Provider
Theodore Samuel Johnson, MD
Pediatric Oncology/Hematology
Pediatric Hematology & Oncology
Provider
Pediatric Oncology/Hematology
Pediatric Hematology & Oncology
Inflammatory processes complicate the care and prognosis of pediatric hematology/oncology patients through poorly understood pathophysiological mechanisms. In the laboratory, we study these processes carefully. As a clinician I am broadly interested in how such pathological inflammation can drive disease evolution, such as the long-term organic consequences in sickle cell anemia or tumorigenesis in solid-tumor cancers. I care for pediatric and young adult patients with a wide variety of blood diseases and cancers, and my ultimate goal as a physician-scientist is to improve patient outcomes by advancing our understanding of these diseases.
Neoplastic processes actively create immunosuppressive environments that drive systemic tolerance to cancer cells. Tumors develop exquisitely complex stromal networks that promote growth despite the presence of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. Although tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) appear to be fully competent APCs, they process immense volumes of dead and dying tumor cells without inciting adaptive immune responses. Our laboratory uses a variety of solid tumor models to study the role of TAMs in regulating anti-tumor immune responses. We employ an inducible macrophage deletion strategy to study the mechanistic role of TAMs in promoting tumor growth and progression. By inducibly deleting TAMs, we can determine their direct effects on tumor growth and survival, the inflammatory tumor microenvironment and resulting cytokine milieu, and the magnitude of anti-tumor immune responses. We also study the role of TAMs in recruiting inhibitory dendritic cells and regulatory T cells to tumor-draining lymph nodes. The overall objective of these studies is to define the mechanisms by which TAMs promote tumor survival and immune suppression in order to identify therapeutic targets for the development of small-molecule therapies and cellular immunotherapy.
Augusta University is a world-class health care network offering the most comprehensive care in the region, where your health is our priority. As leaders in patient- and family-centered care, our physicians partner with our patients, their families, and other specialty physicians to provide an unmatched level of care. As the only academic medical center in the area, our patients receive the compassionate care they deserve along with leading-edge research and technologies not found anywhere else in the region.
Pediatric Oncology/Hematology
Pediatric Hematology & Oncology
English
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