ÁùºÏ±¦µä

Skip to main content

September 6, 2022: Anti-Gal: The Life and Times of Our Species’ Most Abundant Antibody

NextGen Discovery Series | Uri Galili, PhD

This event was sponsored by the NextGen Precision Health initiative, the MU School of Medicine, MU Office of the Provost and the Donald M. Nelson Lectureship.

The NextGen Precision Health Discovery Series provides learning opportunities for UM System faculty and staff across disciplines, the statewide community and our other partners to learn about the scope of precision health research and identify potential collaborative opportunities. The series consists of monthly lectures geared toward a broad multidisciplinary audience so all can participate and appreciate the spectrum of precision health efforts. 

Information about continuing education is available below.

For questions about this event or any others in the Discovery Series, please reach out to Veronica Lemme at lemmev@health.missouri.edu.

Anti-Gal: The Life and Times of Our Species’ Most Abundant Antibody

Speaker: Uri Galili, PhD, Volunteering Adjunct Professor at Division of Cardiology, Rush Medicine

Date: Tuesday, September 6, 2022, noon-1 p.m.

Description

The presentation included a description of the studies that led to the discovery of the natural anti-Gal antibody, the clinical problems associated with this antibody in xenotransplantation and in allergies caused by it, and a presentation of potential future therapies in the areas of wound healing and regeneration of injured heart muscle post myocardial infarction.

 

ÁùºÏ±¦µä the Speaker 

Uri Galili received his PhD from the Department of Cancer Research at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and after a post-doctoral fellowship at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, he returned to the Department of Hematology in the Hadassah Hospital of the Hebrew University. It was there in 1984 that he and his colleagues published the first articles describing anti-Gal antibody and alpha-gal, the blood group carbohydrate that anti-Gal recognizes. In almost all mammals, alpha-gal is abundant and anti-Gal is absent. But in catarrhine primates—old-world monkeys, apes, and humans—the reverse is true: alpha-gal is absent and anti-Gal is the most abundant antibody in circulation. That discovery has been the linchpin of an extraordinary career that has reached into foundations of medicine, immunology, transplantation biology, and physical anthropology. For 38 years, at the University of California San Francisco (1984–1991), the Hahnemann School of Medicine (1991–1999), Rush University School of Medicine (1999–2004), the University of Massachusetts Medical School (2004–2013), and now in retirement back at Rush as volunteer adjunct professor, Galili has collaborated with colleagues from across the landscape of biomedical research, publishing over 100 articles exploring the anti-Gal antibody’s manifold implications, including especially the innovative therapeutic opportunities it has brought to light.

 

Continuing Professional Education Credit

Nurses

Up to 1.0 contact hour will be awarded to all participants who view the live sessions in their entirety and complete the evaluation form.

University of Missouri is approved as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the Midwest Multistate Division, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commissio