Daniel Hawiger, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
Education
M.D.
Vienna University
Ph.D.
Rockefeller University
Postdoctoral
Yale University
Research Interests
Daniel Hawiger’s research straddles basic science and clinically oriented investigation.
Together with his laboratory, Hawiger has made major contributions to understanding
the functions of conventional dendritic cells 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
Hawiger characterized dendritic cells with tolerogenic functions in vivo, defined
roles of such dendritic cells in amelioration of autoimmune responses in models of
multiple sclerosis, and uncovered specific mechanisms governing the induction and
survival of peripheral (extrathymic) regulatory T cells relevant to autoimmune responses.
Recently, Hawiger uncovered pre-effector T cells with a pluripotent autoimmune encephalitogenic
differentiation potential in vivo. Moreover, Hawiger revealed molecular mechanisms
controlling death of tolerogenic dendritic cells under pro-inflammatory conditions,
therefore establishing the ablation of tolerogenic dendritic cells as a crucial component
of the pro-inflammatory maturation process.
Bioengineering of Recombinant Proteins for Immunomodulation in Vivo
Earlier in his career, Hawiger pioneered the original anti-DEC-205 chimeric antibody
to enable strategies for targeted delivery of defined antigens to dendritic cells
in vivo; they have now been broadly adopted. Hawiger further established the applications
of these dendritic cell-targeting strategies for amelioration of autoimmune disease
in animal models. More recently, 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
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. Hawiger established key applications of Seqtometry
for basic research as well as possible diagnostic applications in Alzheimer’s disease
and other diseases.