Speaker: Uri Galili, PhD, Volunteering Adjunct Professor at Division of Cardiology, Rush Medicine

Date: Tuesday, Sept 6, 2022, 12-1 p.m.
Location: Tom & Linda Atkins Family Seminar Room, Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building

*Those who wish to attend virtually can request a Zoom link at registration

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Description

The presentation includes description of the studies that led to the discovery of the natural anti-Gal antibody, the clinical problems associated with this antibody in xenotransplantation and in allergies caused by it, and presentation of potential future therapies in the areas of wound healing and regeneration of injured heart muscle post myocardial infarction.

About the Speaker

Uri Galili received his PhD from the Department of Cancer Research at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and after a post-doctoral fellowship at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, he returned to the Department of Hematology in the Hadassah Hospital of the Hebrew University. It was there in 1984 that he and his colleagues published the first articles describing anti-Gal antibody and alpha-gal, the blood group carbohydrate that anti-Gal recognizes. In almost all mammals, alpha-gal is abundant and anti-Gal is absent. But in catarrhine primates—old-world monkeys, apes, and humans—the reverse is true: alpha-gal is absent and anti-Gal is the most abundant antibody in circulation. That discovery has been the linchpin of an extraordinary career that has reached into foundations of medicine, immunology, transplantation biology, and physical anthropology. For 38 years, at the University of California San Francisco (1984–1991), the Hahnemann School of Medicine (1991–1999), Rush University School of Medicine (1999–2004), the University of Massachusetts Medical School (2004–2013), and now in retirement back at Rush as volunteer adjunct professor, Galili has collaborated with colleagues from across the landscape of biomedical research, publishing over 100 articles exploring the anti-Gal antibody’s manifold implications, including especially the innovative therapeutic opportunities it has brought to light.