Vera Byers

Last updated
Vera Byers
Alma mater University of California Los Angeles
Scientific career
Fields Immunology
Institutions University of California San Francisco
Thesis The specific regulatory effect of antigen on induction and paralysis of the immune response studied in vitro  (1969)

Vera Steinberger Byers is an American immunologist [1] who currently practices as a consultant in Incline Village, Nevada and was formerly a professor at the University of California San Francisco, before changing affiliations to University of Nottingham, where she helped conduct research on tumor immunology, later moving on to immunodermatology. While at UCSF, she helped develop a monoclonal antibody for use as an anticancer treatment, specifically against osteogenic sarcoma, [2] though it was originally used against graft-versus-host disease. [3] :865 [4] While at the University of Nottingham, she published some papers on the regulation of the immune response to urushiol in poison ivy/poison oak, also using a monoclonal antibody. [5] [6] Her work as a medical toxicologist pertaining to trichloroethylene [7] features in the book A Civil Action. [3] :866 According to her testimony in the autism omnibus trial, she spent three years working at Immunex, where she worked on the anti-arthritis drug Enbrel. [3] :867 However, the special master in these proceedings wrote, "...there was no record at the FDA of Dr. Byers playing in any role in the Enbrel licensing application," to which Byers responded that "the information did not make a difference." [1] The special master also wrote, "[Byers'] insistence that it was acceptable to use adult norms to measure the immune function of infants and young children was, frankly, incredible. [1] Her testimony in this trial pertained to the alleged mechanism by which the measles virus from the MMR vaccine, in combination with thimerosal, caused Michelle Cedillo to suffer from a "dysregulated immune system." [3] :872 Dr. Byers formerly served on the editorial board of the journal Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy, and has published some research in this journal. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natural killer cell</span> Type of cytotoxic lymphocyte

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">GD2</span> Chemical compound

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Cancer immunotherapy is the stimulation of the immune system to treat cancer, improving on the immune system's natural ability to fight the disease. It is an application of the fundamental research of cancer immunology and a growing subspecialty of oncology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monoclonal antibody therapy</span> Form of immunotherapy

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CD16, also known as FcγRIII, is a cluster of differentiation molecule found on the surface of natural killer cells, neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages, and certain T cells. CD16 has been identified as Fc receptors FcγRIIIa (CD16a) and FcγRIIIb (CD16b), which participate in signal transduction. The most well-researched membrane receptor implicated in triggering lysis by NK cells, CD16 is a molecule of the immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) involved in antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). It can be used to isolate populations of specific immune cells through fluorescent-activated cell sorting (FACS) or magnetic-activated cell sorting, using antibodies directed towards CD16.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemically linked Fab</span>

Two chemically linked fragments antigen-binding form an artificial antibody that binds to two different antigens, making it a type of bispecific antibody. They are fragments antigen-binding of two different monoclonal antibodies and are linked by chemical means like a thioether. Typically, one of the Fabs binds to a tumour antigen and the other to a protein on the surface of an immune cell, for example an Fc receptor on a macrophage. In this way, tumour cells are attached to immune cells, which destroy them.

Ronald C. Kennedy was a virus immunologist at Texas Tech University. Prior to his appointment there he was affiliated with Baylor University, where he had previously done postdoctoral studies. Furthermore, when he switched affiliations to Texas Tech, he was also an adjunct, associate and full professor in the Departments of Microbiology and Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. After his tenure in San Antonio, he switched affiliations to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center's department of microbiology and immunology. In the 1980s he was affiliated with the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, during which time he published some research pertaining to SV40 and intracellular protein transport. More recently, Kennedy has published some research regarding DNA vaccination, mostly in the journal Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Offit, Paul (2011). Deadly Choices . Basic Books. p.  100. ISBN   9780465023561.
  2. Embleton, M. J.; Gunn, B.; Byers, V. S.; Baldwin, R. W. (1981). "Antitumour reactions of monoclonal antibody against a human osteogenic-sarcoma cell line". British Journal of Cancer. 43 (5): 582–587. doi:10.1038/bjc.1981.87. PMC   2010673 . PMID   6941806.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Day 4 of the autism omnibus trial" (PDF). Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  4. Byers, V. S.; Henslee, P. J.; Kernan, N. A.; Blazar, B. R.; Gingrich, R.; Phillips, G. L.; Lemaistre, C. F.; Gilliland, G.; Antin, J. H.; Martin, P. (1990). "Use of an anti-pan T-lymphocyte ricin a chain immunotoxin in steroid-resistant acute graft-versus-host disease". Blood. 75 (7): 1426–1432. doi: 10.1182/blood.V75.7.1426.1426 . PMID   2180494.
  5. Baldwin, R. W.; Clegg, J. A.; Curran, A. C.; Austin, E. B.; Khan, T.; Ma, Y.; Gunn, B.; Hudecz, F.; Byers, V. S.; Lepoittevin, J. P.; Price, M. R. (1999). "Regulation of the contact sensitivity response to urushiol with anti-urushiol monoclonal antibody ALG 991". Archives of Dermatological Research. 291 (12): 652–658. doi:10.1007/s004030050470. PMID   10651166. S2CID   25186844.
  6. Kolata, Gina (24 November 1987). "Futuristic Treatments For the Hair and Skin". New York Times . Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  7. 1 2 Byers, V. S.; Levin, A. S.; Ozonoff, D. M.; Baldwin, R. W. (1988). "Association between clinical symptoms and lymphocyte abnormalities in a population with chronic domestic exposure to industrial solvent-contaminated domestic water supply and a high incidence of leukaemia". Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy. 27 (1): 77–81. doi:10.1007/BF00205762. PMID   3260823. S2CID   7121793.