Dr. Michael and Joan Hamilton Endowed Chair in Autoimmune Disease
School of Medicine
Dr. Shirwan is the Dr. Michael and Joan Hamilton Endowed
Chair in Autoimmune Disease and a Professor in the Department of Microbiology
and Immunology at the University of Louisville, and Director of the Molecular
Immunomodulation Program at the Institute for Cellular Therapeutics at UofL.
Throughout his career Dr. Shirwan has maintained a focus on clinically relevant
details of the immune response. Dr. Shirwan investigated the molecular basis of
the effects interferons on the replication of viruses during his graduate
studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was recruited from Caltech
to start the Molecular Immunology Program at Cedars/Sinai Medical Center in Los
Angeles with a focus on transplantation immunology. After a brief tenure at the
Alleghany University of Health Sciences in Philadelphia, PA, Dr Shirwan joined
the faculty of the University of Louisville in 1998. In recent years, Dr.
Shirwan has focused on translational research and pioneered the ProtEx
technology, the Company's platform technology, as a safe, efficient, and
practical alternative to DNA-based immune gene therapy for immunomodulation.
Dr. Shirwan has served on numerous study sections for national and
international funding agencies, including the National Institutes of Health,
the Veteran's Administration, The U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation,
Israel Science Foundation, American Heart Association, Wellcome Trust, and
Philip Morris USA Inc. He has also served on the Editorial Board of the journal
Graft, was Section Editor for Current Opinion in Organ Transplantation, and an
ad hoc reviewer for numerous scientific journals. He is the member of several
scientific organizations and authored more than 100 papers, reviews, and book
chapters.. Dr. Shirwan's numerous honors and recognitions include the following
organizations and awards: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Red
Cross, an NIH First Independent Research Support & Transition (FIRST)
award, the American Society of Transplant Physicians-Ortho Award, the
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Young Investigator Award, and the Louisville
Business First, Partners in Health Care Award.