Harvey Cantor is an American immunologist known for his studies of the development and immunological function of T lymphocytes.National Academy of Sciences |https://www.nasonline.org/directory-entry/harvey-cantor-duemkw/ Cantor is currently the Baruj Benacerraf Professor of Immunology and Microbiology at the Harvard Medical School.
Research
Cantor's early studies focused on the development and function of lymphocytes derived from the thymus (T-lymphocytes or T cells). In particular, his research addressed whether the multiple immunological functions of T cells were invested in a single lineage or represented the specialized activities of distinct T cell subsets. This approach depended on the use of antibodies to cell surface glycoproteins or “markers” that might identify specialized subsets of lymphocytes with particular immunologic functions. This experimental approach was also used to investigate other lymphocyte populations, including “natural killer” cells. His laboratory continues to investigate the molecular and cellular elements that regulate the immune response and maintain self-tolerance in the context of autoimmune disorders, anti-tumor immunity and, more recently, Alzheimer's disease.†Hu D, †Ikizawa K, Lu L, Sanchirico ME, Shinohara ML, Cantor H. Analysis of regulatory CD8 cells in mice deficient in the Qa-1 class Ib molecule. Nature Immunology, 2004;5:516Lu L, Ikizawa K, Hu D, Werneck MBF, Wucherpfennig KW, Cantor H. Regulation of activated CD4+ T cells by NK cells via the Qa-1-NKG2A inhibitory pathway. Immunity, 2007;26: 593†Leavenworth JW, †Schellack C, †Kim H-J, Lu L, Spee P, and Cantor H. Analysis of the cellular mechanism underlying inhibition of EAE after treatment with anti-NKG2A F(ab)′2. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2010;107:2562Kim H-J, Verbinnen B, Tang X, Lu L and Cantor H. 2010. Inhibition of follicular T helper cells by CD8+ Treg is essential for self tolerance. Nature 2010;467:328Kim, H-J, Wang X, Radfar S, Sproule TJ, Roopenian DC, Cantor H. CD8+ T regulatory cells express the Ly49 class I MHC receptor and are defective in autoimmune prone B6-Yaa mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2011;108:2010†Leavenworth JW, †Wang X, Wenander CS, Spee P, Cantor H. Mobilization of natural killer cells inhibits development of collagen-induced arthritis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2011;108:14584Leavenworth JW, Tang X, Kim HJ, Wang X, Cantor H. Amelioration of arthritis through mobilization of CD8+ regulatory T cells. J Clin Invest, 2013;123:1382-9Steinman L. An intrinsically disordered protein, osteopontin, driving neuropathology in Alzheimer's dementia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023; 120:e2221816120. PMC9963143.
Education
Cantor received an A.B. from Columbia University and M.D. from New York University School of Medicine, followed by fellowship training at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD with Richard Asofsky and as an NIH Special Fellow at the National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, London. Following a residency in medicine at Stanford, he joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School in 1975 as an assistant professor of medicine and, since 1979, has been professor of pathology. In 1998, Cantor was appointed chair of the Department of Cancer Immunology & Virology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and in 2007 he was honored by appointment to the Baruj Benacerraf Professorship at Harvard Medical School.
Awards
Cantor was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (2002), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2005) and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2010). More recently, Cantor received the 2019 Excellence in Mentoring Award and was elected as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists in 2020.
References
External links
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute profile Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC) profile Harvard Medical School Program in Immunology profile