Daniel Hawiger, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
Education
- M.D.: Vienna University
- Ph.D.: Rockefeller University
- Postdoctoral: Yale University
Research Interests
Dr. Hawiger’s research straddles basic science and clinically oriented investigation.
Together with his laboratory Dr. Hawiger made major contributions to understanding
the functions of conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) and T cells, made key advances
in bioengineering of recombinant antibodies, and developed new approaches to single
cell sequencing analysis.
Immunobiology of Dendritic Cells and T Cells
Dr. Hawiger Characterized C D Cs with Tolerogenic Functions in Vivo, Defined Roles
of Such C D Cs in Amelioration of Autoimmune Responses in Models of Multiple Sclerosis
(ms) and Uncovered Specific Mechanisms Governing the Induction and Survival of Peripheral
(extrathymic) Regulatory T Cells Relevant to Autoimmune Responses. Recently, Dr. Hawiger
Uncovered Pre-Effector T Cells with A Pluripotent Autoimmune Encephalitogenic Differentiation
Potential in Vivo. Moreover, Dr. Hawiger Revealed Molecular Mechanisms Controlling
Death of Tolerogenic C D Cs Under Pro-Inflammatory Conditions, Therefore Establishing
the Ablation of Tolerogenic C D Cs as A Crucial Component of The Pro-Inflammatory
C Dc Maturation Process.
Bioengineering of Recombinant Proteins for Immunomodulation in Vivo
Earlier in His Career Dr. Hawiger Pioneered the Original Anti-Dec-205 Chimeric Antibody
to Enable Strategies for Targeted Delivery of Defined Antigens to C D Cs in Vivo that
Have Now Been Broadly Adopted. Dr. Hawiger Further Established the Applications of
These Dendritic Cell-Targeting Strategies for Amelioration of Autoimmune Disease in
Animal Models. More Recently, Dr. Hawiger and His Laboratory Developed Methods for
Stable Production of Conventional and Bispecific Recombinant Antibodies and Antibody-Like
Molecules as Well as Their Conjugation with Nucleic Acids for Specific Tolerogenic
and Pro-Immunogenic Immunomodulation.
Approaches to Single-Cell Sequencing Analysis
Dr. Hawiger’s Team Recently Devised Seqtometry, an Approach to Single-Cell Sequencing
Analysis Based on Transcriptomic and Epigenomic Profiling Within Biologically Interpretable
Dimensions Enabled by Advanced Scoring with Multiple Gene Signatures that Correspond
to Specific Biological Processes. Dr. Hawiger Established Key Applications of Seqtometry
for Basic research as well as possible diagnostic applications in Alzheimer’s disease
(AD) and other diseases.