Dr. Adrian Ozinsky
Ph.D., in Medical Biochemistry, 1996
M.D., University of Cape Town, 1988

Phone: 206-732-1375
Email:

Dr. Ozinsky joined the ISB faculty in 2005. He is an immunologist with a strong background in cell biology, molecular biology, and biochemistry. He is interested in deciphering how immune cells co-ordinate defenses during infections. What are the mechanisms used by white blood cells, such as macrophages, to detect, engulf and kill microbes, and how are these events coupled to the initiation of inflammation?

Dr. Ozinsky graduated in Medicine from the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 1988, and received a Ph.D. in Medical Biochemistry in 1996. Following post-doctoral training with Dr. Alan Aderem, in Immunology, at the University of Washington, Dr. Ozinsky joined the Institute for Systems Biology in 2000, as a Senior Research Scientist. He also has an affiliate appointment in Immunology, at the University of Washington.

Dr. Ozinsky has made major contributions to establish that innate immune cells utilize the members of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family to identify pathogens and coordinate protective immune defenses in order to limit infections. These studies have revealed how TLRs participate in the perception of a variety of microbes, including organisms as diverse as Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, mycobacteria, yeasts, and parasites. This wide range of pathogens is perceived through the recognition of select microbial components, including combinations of sugars, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids that represent molecular patterns that are unique to pathogens.

The mechanism of ligand recognition and signal transduction involves co-operation between different TLRs that simultaneously recognize different sets of components on the surface a given pathogen and thus enables the immune cells to distinguish between pathogens. In this manner, a stream of signals is generated that activates inflammation and shapes the nature of the subsequent immune response. In addition to these studies performed in mice, Dr. Ozinsky also has helped to define how mutations within TLR genes confer risk of infectious disease in humans.

Areas of Research:

Research in Dr. Ozinsky's laboratory will explore the manner in which inflammation is regulated. Currently, at the ISB, the modern high-throughput tools for systems biology are being applied to assess the global view of immune responses to microbes. Dr. Ozinsky intends to complement this research by developing microfluidic tools to probe the spectrum and influence of cell-cell heterogeneity on immune responses by measuring responses at the single cell level. His group aims to develop techniques that permit multiple responses to be measured simultaneously, in order to define coordinated response patterns from the same individual cell, and from multiple cells in parallel. Dr. Ozinsky believes that these techniques will advance the field of systems biology by untangling the heterogeneity inherent in cellular responses. This approach will be used to define the molecules regulating biological processes that are likely candidates conferring risk for disease.
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Key collaborations within ISB:

The establishment of microfluidic techniques for single cell analysis is a collaboration between the Ozinsky laboratory, and the laboratories of Alan Aderem and Lee Hood. The analysis of multiplexed optical data on cellular responses is a collaboration with the laboratories of Hamid Bolouri and Ilya Schmulevich.

Key collaborations outside ISB:

The development of microfluidic techniques for the analysis of immune cell function is being achieved in collaboration with Carl Hansen (University of British Columbia, Vancouver), and the members of the Nanosystems Biology Alliance (Caltech/Stanford/University of California Los Angeles)

Why am I at ISB?

The ISB affords a unique environment for the development of new technology through the interplay of:

1. the use of state-of-the-art tools of high-throughput biology
2. the interweaving of global measurements with detailed single-molecule studies
3. the ability to interrogate a biological question using human and mouse genetics, cell biology, protein and mRNA assays, and detailed computational analysis
4. the in-house collaboration of scientists with diverse backgrounds, including physics, chemistry, engineering, computation, mathematics, biology and medicine
5. the ability to fabricate tools
6. the collaboration with superb groups at other institutions

	Group Personnel
			Senior Research Scientist James Spotts
			Postdoctoral Fellow Anne Grosse-Wilde Shari Kaiser
			Research Associate 3 Karie Holtermann
			Intern Jordan Brengman