Joseph Trapani (immunologist)

Last updated
Joseph Trapani
Personal details
Born
Joseph Albert Trapani

NationalityAustralian
Occupation Immunologist

Joseph Albert Trapani is an Australian immunologist.

Trapani studied at the University of Melbourne and did his PhD in the immunogenetics of B27-related arthropathy. He later discovered that the protein perforin forms pores in the target cell and provides access for granzymes to enter and trigger cell death by apoptosis. Since 1995, Trapania has worked on developing CAR T therapy for treating cancer. [1]

Trapani became an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2024 Australia Day Honours for "distinguished service to medical research, particularly immunology and the development of immune-based cancer therapies, and to the community." [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene therapy</span> Medical technology

Gene therapy is a medical technology that aims to produce a therapeutic effect through the manipulation of gene expression or through altering the biological properties of living cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leukemia</span> Blood cancers forming in the bone marrow

Leukemia is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called blasts or leukemia cells. Symptoms may include bleeding and bruising, bone pain, fatigue, fever, and an increased risk of infections. These symptoms occur due to a lack of normal blood cells. Diagnosis is typically made by blood tests or bone marrow biopsy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beckman Research Institute</span> American medical research institute founded 1984

The Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope (BRI) is a not-for-profit medical research facility located at and partnering with the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California, United States. It is dedicated to studying normal and abnormal biological processes which may be related to cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases. Both basic and clinical research are carried out in cooperation with the City of Hope National Medical Center. The institute itself is organized into more than 20 departments and divisions. As of 2021, the director is Steven T. Rosen. The Beckman Research Institute also hosts the Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences whose founding dean was Arthur Riggs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center</span> Public academic health science center in Dallas, Texas

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is a public academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 23,000 employees, more than 3,000 full-time faculty, and nearly 4 million outpatient visits per year, UT Southwestern is the largest medical school in the University of Texas System and the State of Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rituximab</span> Biopharmaceutical drug

Rituximab, sold under the brand name Rituxan among others, is a monoclonal antibody medication used to treat certain autoimmune diseases and types of cancer. It is used for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, rheumatoid arthritis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, pemphigus vulgaris, myasthenia gravis and Epstein–Barr virus-positive mucocutaneous ulcers. It is given by slow intravenous infusion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences</span> United States federal government university in Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is a health science university and professional school of the U.S. federal government. The primary mission of the school is to prepare graduates for service to the U.S. at home and abroad as uniformed health professionals, scientists and leaders; by conducting cutting-edge, military-relevant research; by leading the Military Health System in key functional and intellectual areas; and by providing operational support to units around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center</span> Treatment and research hospital in New York City

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is a cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute–designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Its main campus is located at 1275 York Avenue between 67th and 68th Streets in Manhattan.

Bevacizumab, sold under the brand name Avastin among others, is a monoclonal antibody medication used to treat a number of types of cancers and a specific eye disease. For cancer, it is given by slow injection into a vein (intravenous) and used for colon cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, glioblastoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and renal-cell carcinoma. In many of these diseases it is used as a first-line therapy. For age-related macular degeneration it is given by injection into the eye (intravitreal).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Metcalf</span> Australian medical researcher (1929–2014)

Donald Metcalf AC FRS FAA was an Australian medical researcher who spent most of his career at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. In 1954 he received the Carden Fellowship from the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria; while he officially retired in 1996, he continued working and held his fellowship until his death in December 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">V. Craig Jordan</span> American-British pharmacologist (1947–2024)

Virgil Craig Jordan,, was an American and British scientist specializing in drugs for breast cancer treatment and prevention. He was Professor of Breast Medical Oncology, and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. Previously, he was Scientific Director and Vice Chairman of Oncology at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center of Georgetown University. Jordan was the first to discover the breast cancer prevention properties of tamoxifen and the scientific principles for adjuvant therapy with antihormones. His later work branched out into the prevention of multiple diseases in women with the discovery of the drug group, selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERMs). He later worked on developing a new Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) for post-menopausal women that prevents breast cancer and does not increase the risk of breast cancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Pestell</span> Australian oncologist and endocrinologist

Richard G. Pestell is an Australian American oncologist, endocrinologist and research scientist. Pestell was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to medicine and medical education in 2019 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was previously Executive Vice President of Thomas Jefferson University and Director of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center of Thomas Jefferson University. He founded six biotechnology companies developing cancer therapy and diagnostics. He is currently Distinguished Professor, Translational Medical Research, and the President of the Pennsylvania Cancer and Regenerative Medicine Research Center at the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute.

Suzanne Cory is an Australian molecular biologist. She has worked on the genetics of the immune system and cancer and has lobbied her country to invest in science. She is married to fellow scientist Jerry Adams, also a WEHI scientist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malaghan Institute of Medical Research</span> Independent biomedical research institute in Wellington, New Zealand

The Malaghan Institute of Medical Research is an independent biomedical research institute based in Wellington, New Zealand. The Malaghan Institute specialises in the immune system, and how it can be harnessed to improve human health. Its key areas of research and discovery are cancer, asthma and allergy, infectious disease, gut health and brain health. In 2019, the Institute began New Zealand's first clinical trial of CAR T-cell therapy, trialling a third-generation CAR T-cell therapy in partnership with Wellington Zhaotai Therapies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siddhartha Mukherjee</span> Indian-American physician, writer b. 1970

Siddhartha Mukherjee is an Indian-American physician, biologist, and author. He is best known for his 2010 book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, that won notable literary prizes including the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, and Guardian First Book Award, among others. The book was listed in the "All-Time 100 Nonfiction Books" by Time magazine in 2011. His 2016 book The Gene: An Intimate History made it to #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list, and was among The New York Times 100 best books of 2016, and a finalist for the Wellcome Trust Prize and the Royal Society Prize for Science Books.

Molecular oncology is an interdisciplinary medical specialty at the interface of medicinal chemistry and oncology that refers to the investigation of the chemistry of cancer and tumors at the molecular scale. Also the development and application of molecularly targeted therapies.

Pamela J. Russell was an Australian academic researcher of immunology, bladder and prostate research. Russell was awarded Membership of the Order of Australia (AM) for her research on prostate and bladder cancer in 2003.

Ren Michael Pedersen is an advocate for children's brain cancer research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John E. J. Rasko</span>

John E. J. Rasko is an Australian clinical hematologist, pathologist and scientist whose research focuses on gene and stem cell therapy, experimental haematology and molecular biology. He directs the Department of Cell and Molecular Therapies at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, heads the Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Program at the Centenary Institute, Sydney, and is Professor of Medicine, Sydney Medical School, the University of Sydney. He is a science communicator, often interviewed on Australian radio and television, and is a regular contributor to Breakfast, Radio National, ABC. Rasko delivered the ABC's 2018 Boyer Lectures. Entitled Life Re-engineered, they examined the history and impact of gene and cell therapies.

Misty Rayna Jenkins is an Australian scientist known for her research into lymphocytes and cancer treatment.

Georgina Venetia Long is an Australian medical oncologist, clinical trialist and translational researcher, and works in drug therapy development. She was the joint recipient of the National Australia Day Council's 2024 Australian of the Year Award.

References

  1. "Professor Joseph Trapani". Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research . Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  2. "Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the General Division" (PDF). Governor-General of Australia. p. 58. Retrieved 26 January 2024.