Personal HistoryDr. Sztein received an M.D. degree from the School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1976. He did his post-doctoral fellowship at NIH with Dr. Joe Oppenheim before becoming a faculty member, first at George Washington University and then at the University of Maryland. Dr. Sztein joined the Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) in 1989 as Chief of the Cellular Immunology and Flow Cytometry Section. Under Dr. Sztein’s leadership, the Immunology Group at the CVD, which he leads, has expanded dramatically. The CVD’s Immunology Group currently consists of approximately 20 individuals, including faculty, laboratory supervisors and other technical personnel, post-doctoral fellows and students. Dr. Sztein is an accomplished investigator in the area of immunology of infectious diseases. As author and/or co-author of 134 peer-reviewed scientific articles and over 30 chapters and Meeting reports, Dr. Sztein is a recognized authority in the human host systemic and mucosal immune response to vaccination and the identification of immunological mechanisms of protection from infection in human and animal models, particularly in the area of enteric diseases. Dr. Sztein has a consistent record of grant support from the NIH, industry and other agencies since 1983 and is a Standing Member of the Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Research Committee (MIDRC), Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and AIDS Initial Review Group, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH (the study section responsible for reviewing K08, K22, K23, K24, K25, K99/R00, T32 and T35 applications). Moreover, he participates regularly as ad-hoc member in other Grant Review Panels of the National Institutes of Health, holds membership in numerous scientific societies, is actively involved in the organization of the National/International meetings and serves as reviewer in major peer-reviewed research journals. Research InterestsBasic and translational models of infectious diseases, chiefly in the areas of vaccine development and host-pathogen interactions, are used in Dr. Sztein's laboratory to uncover the mechanisms underlying protective innate, cellular and antibody immune responses in volunteers and animals. Current projects encompass studies to investigate systemic and mucosal innate and adaptive immune responses in volunteers participating in vaccine trials being conducted at the CVD and other sites, including underdeveloped countries. These trials involve the clinical testing of genetically engineered attenuated vaccine strains developed at the CVD and other institutions, such as attenuated Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi and Shigella (alone or as carriers of foreign genes). Immunological studies in other infectious diseases, including malaria, hepatitis B, influenza and tularemia, are also being performed in immunized or naturally exposed subjects and in animal models. These investigations involve microorganisms relevant to bio-defense. The broad goal of these studies is to uncover the immune mechanisms of protection against infectious agents with the long-term goal of accelerating the development of effective vaccines.
Laboratory Personnel:
CVD Cellular Immunology Section and Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory • Rosangela Salerno-Mezghanni, Ph.D. Instructor
Job Openings:
Positions are available for postdoctoral fellows and graduate students wishing to join a multidisciplinary group that focuses on basic and translational studies in several models of infectious diseases directed to uncover the mechanisms underlying protective innate, cellular and antibody immune responses to a variety of microorganisms in volunteers and animals, chiefly in the areas of vaccine development and host-pathogen interactions. Studies include working with specimens obtained from adults and elderly subjects immunized with genetically engineered strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi and Shigella vaccine candidates, as well as immunized with malaria, hepatitis B, influenza and tularemia vaccines. Areas of study include antigen presentation, MHC-restriction, cloning and characterization of cytotoxic and helper T cells, identification of protective epitopes, role of dendritic and regulatory T cells, microarray profiling and manipulation of cytokine production patterns to elucidate their role in the induction of innate, systemic and mucosal immune responses to vaccination and the mechanisms of immunosenescence. The Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) offers a unique environment to study cellular and molecular determinants of protection to infectious diseases in humans. The CVD, largely supported by NIH funding and private foundations, has earned an international reputation for genetically engineering and testing vaccines against typhoid, shigella, cholera and malaria. Based at the School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, the CVD was established in the mid-1970s as one of the first facilities to evaluate vaccines in community volunteers. It is one of only a handful of vaccine centers in the world engaged in the full range of vaccinology - from basic science through vaccine development, immunological studies, clinical evaluation and field studies. Contact Dr. Marcelo Sztein for additional information. Publications
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