James Campbell, PhD

Research Overview

The ultimate goal of James Campbell's work is to provide a basis for developing treatments for autoimmune diseases that do not suppress the entire immune system. To this end, he is investigating approaches that suppress inflammation only in specific organs or tissues.

He is approaching the problem through two questions:

1. How do lymphocytes segregate themselves into distinct subsets dedicated to immunosurveillance of specific types of tissue?
2. How do lymphocytes segregate themselves into distinct anatomic niches within lymphoid organs based on developmental stage?

In search of answers, he is looking at the interplay of chemical messengers called cytokines and their receptors in certain lymphocyte subsets. Specifically, he is exploring how the differential regulation of chemokine receptor CCR4 contributes to one lymphocyte subset's ability to home to the skin and create a pool of circulating cutaneous lymphocytes and how the regulation of the CCR9 receptor has a comparable effect on another, gut-specific, subset of lymphocyte. He is also investigating how developing thymocytes (immature T-cells) position themselves within different regions of the thymus during different stages of development.

About James Campbell

James Campbell is a member of the American Association of Immunologists and the American Cancer Society Study Section for Leukemia, Immunology and Blood Cell Development and serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Immunology.

Key Publications

• Soler D, Humphreys TL, Spinola SM, Campbell JJ. CCR4 vs. CCR10 in human cutaneous Th lymphocyte trafficking. Blood 2003; 101: 1677-1682.
• Campbell, J.J. et al. The chemokine receptor CCR4 in vascular recognition by cutaneous but not intestinal memory T cells. Nature 1999. 400:776-781.
• Campbell JJ et al. Chemokines and the rapid arrest of lymphocytes rolling under flow conditions. Science 1998; 279: 381-384.