Martin Guimond

Title

• Assistant professor department of Microbiology-Immunology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Qc, CAN.

Education

• Post-Doctoral Fellowship with Crystal L. Mackall in Pediatric Hematology & Oncology, Immunology Section, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute /, Bethesda, MD, USA. (2004-2008)
• Post-Doctoral Fellowship with Michael A. Caligiuri,  Immunology Section, Ohio State university, Columbus, OH, USA. (2001-2004)
• Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, Immunology & Oncology Branch, Guy-Bernier Research Center, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, CAN. ,1996-2001
• M.Sc., Microbiology Immunology, Rhumatology & Immunology Branch, Louis-Charles Simard Research Center, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, CAN, 1993-1996
• B.Sc., Microbiology Immunology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, CAN, 1990-1993

Distinctions and achievements

• Recipient of "Best Cytokine Paper Award", National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
• Junior Researcher FRSQ, Fond de la Recherche en Sante du Quebec 2008
• Travel Award, American Society of Hematology 2007
• NCI Merit Award, NIH/NCI 2006
• NIH Merit Award, NIH/NCI  2005
• Post-Doctoral Visiting Fellow award, National NIH/NCI. 2004-2008
• Recipient of “Up on the roof fellowship award” Columbus, OH, USA. 2001
• Recipient of Ph.D with mention of honor, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, CAN. 2001
• First price for oral presentation, 7th Annual Meeting of the CBMT Group, Quebec City, 2000

RESEARCH INTERESTS

The goal of our lab is to understand how naïve T cells are regenerated following lymphopenia in order to improve their recovery and later increase the efficacy of immunotherapy. Guided by a bedside-to-bench-approach to research, we build upon our clinical expertise to develop murine models that recreate human conditions. Based on these models, we hope to improve our basic understanding of fundamental processes that interfere and regulate naïve CD4+ T cell regeneration in the setting of human lymphopenia.  Studies in the Guimond’s laboratory focus on two primary projects: I. The biology and therapy of T cell depletion,  II. Immunobiology and immunotherapy of graft versys host disease.

Our Specific aims of Project I are the following: 

1. To identify how elevated IL-7 found during lymphopenia alters the capacity of Antigen Presenting Cells to support naive CD4 T cell HPE. 
2. To identify differential requirements for HPE of non-regulatory CD4+CD25- cells vs. regulatory CD4+CD25+ T cells with an emphasis on the role for APC derived IL-7 in these two populations. 
3. To identify how IL-7 therapy expands naïve CD4 T cells.

Because clinical translation of our work on immune reconstitution is focuses in part on transplanted patients, Project II comprises projects specifically aimed at understanding the immunobiology of allo transplant and the effect of graft versus host disease on lymphocyte regeneration and homoestasis

Our specific Aim for project II are:

1. To identify how GVHD affect the capacity of IL-7Ra+ DCs. to support nave CD4 HPE; 
2. To improve immune reconstitution during GVHD.

Thus, our future goals are to contribute to the development of IL-7 as an immune stimulant which we believe may be more effective that IL2 and which may find a role in the immunotherapy of cancer both in lymphopenic and T cell replete hosts.

RESEARCH TEAM

M.Sc. Students:

• Olga Hennion
• Simon-David Gauthier 

Lab manager:

• Dominique Leboeuf, M.Sc.

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Selected papers

Shriner AK*., Sun G*., Guimond M., Allugupalli KR. Interleukin-7-driven B1b lymphopoiesis is critical for T cell-independent antigen responses and protective immunity (*co-first author), J Immunol. 2010 Jul 1;185(1):525-31.

Krauss A*.,Fewkes N*.,Guimond M., Dobre S., Mackall, CL.: Transient, Pharmacologic Modulation of Niche Accessibility via Tyrosine Kinase Inhibition Enhances Engraftment Following Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. (*co-first author), Blood. 2010 May 20;115(20):4120-9.

Guimond M., Freud A.G., Mao HC, Bradley B.W., Leong J.W., Vandeusen J.B., Dorrance A., Mackall C.L., Caligiuri M.A.: The invivo role of dendritic cells in natural killer cell homeostasis and expansion. J. Immunol. 2010 Mar 15;184(6):2769-75.

Cui Y., Zhang H., Meadors, J., Poon R., Guimond M.,  Mackall CL: Harnessing the physiology of lymphopenia to support Adoptive immunotherapy in lymphoreplete hosts. Blood. 2009 Oct 29;114(18):3831-40

Guimond M., Grindler D., Graham R., Polly Matzinger, P., Merchant MS., Mackall CL.: IL-7 signaling on IL-7RαDCs regulates the naïve CD4 niche controlling homeostatic peripheral expansion. Nat Immunol. 2009 Feb;10(2):149-57.

Guimond M., Veenstra RG., Grindler DJ., Hua Z., Cui Y., Murphy RD.,  Kim,SY., Na, R., Henninghausen L., Kurtulus S., Erman B., Matzinger P., Merchant, MS., Mackall CL. IL-7 Signaling on IL-7R?DCs Regulates the Naïve CD4 Niche Controlling Homeostatic Peripheral Expansion. Nat Immunol. 2009 Feb;10(2):149-57.

Reddy, O., Arora, M., Guimond, M., Mackall, CL. GVHD: A Continuing Barrier to the Safety of Allogeneic Transplantation. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant :1-7, November 2008

Dorrance AM., Liu S., Chong A., Pulley B., Guimond M., Yuan W., Chang D., Susan P. Whitman SP., Marcucci G., Caligiuri MA An in vivo analysis of the Mll partial tandem duplication reveals alterations that are dependent and independent of the Mll wild type allele. Blood. 2008 Jul 10. (Epub ahead of print)

Guimond M., Leonard WJ., Rossi SW., Veenstra R.G., Hollander GA., Mackall CL., Blazar BR. Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin (TSLP) Is Not Necessary or Sufficient to Mediate the Thymopoietic Effects of Keratinocyte Growth Factor (KGF). Blood, 15 January 2008, Vol. 111, No. 2, pp. 969-70.

Opavsky R., Tsai SY., Guimond M., Arora A, Opavska J., Trikha P., Maiti B., Wu L., Becknell B., Kaufmann M., Walton N., Stephens JA., Fernandez SA., Muthusamy N., Felsher DW., Altura R., Caligiuri MA., Leone G. Specific tumor suppressor function for E2F2 in Myc-induced T cell lymphomagenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Sep 19.

Complete list of Dr Guimond’s publications (PubMed)

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Grants

• CIHR 
• FRSQ

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