"An Immunological Odyssey: A Symposium in Honor of. Stanley G. Nathenson, M.D.," was held on June 18 in Robbins Auditorium. The six renowned immunologists who spoke at the symposium included Peter C. Doherty, Ph.D., 1996 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine. 

"Since 1965, when he first joined the Einstein faculty, Stanley has quietly and persistently pursued the mechanisms of T-cell activation and helped define the immunological basis for organ transplant rejection," Einstein Executive Dean Ed Burns, M.D., said in comments opening the symposium. "For Stan," Dr. Burns noted, "creativity is like a muscle — it has to be stretched and exercised regularly to keep it fit and functioning. But hard work is not the prime attribute of Stan Nathenson — it is his capacity for true creativity." 

The symposium's opening speaker was Sebastian Joyce, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, who worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Nathenson's lab at Einstein. Dr. Joyce's investigations into the development of invariant natural killer T cells have pinpointed granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor as a critical signal for the differentiation of these killer T cells as they form in the thymus. The title of Dr. Joyce's talk, "On the Shoulders of a Giant," referred to his feelings for Dr. Nathenson as a mentor and friend. 

The symposium's other speakers were: 

• Peter Cresswell, Ph.D., Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Immunobiology and Cell Biology at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Creswell's work has led to novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of antigen processing and the assembly and intracellular transport of class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules and CD1. He has also investigated the mechanisms by which exogenous antigens are cross-presented by dendritic cells. He spoke on "Antigen Cross-presentation by MHC Class I, "How do External Proteins Get In?"
• Hidde Ploegh, Ph.D., Member, Whitehead Institute, and Professor of Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Ploegh has greatly contributed to the understanding of MHC trafficking and synthesis. His research has also uncovered critical mechanisms by which viruses evade immune detection. His topic was "The MHC: Midas' Gold?"
• Jack L. Strominger, M.D., the Higgins Professor of Biochemistry, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University. Dr. Strominger's relationship with Stan Nathenson began at Washington University School of Medicine, where Stan — a medical student there — worked in his lab. Dr. Strominger is well known for his pioneering work in isolating and structurally characterizing class I and class II MHC molecules, for which he received the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 1995. He is currently developing synthetic amino acid copolymers and exploring their potential as novel treatments for autoimmune disease.
• Arlene Sharpe, M.D., Ph.D., the George Fabyan Professor of Comparative Pathology and Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sharpe's investigation of CTLA-4, the T cell inhibitory molecule, provided the first in vivo evidence for this molecule's multiple ligands; and it revealed a critical role for CTLA-4 in controlling T cell tolerance and autoimmune disease. More recently, she characterized a novel interaction between PD-L1 and B7-1, triggering a complete re-evaluation of pathways regulating T cell activation and tolerance. Dr. Sharpe spoke on "The Roles of PD-1, PD-L1 and Their Ligands in Regulating T Cell Activation and Tolerance."
• Peter C. Doherty, Ph.D., the Michael F. Tamer Chair of Immunology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Laureate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne. In 1996, Dr. Doherty was the co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering that T cell detection of virus-infected cells requires recognition of both viral components and MHC molecules. He is currently studying the development of CD8 T cell responses to influenza viruses, including the establishment and recall of T cell memory and the determination of CD8 T cell immunodominance hierarchies. Dr. Doherty's topic was "Probing the Virus-specific CD8 T Cell Repertoire."

The symposium honoring Dr. Nathenson was sponsored by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Departments of Microbiology & Immunology and Cell Biology, and the Albert Einstein Cancer Center.

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