Kaplan Lab
The Kaplan Lab
Graduate Students and Post Doctoral Fellows in the lab worked on understanding Dendritic cells (DC) which are professional antigen presenting cells found in skin, other peripheral tissues and in secondary lymphoid organs that are uniquely efficient at initiating T cell responses. The DC paradigm holds that tissue DC migrate to regional LN where they present antigen acquired in the periphery to T cells resulting in either a productive adaptive response or tolerance depending on the activation state of the DC. In the skin at steady-state there are at least 3 well-defined distinct subsets of DC that can be distinguished based on location, ontogeny and expression specific markers: Langerhans cells (LC), CD103+ dermal DC (dDC) and CD11b+ dDC. Why there are so many DC subsets and the contribution each one makes to the development of cutaneous adaptive immune responses is a primary focus of the lab.
View publications here.
Graduate Students
Sakeen Kashem, M.D., Ph.D.
Program: MICaB
Defense Year: 2016
Advisor: Dan Kaplan
Dissertation Title: "Immunity Against Candida albicans Skin Infections. "
Current Position: Resident Physician at UCSF Dermatology
Contact Info: kashe007@umn.edu 
Nathan Welty, M.D., Ph.D.
Program: MICaB
Defense Year: 2014
Advisor: Dan Kaplan
Dissertation Title: "In Vivo Functions of Intestinal Dendritic Cells. "
Current Position: Resident (Internal Medicine, PSTP), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Contact Info: welt0123@umn.edu
Post Doctoral Fellows
Aleh Bobr, M.D.
Fellowship dates: 2008-2012
Research Emphasis:Autocrine/paracrine TGF-β1 inhibits Langerhans cell migration.Full list of publications
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Medical Director, Blood Bank and Tissue Services, Associate Director of Apheresis Service, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Contact Info: oleg.bobr@unmc.edu
Botond Igyártó, Ph.D.
Fellowship dates: 2008-2012
Research Emphasis: Discovery and Characterization of New Dendritic Cell Subsets, Define Roles for Skin Dendritic Cell Subsets in Inflammatory Settings, Determine the Role of Skin Dendritic Cell Subsets in Steady-State. Full list of publications
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA
Contact Info: Botond.Igyarto@jefferson.edu
Felix Scholz, Ph.D.
Fellowship dates: 2010-2014
Research Emphasis: Langerhans Cells Suppress CD49a+ NK Cell–Mediated Skin Inflammation
Current Position: Manager, Infectolab Americas, Oakdale, MN
Contact Info: fscholz9@gmail.com
Research Associates
Javed Mohammed, Ph.D.
Research Associate 2012-2016
Laboratory of Dan Kaplan
Research Emphasis/Publications: Explore therapeutic strategies targeting TGFβ1 activating integrins αvβ6 and αvβ8 for various pathologies associated with tissue inflammation, fibrosis and autoimmunity. Role of integrins αvβ6 and αvβ8 in epidermal dendritic cell migration and resident memory CD8 T cell development and maintenance in skin. Interactions of keratinocyte subsets including hair follicle stem cells with hematopoietic cells. Langerhans cell and resident memory CD8 T cell immunology and their role in skin pathology. Full list of Publications
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Dermatology, University of Minnesota, MN
Current Info: amohamme@umn.edu