Harvey Cantor

About

Harvey Cantor is a Professor of Immunology at Harvard Medical School, based at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. His lab studies the development and function of T-cell subsets, focusing on how different T-cell lineages recognize MHC class I and II molecules and mediate distinct immunological functions. Early research indicated that the thymus gives rise to two major T-cell lineages, and his work has contributed to understanding cell-mediated immunity, natural killer cells, and regulatory and effector lineages within the CD8+ T-cell subset. Current research in his lab includes defining regulatory T cell lineages that inhibit autoimmune disease and regulate anti-viral and anti-tumor immunity. His team has studied the role of the Helios transcription factor in maintaining Treg stability and self-tolerance. Additionally, his research involves studying non-classical CD8+ T-cells recognizing viral peptides presented by MHC-E molecules to understand their role in anti-viral and anti-tumor immunity, especially in the context of immune evasion by tumors. His work also explores genetic and epigenetic factors controlling the tumor microenvironment and investigates the immune system's contribution to Alzheimer's Disease. His research aims to enhance understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms to improve vaccine design and immunotherapy.

Research topics

• Genetics
• Biology
• Immunology
• Cancer research
• Internal medicine
• Medicine

Selected publications

• Overcoming Immune Checkpoint Blockade Resistance via EZH2 Inhibition

  Trends in Immunology · 2020 · 86 citations

  PublisherDOI

• Mechanism of EBV inducing anti-tumour immunity and its therapeutic use

  Nature · 2020 · 85 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Definition of a mouse microglial subset that regulates neuronal development and proinflammatory responses in the brain

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2022-02-17 · 64 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Significance CD11c + microglia enriched for osteopontin (OPN) expression appear at distinct stages of brain development, aging, and several neurodegenerative disorders. Whether coexpression of CD11c and OPN results from microglial activation or represents a part of a subset-specific genetic program is unknown. We find that this CD11c + microglial subset is formed before birth upon uptake of apoptotic neurons. Our analysis also suggests that it represents a stable subset that requires OPN to medi…

  PublisherDOI

• Control of Germinal Center Localization and Lineage Stability of Follicular Regulatory T Cells by the Blimp1 Transcription Factor

  Cell Reports · 2019-11-01 · 60 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  checkpoint that enforces suppressive activity and acts as a gatekeeper of GC entry.

  PublisherDOI

• Definition of the contribution of an Osteopontin-producing CD11c ⁺ microglial subset to Alzheimer’s disease

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2023-02-02 · 55 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of incurable dementia and represents a critical public health issue as the world’s population ages. Although microglial dysregulation is a cardinal feature of AD, the extensive heterogeneity of these immunological cells in the brain has impeded our understanding of their contribution to this disease. Here, we identify a pathogenic microglial subset which expresses the CD11c surface marker as the sole producer of Osteopontin (OPN) in the 5XFAD mous…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant P01AI037833

  NIH · $778k · 1999

• NIH Grant R01AI012184

  NIH · $3.4M · 1997

• NIH Grant T32CA070083

  NIH · $3.2M · 2015

Frequent coauthors

• F W Shen

  Liaocheng University

  189 shared

• L McVay-Boudreau

  138 shared

• J Hugenberger

  United States Public Health Service

  132 shared

• Diane D. Eardley

  123 shared

• John D. Kemp

  118 shared

• Richard K. Gershon

  87 shared

• Linrong Lu

  Renji Hospital

  67 shared

• Hye‐Jung Kim

  Wonkwang University

  66 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Immunology

  Harvard University

  1980

• M.D.

  Harvard Medical School

  1976

• B.A., Biology

  University of California, Berkeley

  1972

Similar researchers at Harvard University

• Joseph Sodroskih-184
• John Mekalanosh-147
• Stephen Calderwoodh-102