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TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH Robert H. Vonderheide Vonderheide Lab | Staff | Publications | Employment   Robert H. Vonderheide, M.D., D.Phil Assistant Professor of      Medicine,      Hematology/Oncology      Division Email: rhv@mail.med.upenn.edu • Background • Vonderheide Medline   Search   Robert H. Vonderheide combines efforts in both basic research and clinical investigation to advance the understanding of tumor immunology and to develop novel immunotherapies for cancer. The chief hypothesis is that successful approaches in tumor immunotherapy will need to: (a) optimize target antigens with regard to clinical applicability and risk of antigen loss, (b) repair host immuno-incompetence in antigen presentation and T cell function, and (c) circumvent immuno-suppressive factors of the tumor and tumor microenvironment. Current work focuses on the following areas: 1. Characterizing universal tumor antigens such as telomerase and survivin whose functions are linked to oncogenesis 2. Understanding the role of CD40 in immune activation in vitro and in patients 3. Evaluating the mechanisms of cellular tumor immunosurveillance Background Dr. Vonderheide graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering in 1985 and from Oxford University , England , as a Rhodes Scholar with a D.Phil. in immunology in 1989. After graduating from Harvard Medical School in 1993, he completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and subsequently a clinical fellowship in hematology-oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He joined the University of Pennsylvania in 2001 as assistant professor in medicine and an investigator at the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute. He is funded by the NIH, the Beckman Foundation, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy.   TOP The University of Pennsylvania Health System © 2007, The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. Unauthorized reproduction of this material is strictly prohibited. Disclaimer | Contact Webmaster