Robert C. Hackman

The clinical application of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation continues to increase. The success of various treatment modalities often depends largely on either the prevention or the rapid diagnosis and successful treatment of many possible infectious, immunologic and toxic complications. The major focus of research in this laboratory is the pathogenesis of the infectious and pulmonary complications. The questions addressed concern the identity of etiologic agents and processes, the severity of their impact on patient health, the most sensitive and specific diagnostic tests, and the possible interaction of multiple pathogenic influences. Our approach is usually interdisciplinary in collaboration with molecular biologists, oncologists, pulmonologists, microbiologists, infectious disease specialists and gastroenterologists. We are able to test some hypotheses by analyzing selected cases from an extensive tissue archive. Targeted gene knockout mouse models are used in selected studies. Research techniques include immunocytochemistry, in situ hybridization, gene amplification and electron microscopy. Ongoing studies focus on the etiology of the idiopathic pneumonia syndrome which develops in some patients after hematopoietic cell transplantation. Collaborative work involves the detection of uncultured microorganisms, the comparison of different pretransplant conditioning regimens, and in mouse models the identification of T-cell clones which trigger pulmonary damage.