Robbie B. Mailliard, PhD

  • Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
  • Associate Director of The Pitt Systems Biology & Biostatistics Core of the CWRU/Pitt Center for AIDS Research (Rustbelt CFAR)

Education & Training

  • PhD in Immunology/Medicine, University of Amsterdam (NED), 2006
  • BS in Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh, 1990

Research Interests

Dr. Mailliard’s research focuses on the central role played by dendritic cells (DCs) in the induction and regulation of the immune response. He is also interested in the non-classical “helper” functions of NK cells and CD8+ cytotoxic T cells and their influence on DC function during infection and vaccination. His goal is to have a better understanding of basic immunity for the purpose of developing more effective cellular based immunotherapy strategies to treat chronic diseases including HIV and cancer. His work has led to the development of the first clinically applicable type-1 polarized dendritic cell-based vaccine platform (alpha-DC1), which is currently being explored in clinical trials for the treatment of different cancers and HIV. His lab is currently exploring the use of DCs as an HIV immunotherapeutic “kick and kill” tool to both drive HIV latency reversal and to prime cytotoxic T cell responses against the infected CD4+ T cell reservoir as a functional cure strategy. He is a co-investigator of the Mulitcenter AIDS Cohort Study/ Women’s Interagency HIV Study (MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study) and the AIDC Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), and her serves as the Associate Director of The Systems Biology & Biostatistics Core of the CWRU/Pitt Center for AIDS Research (Rustbelt CFAR).

Publications

Mailliard RB, Egawa S, Cai Q, Kalinska A, Bykovskaya SN, Lotze MT, Kapsenberg ML, Storkus WJ and Kalinski P. 2002. Complementary dendritic cell-activating function of CD8+ and CD4+ T cells: helper role of CD8+ T cells in the development of T helper type 1 responses. The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 195: 473-483.

Mailliard RB, Wankowicz-Kalinska A, Cai Q, Wesa A, Hilkens CM, Kapsenberg ML, Kirkwood JM, Storkus WJ and Kalinski P. 2004. Alpha-type-1 polarized dendritic cells: a novel immunization tool with optimized CTL-inducing activity. Cancer Research. 64: 5934-5937.

Mailliard RB, Son YI, Redlinger R, Coates PT, Giermasz A, Morel PA, Storkus WJ and Kalinski P. 2003. Dendritic cells mediate NK cell help for Th1 and CTL responses: two-signal requirement for the induction of NK cell helper function. Journal of Immunology. 171: 2366-2373. 

Mailliard RB, Alber SM, Shen H, Watkins SC, Kirkwood JM, Herberman RB and Kalinski P. 2005. IL-18-induced CD83+CCR7+ NK helper cells. The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 202: 941-953. 

Mailliard RB, Smith KN, Fecek RJ, Rappocciolo G, Nascimento EJ, Marques ET, Watkins SC, Mullins JI and Rinaldo CR. 2013. Selective Induction of CTL Helper Rather Than Killer Activity by Natural Epitope Variants Promotes Dendritic Cell-Mediated HIV-1 Dissemination. Journal of Immunology. 191: 2570-2580. 

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