Primer to the Immune Response

Tak W. Mak is the Director of the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research in the Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Canada, and a University Professor in the Departments of Medical Biophysics and Immunology, University of Toronto. He was trained at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, the University of Alberta, and the Ontario Cancer Institute. He gained worldwide prominence in 1984 as the leader of the team that first cloned the genes of the human T cell antigen receptor. His group went on to create a series of genetically altered mice that have proved critical to understanding intracellular programs governing the development and function of the immune system, and to dissecting signal transduction cascades in various cell survival and apoptotic pathways. His current research remains centered on mechanisms of immune recognition/regulation, malignant cell survival/death, inflammation in autoimmunity and cancer, and metabolic adaptation in tumor cells. Dr. Mak has published over 700 papers and holds many patents. He has been granted honorary doctoral degrees from universities in North America and Europe, is an Officer of the Orders of Canada and Ontario, and has been elected a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.), a Fellow of the Royal Society of London (U.K.), and a Fellow of the AACR Academy. Dr. Mak has won international recognition as the recipient of the Emil von Behring Prize, the King Faisal International Prize for Medicine, the Gairdner Foundation International Award, the Sloan Prize of the General Motors Cancer Foundation, the Novartis Prize in Immunology, the Robert Noble Prize, the Killam Prize, the Stacie Prize, the McLaughlin Medal, and the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize. Mary E. Saunders holds the position of Scientific Editor for the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research, Toronto, Canada. She completed her B.Sc. degree in Genetics at the University of Guelph, Ontario, and received her Ph.D. in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. Dr. Saunders works with Dr. Mak and members of his laboratory on the writing and editing of scientific papers for peer-reviewed journals as well as on various grant applications and book projects. She takes pride and pleasure in producing concise, clear, highly readable text and making complex scientific processes readily understandable. Bradley D. Jett is the James Hurley Professor of Biology at Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA. He completed his B.S. degree in Biology from OBU, followed by his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, he joined the faculty at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. His research interests are primarily focused on host-parasite relationships. Much of his published work relates to the virulence factors of Gram-positive bacteria such as Enterococcus, Staphylococcus and Bacillus, as well as the host immunological responses to these infections. In his current full-time, undergraduate teaching position at his alma mater, he has been awarded Oklahoma Baptist University's Promising Teacher Award and the Distinguished Teaching Award.