Robert D. Schreiber
Encyclopedia
Robert D. Schreiber
Robert D. Schreiber ((born 1946) is an immunologist and currently is the Alumni Endowed Professor of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine
. Schreiber has led a major revision in our understanding of how the immune system interacts with cancer. His work on the cancer immunoediting hypothesis has helped reveal that the immune system is not only capable of destroying cancers, but can also drive them into a dormant state that, in some cases, results in an enhancement of their malignancy.
With the explosion of new information about the role of the innate immune system
over the last two decades and with the knowledge that the innate immune system was intact in the nude mice that Stutman had used, Schreiber repeated these experiments using a strain of mice he generated to lack both innate and adaptive immunity. These mice lacked the recombination activating gene
(RAG) required for adaptive immune responses and the STAT1
gene that is required for innate responses. Dr. Schreiber’s lab was the first to generate STAT1
deficient mice and has worked to characterize the important role of this gene in innate immunity .
In 2001, in a landmark paper, Schreiber reported that mouse lacking an innate and adaptive immune system had a dramatically increased rate of tumor formation . This study invalidated the conclusions of the Stutman study and revived the idea that the immune system could play a critical role. Subsequent work showed that tumors escape immune recognition by losing their antigenicity in a process he dubbed cancer immunoediting.
These studies have been critical in forming the scientific basis of many of immune mediated strategies currently being tested in patients as anti-tumor regimens. Not only do these studies confirm that the immune system can, in fact, play an important role in destroying tumors, but they support the idea that better understanding of immunological recognition and regulation will lead to breakthroughs in our ability to eradicate tumors using the immune system.
in 2001.
Robert D. Schreiber ((born 1946) is an immunologist and currently is the Alumni Endowed Professor of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine , located in St. Louis, Missouri, is one of the graduate schools of Washington University in St. Louis. One of the top medical schools in the United States, it is currently ranked 4th for research according to U.S. News and World Report and has been listed...
. Schreiber has led a major revision in our understanding of how the immune system interacts with cancer. His work on the cancer immunoediting hypothesis has helped reveal that the immune system is not only capable of destroying cancers, but can also drive them into a dormant state that, in some cases, results in an enhancement of their malignancy.
Area of expertise
Dr. Schreiber’s work focuses on the concept of immune surveillance in cancer pathogenesis. For over 50 years, scientists have argued about the role of the immune system in preventing the initiation of cancer. The original immune surveillance hypothesis proposed that tumor cells arise naturally and are normally eradicated by the immune system. Tumors would, therefore, only arise if the tumor could develop a mechanism to evade the immune system or if the immune system was compromised. This hypothesis was directly tested in a landmark paper published by Osias Stutman (1974) . In this paper, he tested whether athymic, nude mice which lack an adaptive immune system have an increased incidence of tumors. His finding that the incidence of tumor formation was the same in nude mice as compared to wild type mice led to the strong belief for over 20 years that the immune system played no role in preventing the initiation or prevention of tumors. This finding was consistent with the idea that most tumors arise in individuals with normal immune systems.With the explosion of new information about the role of the innate immune system
Innate immune system
The innate immune system, also known as non-specific immune system and secondary line of defence, comprises the cells and mechanisms that defend the host from infection by other organisms in a non-specific manner...
over the last two decades and with the knowledge that the innate immune system was intact in the nude mice that Stutman had used, Schreiber repeated these experiments using a strain of mice he generated to lack both innate and adaptive immunity. These mice lacked the recombination activating gene
Recombination activating gene
The recombination activating genes encode enzymes that play an important role in the rearrangement and recombination of the genes of immunoglobulin and T cell receptor molecules during the process of VDJ recombination...
(RAG) required for adaptive immune responses and the STAT1
STAT1
STAT1 is a member of the Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription family of transcription factors. STAT1 is involved in upregulating genes due to a signal by either type I, type II or type III interferons...
gene that is required for innate responses. Dr. Schreiber’s lab was the first to generate STAT1
STAT1
STAT1 is a member of the Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription family of transcription factors. STAT1 is involved in upregulating genes due to a signal by either type I, type II or type III interferons...
deficient mice and has worked to characterize the important role of this gene in innate immunity .
In 2001, in a landmark paper, Schreiber reported that mouse lacking an innate and adaptive immune system had a dramatically increased rate of tumor formation . This study invalidated the conclusions of the Stutman study and revived the idea that the immune system could play a critical role. Subsequent work showed that tumors escape immune recognition by losing their antigenicity in a process he dubbed cancer immunoediting.
These studies have been critical in forming the scientific basis of many of immune mediated strategies currently being tested in patients as anti-tumor regimens. Not only do these studies confirm that the immune system can, in fact, play an important role in destroying tumors, but they support the idea that better understanding of immunological recognition and regulation will lead to breakthroughs in our ability to eradicate tumors using the immune system.
Education & early career
Schreiber obtained his B.A. and PhD in biochemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo. His post-doctoral training was with Han Mueller-Eberhart at the Scripps Clinic studying the complement system. He joined the Scripps faculty in 1976 and rose to Associate Member with tenure at Scripps before joining Washington University in St. Louis as Professor of Pathology. He was given the Alumni Endowed Professorship in 1990 and became an Affiliate of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer ResearchLudwig Institute for Cancer Research
The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd is a global non-profit medical research institute that undertakes laboratory and clinical research into cancer, conducting and sponsoring its own early-phase clinical trials to investigate its discoveries....
in 2001.
Awards
- 1996 Milstein Award for Outstanding Achievements in Interferons and Cytokines, International Society of Interferon and Cytokine Research
- 1998 Society of Leukocyte Biology, Bonazinga Award
- 2001 Cancer Research Institute William B. Coley AwardWilliam B. Coley AwardThe William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology is presented annually by the Cancer Research Institute, Inc., to scientists who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of basic and tumor immunology and whose work has deepened our understanding of the...
- 2007 Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Prize for Cancer Research
- 2008 Carl and Gerty Cori Faculty Achievement Award, Washington University
- 2010 American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
, member - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
- Member of the Board of Scientific Advisors for the National Cancer InstituteNational Cancer InstituteThe National Cancer Institute is part of the National Institutes of Health , which is one of 11 agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NCI coordinates the U.S...
- Affiliate of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer ResearchLudwig Institute for Cancer ResearchThe Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd is a global non-profit medical research institute that undertakes laboratory and clinical research into cancer, conducting and sponsoring its own early-phase clinical trials to investigate its discoveries....