Program Director/Principal Investigator:
(Last, first, middle)
Hunter, Christopher
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Provide the following information for the Senior/key personnel and other significant contributors.
Follow this format for each person. DO NOT EXCEED FOUR PAGES.
NAME
POSITION TITLE
Christopher A. Hunter
Professor and Chair of Pathobiology
eRA COMMONS USER NAME (credential, e.g., agency login)
chunter
EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with baccalaureate or other initial professional education, such as nursing, include postdoctoral training and
residency training if applicable.)
DEGREE
INSTITUTION AND LOCATION
MM/YY
FIELD OF STUDY
(if applicable)
University of Glasgow, UK
University of Glasgow, UK
B.S.
PhD
1981-1985
1985-1989
University of Glasgow, UK
Postdoctoral
1989-1992
Stanford USA
Postdoctoral
1992-1996
Zoology
Parasite Biochemistry
Parasite
Neuroimmunology
Parasite Immunology
A. POSITION AND HONORS
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Research Assistant, 1985-1989. University of Glasgow, Dept of Zoology.Postdoctoral
Research Fellow, 1989-1992; Glasgow University, Dept Veterinary Medicine and Dept Neurology, Glasgow,
Scotland.
Research Fellow, 1992-1994. Div. of Infectious Diseases, Dept. of Medicine, Stanford Univ. School of Medicine
and Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Research Institute, Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
Research Associate, 1994-1996. Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Stanford University.
School of Medicine and Department of Immunology and Infectious Disease, Research Institute, Palo Alto
Medical Foundation.
Assistant Professor Parasitology, 1996-2001, Department of Pathobiology, University of Pennsylvania.
Associate Professor Parasitology, 2001-2005, Department of Pathobiology, University of Pennsylvania.
Professor of Parasitology 2005-present. Department of Pathobiology, University of Pennsylvania.
Chair of Pathobiology 2007-present. Department of Pathobiology, University of Pennsylvania.
AWARDS/SERVICE
Honors Cormie Prize in Neurology (1991), Pfizer Award for Research Excellence (1997),
Irvington Research Scholar (1993-1996), Burroughs Wellcome Young Investigator Award (1996-1999),
Elected Fellow of the American Academy Microbiology (2009).
Editorial Boards Microbes and Infection (2003-2006), Infection and Immunity (1996-present),
Current Immunology Reviews (2004-present), Section Editor, Journal of Immunology (2003-2008),
Advisory Editorial Board Journal Experimental Medicine (2009 – present), Journal Clinical Investigation (20102012).
Reviewer for Funding Agencies NIH: ARRE Study Section (1998, 2000, 2001-2005), Immunity Host
Defense (2006 - present), AIDS Fellowships (2006), Reviewer National Science Foundation, Wellcome Trust,
Veterans Administration, HHMI (2006), Reviewer for Gates Foundation (2004).
Meeting Organizer Woods Hole Biology of Parasitism course Module (2004-2007) and Course Director
(2006,2007). Organizer Woods Hole Immunoparasitology meeting (2007-08), International Cytokine Society
Meeting (2007, 2011), BWF Parasitology T32 meeting (2008, 2009, 2010), AAI Program Committee, 20062009), Keystone Biology of Cytokines (2012).
PHS 398/2590 (Rev. 11/07)
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Other Support Format Page
Program Director/Principal Investigator:
(Last, first, middle)
Hunter, Christopher
B. PERSONAL STATEMENT
I have been working on various aspects of basic parasitology since 1984 and for the last 20 years there has
been a focus on understanding how the immune response to Toxoplasma gondii is regulated to allow the
development of protective immunity as well as to limit T cell mediated pathology. This program has required
that I oversee multiple projects and personnel and have been performing this role for almost 16 years. In this
laboratory we have developed all of the skills required for the routine analysis of multiple immune parameters
and to quantify NK, T and B cells responses to infection. As part of studies to understand how IL-12 family
members affect immunity to the common opportunistic pathogen T. gondii we were the first laboratory to
describe that IL-27, contrary to initial reports, was important in limiting infection-induced inflammation.
Subsequently, we have pursued the mechanisms used by IL-27 to influence the immune system and our work
has been shown to be relevant to many inflammatory processes in multiple experimental systems that includes
numerous infections as well as models of asthma, IBD and MS. Moreover, in the last 5 years we have utilized
different combinations of transgenic parasites and T cells to provide higher resolution analysis of individual
parasite specific T cell populations. This in turn made it possible to apply multiphoton microscopy to image the
innate and adaptive response to T. gondii in different tissues including the brain and secondary lymphoid
tissues. Thus, the laboratory is committed to the continued development of this model and understanding how
accessory cell and effector cells operate in the retina in the setting of infection. Based on the track record of
the laboratory, resources available within this institution and my commitment to this project I am confident in
our ability to make this a successful research project.
C. KEY PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS (from 140)
1. Hunter, C.A., Jennings, F.W., Adams, H., Murray, M. and Kennedy, P.G.E. (1992). Subcurative
chemotherapy and fatal post-treatment reactive encephalopathies in African trypanosomiasis. The Lancet,
956-958.
2. Villarino, A., Planz, L., Lieberman, L., Wilson, E., Yoshida, H., Mak, T., Kastelein, R., Saris, C. and Hunter,
C.A. (2003). The IL-27R (WSX-1) is required to suppress T cell hyperactivity during infection. Immunity 19:
645-655.
3. Pearce, E. L, Mullen, A. C., Martins, G. A., Krawczyk, C. M., Hutchins, A. S., Zediak, V. P., Banica, M.,
DiCioccio, C. B., Gross, D. A., Mao, C. A., Shen, H., Cereb, N., Yang, S. Y., Lindsten, T., Rossant, J., Hunter,
C. A., Reiner, S. L. (2003). Control of effector CD8+ T cell function by the transcription factor Eomesodermin,
Science 302: 1041-3
4. Hunter, C.A., (2005). New additions to the IL-12 family: IL-23 and IL-27, cytokines with divergent functions
in inflammation. Nature Reviews Immunology 5:521-531.
5. Wilson, E. H., U. Wille-Reece, F. Dzierszinski, and C. A. Hunter. (2005). A critical role for IL-10 in limiting
inflammation during toxoplasmic encephalitis. J Neuroimmunol 165:63-74.
6. Stumhofer, J. S., Laurence, A., Wilson, E. H., Huang, E., Tato, C. M., Johnson, L. M., Villarino, A. V., Huang,
Q., Yoshimura, A., Sehy, D., Saris, C. J., O'Shea J, J., Hennighausen, L., Ernst, M., Hunter, C. A. (2006)
Interleukin 27 negatively regulates the development of interleukin 17-producing T helper cells during chronic
inflammation of the central nervous system. Nat. Immunol. 7: 937-945.
7. Villarino, A.V., Tato, C., Stumhofer, J., Yao, Z., Cui, Y.K., Hennighausen, L., O’Shea, J.J., and Hunter, C.A.
(2007) Helper T cell IL-2 production is limited by negative feedback and STAT-dependent cytokine signals.
Journal Experimental Medicine 204: 65-71. PMCID: PMC2118423
9. Stumhofer, J.S., J.S. Silver, A. Laurence, P.M. Porrett, T.H. Harris, L.A. Turka, M. Ernst, C.J. Saris, J.J.
O'Shea, and C.A. Hunter. (2007). Interleukins 27 and 6 induce STAT3-mediated T cell production of
interleukin 10. Nat Immunol 8:1363-1371.
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Program Director/Principal Investigator:
(Last, first, middle)
Hunter, Christopher
10. Intlekofer, A. M., A. Banerjee, N. Takemoto, S. M. Gordon, C. S. Dejong, H. Shin, C. A. Hunter, E. J.
Wherry, T. Lindsten, and S. L. Reiner. (2008). Anomalous type 17 response to viral infection by CD8+ T cells
lacking T-bet and eomesodermin. Science 321:408-411. PMCID: PMC2807624
11. Wilson, E. H., T. H. Harris, P. Mrass, B. John, E. D. Tait, G. F. Wu, M. Pepper, E. J. Wherry, F. Dzierzinski,
D. Roos, P. G. Haydon, T. M. Laufer, W. Weninger, and C. A. Hunter. (2009). Behavior of parasite-specific
effector CD8+ T cells in the brain and visualization of a kinesis-associated system of reticular fibers. Immunity
30:300-311. PMCID: PMC2696229
12. John, B., Harris, T., Tait, E., Wilson, E.H., Ng, L., Mrass, P., Dzierszinski, F., Weninger, W., Hunter, C.A.
(2009). Dynamic imaging of CD8+ T cells and dendritic cells during infection with Toxoplasma gondii. Plos
Pathogens 5 (7) e1000505. PMCID: PMC2700268
13. Oldenhove, G., Bouladoux, N., Wohlfert, E. A., Hall, J. A., Chou, D., Dos Santos, L., O'Brien, S., Blank, R.,
Lamb, E., Natarajan, S Kastenmayer, R., Hunter, C., Grigg, M. E., Belkaid, Y. (2009). Decrease of Foxp3+
Treg cell number and acquisition of effector cell phenotype during lethal infection. Immunity 31, 772-786.
14. Middleton, M. K., Zukas, A. M., Rubinstein, T., Kinder, M., Wilson, E. H., Zhu, P., Blair, I. A., Hunter, C. A.,
and Pure, E. (2009). 12/15-lipoxygenase-dependent myeloid production of interleukin-12 is essential for
resistance to chronic toxoplasmosis. Infect Immun 77, 5690-5700.
15. Diveu, C., McGeachy, M. J., Boniface, K., Stumhofer, J. S., Sathe, M., Joyce-Shaikh, B., Chen, Y., Tato, C.
M., McClanahan, T. K., de Waal Malefyt, R., Hunter, C. A., Cua, D. J., Kastelein, R. A. (2009). IL-27 blocks
RORc expression to inhibit lineage commitment of Th17 cells. J Immunol 182, 5748-5756.
16. Tait, E. D., Jordan, K. A., Harris, T. H., Gregg, B., Dupont, C. D., Wilson, E. H., Pepper, M., Dzierszinski,
F., Roos, D. S., and Hunter, C. A. (2010). Virulence of Toxoplasma gondii is associated with distinct dendritic
cell responses and reduced numbers of activated CD8+ T cells. Journal Immunology 185, 1502-12.
17. Harris, T.H., Wilson, E.H., Tait, E.D., Buckley, M., Shapira, S., Caamano, J., Artis, D., and Hunter, C.A.
(2010) NF-kB1 contributes to T cell-mediated control of Toxoplasma gondii in the CNS. Journal
Neuroimmunology 222: 19-28.
18. Passos, S. T., Silver, J. S., O’Hara, A., Sehy, D., Stumhofer, J. S., and Hunter, C. A. (2010). IL-6 promotes
NK cell production of IL-17 during toxoplasmosis. Journal Immunology 184, 1776-1783.
19. Findlay, E. G., R. Greig, J. S. Stumhofer, J. C. Hafalla, J. B. de Souza, C. J. Saris, C. A. Hunter, E. M.
Riley, and K. N. Couper. (2010). Essential Role for IL-27 Receptor Signaling in Prevention of Th1-Mediated
Immunopathology during Malaria Infection. J Immunol 185:2482-2492
20. Stumhofer, J.S. Tait E.D., William Quinn, W., Nancy Hosken, N., Björn Spudy, B., Goenka, R., Jones, M.,
Saris, C.J.M., Stefan Rose-John, S., Elloso, M.M., Joachim Grötzinger, J., Cancro,M.P., Levin, S.D., and
Hunter, C.A. (2010). A role for IL-27p28 as an antagonist of gp130-mediated signaling Nature Immunology (In
Press).
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Program Director/Principal Investigator:
(Last, first, middle)
Hunter, Christopher
D. RESEARCH SUPPORT
ACTIVE
T32 AI-07532 (Hunter)
9/1/2008-8/31/2013
NIH/NIAID
Parasitology Modern Approaches
The goal of this training grant is to provide pre-doctoral students with a strong training in basic science as it
relates to Parasitology.
R01 AI071302 (Hunter)
5/1/2006-4/30/2011
NIH/NIAID
Role of dendritic cells in resistance to T. gondii
The main aim of this proposal is to understand how DC influence the generation of innate and adaptive
immunity to T gondii.
R01 AI 41158 (Hunter)
6/15/07- 5/31/12
NIH/NIAID
Immunopathogenesis of Toxoplasmic Encephalitis
The main aim of this proposal is to understand the pathogenesis of toxoplasmic encephalitis.
R01 AI 42334 (Hunter)
1997-2014
NIH/NIAID
Regulation of the early immune response to Toxoplasma gondii
The main of this proposal is to understand how cytokines antagonize anti-inflammatory responses.
P01 ARRA AI084882-01 (Hunter)
7/16/09-6/30/11
NIH/NIAID
IL-27 and functional tolerance
The main of this proposal is to understand how IL-27 controls Treg homeostasis and limits inflammation.
Centocor (Hunter)
Understanding how IL-27 affects infection-induced responses by Treg cells.
PENDING
R21 EY021314 (Hunter PI)
NIH/NEI
Role of chemokines in the T cell response to ocular toxoplasmosis.
07/01/10-06/30/12
U19 AI095231 (Hakonarson PI)
NIH/NIAID
Immunogenetics and microbial impact on allergic disease
Project 3. Role of IL27p28 in asthma (Hunter, Project Leader)
07/01/11-06/30/16
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PHS 398/2590 (Rev. 11/07)