NAME
Joan S. Hunt, Ph.D.

POSITION TITLE
University Distinguished Professor

EDUCATION/TRAINING

Univ of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

A.B.

1956

Bacteriology

Univ of Missouri, Kansas City, MO

M.S.

1978

Med. Microbiology

Univ of Kansas, Kansas City, KS

Ph.D.

1983

Immunology

Professional Experience

1984-1989

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Pathology, Univ. Kansas Med. Ctr. (KUMC)

1987-1994

Director, Monoclonal Antibody Facility, KUMC

1989-1995

Associate Professor, Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, KUMC

1992-1995

Associate Professor, Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology, KUMC

1995-Present

Professor, Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology (primary) and Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (second appointment)

1999

Overseas Visiting Scholar, St. John's College, Cambridge Univ., Cambridge, England

2000-Present

University Distinguished Professor, Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

2000-Present

Associate Dean for Graduate Education, School of Medicine, KUMC

Current and Previous Editorial Positions: Present: J. Reprod. Immunol. Editor-in-Chief; Placenta, Editorial Board; Biology of Reproduction, Editorial Board. Previous: J. Immunol., Associate Editor; Immunol. Letters, Executive Editorial Board; Frontiers Biosc., Editorial Board.

Current and Previous National/International Elective Offices: Current: President, International Federation of Placenta Associations; Executive Council, Placenta Association of the Americas. Previous: President, Amer. Soc. Immunol. Reprod; Executive Council, Intl. Soc. Immunol. Reprod.

Awards: NIH FIRST Award; Investigator Recognition Award, School of Medicine, KUMC; J. Christian Herr Award for research excellence, Am. Soc. Reprod. Immunol.; Dolph Simons/Higuchi Award for Biomedical Research, University of Kansas, 1998; Chancellor's Club Award, KUMC, 1999; University Distinguished Professor, 2000.

Study Sections: NIH Human Embryology and Development-1 member, 1992-1996/1997-2001, Chairman, 1998-2001; >25 ad hoc and special NIH study sections, 1989-2000.

Program Director: KUMC Training Program in Biomedical Research (1999-present); Frontiers in Reproduction, Woods Hole, MA (1998-2002). Associate Program Director: NICHD Training Program in Reproductive Sciences (W. Kinsey, Director); NICHD P30/P54 Center in Reproductive Sciences (P.F. Terranova, Director)

"Kansas Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network". P.I., J.S. Hunt. Type: P20 (1 P20 RR16475-01). 9-18-01/09-17-04. The purpose of this grant is to build biomedical research infrastructure across the State of Kansas, involving 9 separate graduate and undergraduate campuses.

"Decidual Cell/Placental Interactions", PI: J.S. Hunt. Type: RO1 (HD24212), 08-01-89/07-31-03. The long term objective of this work is to establish maternal-fetal immunological interactions, focusing on immune privilege and programming of placental development.

"Role of Tumor Necrosis Factor in Development", PI: J.S. Hunt. Type: RO1 (HD25691), 05-01-92/08-31-01. The aim of this project is to define the biological role of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in the pregnant uterus and placenta.

"Class I MHC Gene Expression by Human Trophoblast Cells", PI: J.S. Hunt. Type: RO1 (HD26429), 01-01-90/03-31-01. The goal of this project is to identify HLA class I genes in human placental cells and to establish their regulation.

"HLA-G and Maternal/Fetal Immunity", PI: J.S. Hunt. Type: RO3 (HD35859), 06-01-98/05-31-01. The purpose of this research is to establish a framework for studying the effects of soluble HLA-G on the maternal and fetal immune systems.

"Steroidal Hormones and Uterine Macrophage Activation". PI: J.S. Hunt. Type: R21 (AI38502) 10-01-97/09-30-00. This project addresses the ability of female sex steroid hormones to influence macrophage activation and modulate expression of the prostaglandin G/H synthase gene.

"Molecular Characterization of an HLA-G-Like Gene Expressed in Baboon (Papio anubis)". PI: J.S. Hunt. Type: CONRAD TWINNING GRANT, Mellon Foundation, 10-01-99/09-30-01. The purpose of this proposal is to determine whether the baboon can be used as a model for the development of immunocontraceptive vaccines.

"Pregnancy?specific Modulation of Natural Killer Cells". PI: M.J. Soares (J.S. Hunt, Co-Investigator, 10% effort). Type:1RO1 (HD37123?01) 08-13-99/07-31-02. The major goal of this research is to understand the involvement of prolactin?like protein?A in the regulation of Natural Killer cells during the establishment of pregnancy.

Hunt, JS, D Vassmer, TA Ferguson and L Miller (1997) Fas ligand is positioned in mouse uterus and placenta to prevent trafficking of activated leukocytes between the mother and the conceptus. J. Immunol. 158:4122-4128.

Hunt, JS, L Miller, D Vassmer and BA Croy (1997) Expression of the inducible nitric oxide synthase gene in mouse uterine leukocytes and potential relationships with uterine function during pregnancy. Biol. Reprod. 57:827-836.

Hunt, JS, L Miller, KL Roby, JS Platt, J Huang and B. DeBrot. (1997). Female steroid hormones regulate production of proinflammatory molecules in uterine leukocytes. J. Reprod. Immunol. 35:87-99.

Ober, C, C Aldrich, B Rosinksy, A Robertson, MA Walker, S Willadsen, MS Verp, DE Geraghty, and JS Hunt (1998) HLA-G1 protein expression is not essential for fetal survival. Placenta 19:127-132.

Hunt, JS (1998) Immunobiology of the maternal-fetal interface. Prenat. Neonat. Med. 3:72-75.

Miller, L, and JS Hunt (1998) Regulation of TNF-a production in activated mouse macrophages by progesterone. J. Immunol. 160:5098-5104.

Hunt, JS and CA Rasmussen (1998) The tumor necrosis factor gene family in pregnancy. Trophoblast Res. 11:139-147.

Chu, W, ME Fant, DE Geraghty, and JS Hunt (1998) Soluble HLA-G in human placentas: synthesis in trophoblasts and interferon-g activated macrophages but not placental fibroblasts. Human Immunol. 59:435-442.

Hunt, JS, L Miller and JS Platt (1998) Hormonal regulation of uterine macrophages. Dev. Immunol. 6:197-204.

Platt, JS and JS Hunt (1998) Interferon-g gene expression in cycling and pregnant mouse uterus: temporal aspects and cellular localization. J. Leukocyte Biol. 64:393-400.

Hunt, JS, W Chu, and L Miller (1998) Nonspecific immunity in the uterus and placenta. Trophoblast Res. 12:125-134.

Hunt, JS, S Banerjee, and JL Pace (1998) Differntial expression and regulation of a human transgene, HLA-B27, in mouse placental and embryonic cell lines. Mol. Human Reprod. 4:817-825.

Hutter, H, A Hammer, G Dohr, and JS Hunt (1998) HLA expression at the maternal-fetal interface. Dev. Immunol. 6:197-204.

Bowen, JA, and JS Hunt (1999) Expression of cell adhesion molecules in murine placentas and a placental cell line. Biol. Reprod. 60:428-434.

Chu, W, Y Yang, DE Geraghty, and JS Hunt (1999) Interferons enhance HLA-G mRNA and protein in transfected mouse fibroblasts. J. Reprod. Immunol. 42:1-15.

Rasmussen, CA, JL Pace, S Banerjee, TA Phillips and JS Hunt (1999) Trophoblastic cell lines generated from tumor necrosis factor receptor-deficient mice reveal specific functions for the two tumor necrosis factor receptors. Placenta 20:213-222.

Kaufman, K, JA Bowen, AF Tsai, JA Bluestone, JS Hunt and C Ober (1999) The CTLA-4 gene is expressed in placental fibroblasts. Mol. Human Reprod. 5:84-87.

Hunt, JS, TA Phillips, CA Rasmussen, JA Bowen and H Bluethmann (1999) Apoptosis-inducing members of the tumor necrosis factor supergene family: potential functions in placentas. Trophoblast Res. 13:243-257.

Phillips, TA, J Ni, G Pan, SM Ruben, Y-F Wei and JS Hunt (1999) TRAIL (Apo-2L) and TRAIL receptors in human placentas: implications for tumor protection and immune privilege. J. Immunol. 162:6053-6059.

Muller, H, B Liu, BA Croy, J Head, JS Hunt, G Dai and MJ Soares (1999) Uterine natural killer cells are targets for a trophoblast cell-specific cytokine, prolactin-like protein-A. Endocrinol. 140:2711-2720.

Chu, W, J Gao, WJ Murphy and JS Hunt (1999) A candidate interferon-gamma activated site (GAS element) in the HLA-G promoter does not bind nuclear proteins. Human Immunol. 60: 1113-1118.

Thaler, CJ, CA Labarrere, JS Hunt, JA McIntyre and WP Faulk (1999) Unique epitopes of lactoferrin expressed by subsets of human cytotrophoblast. Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 181:460-467.

Bowen, JA, and JS Hunt. (2000) Role of integrins in reproduction. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 223:331-343.

Hunt, JS, MG Petroff, and TG Burnett. (2000) Uterine leukocytes: key players in pregnancy. Invited review. Sem. Cell Dev. Biol. 11:127-137.

Burnett, T, and JS Hunt. (2000) Nitric oxide synthase-2 and expression of perforin in uterine natural killer cells. J. Immunol. 164:5245-5250.

Hunt, JS., L. Jedhav, W. Chu, DE. Geraghty and C. Ober. (2000) Soluble HLA-G circulates in mothers during pregnancy. Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 183:682-688.

Wang, D., R. Ishimura, D. S. Walia, H. Muller, G. Dai, J. S. Hunt, N. A. Lee, J. J. Lee, and M. J. Soares. 2000. Eosinophils are cellular targets of the novel uteroplacental heparin-binding cytokine, decidual/trophoblast prolactin-related protein. J. Endocrinol. 167:15-28.

Hunt, J.S., M. G. Petroff, P. Morales, P. Sedlmayr, D.E. Geraghty, and C. Ober. 2000. HLA-G in reproduction: studies on the maternal-fetal interface. Human Immunol. 61:1113-1117.

Phillips, T.A., J. Ni, and J. S. Hunt. 2001. Death-inducing tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily ligands and receptors are transcribed in human placentas, cytotrophoblasts, placental macrophages and placental cell lines. Placenta 22:663-672.

Gray, H.L., E. Sorensen, J.S. Hunt, and C. Ober. 2001. Three polymorphisms in the 3'UTR of the TRAIL (TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand) gene. Genes Immunity 2:469-470.

Petroff, M. G., L. Chen, T. A. Phillips, and J. S. Hunt. B7 family molecules: novel immunomodulators at the maternal-fetal interface. Trophoblast Res., suppl. Placenta, in press.

Ware, CB and JS Hunt (1997) Disruption of the LIF receptor. In: Cytokine Knockouts. S.K. Durum and K. Muegge, Eds. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. P. 315-334.

Hunt, JS and PM Johnson (1997) Immunology of reproduction. In: Encyclopedia of Reproduction. E. Knobil and J. D. Neill, Eds., Academic Press, NY. Vol. 2. P. 798-806.

Hunt, JS (2000) Cytokine networks in the human placenta.. In: Cytokines in Human Reproduction. J. A. Hill, Ed. J. Wiley-Liss Pub., John Wiley & Sons, New York. Publishers. Chapter 9:203-220.

Hunt, JS (in press) Major histocompatibility antigens in reproduction. In: The Endometrium. S. Glasser, J. Aplin, L. Giudice and S. Tabibzadeh, Eds. Harwood Academic Pub., London, U.K.

Hunt, J.S. Major histocompatibility antigens in reproduction. 2001. In: The Endometrium, Chapter 26. S. Glasser, J. Aplin, L. Giudice and S. Tabibzadeh, Eds. Harwood Academic Pub., London, U.K. P. 392-402.

Hunt, J.S., and K. K. S. Tung. 2001. Immunological aspects of fertility and infertility. In: Samter's Immunologic Diseases, Sixth Edition. K. F. Austen, M. M. Frank, J. P. Atkinson and H. Cantor, Eds. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, MD. P. 771-785.

Hunt, J.S. Immunogenetics. In: Reproductive Medicine, Second Edition. J. Strauss, ed. Parthenon Press, Carnforth, UK. In press.

Hunt, J.S. Immunity in the placenta. In: Mucosal Immunology, Third Edition. J. Mestecky, Ed. Academic Press, NY. In
preparation.