.27, Pp. 599-622.
Immunotoxicity Testing, Edited by Jamie DeWitt, Cheryl Rockwell, and Christal Bowman
and filled with chapters authored or co-authored by many members of the ITSS

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