Michael L. Dustin

I have a B.A. in Biology from Boston University and a PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology from Harvard University. My undergraduate research focused on glucose transport in erythrocytes with Scott Peterson and my PhD on cell-cell adhesion in the immune system with Timothy A. Springer. I did post-doctoral training in the area of lysosome biogenesis with Stuart Kornfeld at Washington University. I started my independent career in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine. There, I led a collaborative team on the initial characterization of the immunological synapse. I was tenured at Washington University. I moved to NYU School of Medicine in 2001 and became a Professor in 2006. At NYU SOM we utilized intravital microscopy to further define the role of immunological synapses and guidance mechanisms in the immune system in vivo. We next defined a novel compartment in the immunological synapse based on release of T cell receptor enriched micro vesicles into the centre of the immunological synapse. Further investigation of the immunological synapse of cytotoxic T cells at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology of the University of Oxford revealed deposition of cytotoxic core-shell nanoparticles that can kill targets autonomously. Both the microvesicles and natural polymer nanoparticles constitute new signalling modes employed by immune cells for complex effector functions such as T cell help for antibody production and cell-mediated killing of cancerous and infected targets.