Date/Time
Date(s) - 11/09/2015
3:00 pm
Abstract
The Driver laboratory focuses on Natural killer T (NKT) cells that are a rare and unusual type of immune cell that are activated by glycolipid antigens and that make important contributions to host immunity against a multitude of microbial pathogens. Dr. Driver’s talk will describe how NKT cells have evolved in different species and discuss our efforts to therapeutically target these cells using synthetic glycolipids to treat and prevent zoonotic diseases, including swine influenza that poses a global threat to human and swine health.
Short Bio:
Dr. Driver is originally from Zimbabwe. He obtained his undergraduate and MS degrees in Animal Sciences from the University of Pretoria in South Africa before relocating to the University of Georgia for a PhD in Animal Nutrition in 2001. From 2005-2011 he conducted research into the immunology of type 1 diabetes at the Jackson Laboratory under the mentorship of Dr. Dave Serreze, first as a postdoctoral fellow and then as research scientist. Dr. Driver began as an Assistant Professor at UF Animal Sciences department in 2011 and conducts research in large animal immunology and the genetics of type 1 diabetes.