Harlan D. Caldwell, Ph.D.
Chief, Laboratory of Intracellular Parasites
Chief, Chlamydial Pathogenesis Section
Dr. Caldwell received his Ph.D. in pathobiology from the University of Washington in 1976. After completing a senior research fellowship in the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington in 1978, Dr. Caldwell joined the faculty of the University of California, San Francisco as an assistant professor of microbiology and immunology. In 1980, he was recruited to the NIH as a tenure-track investigator in the Laboratory of Microbial Structure and Function. He became a tenured investigator in 1986, and chief of the Laboratory of Intracellular Parasites in 1990. He is a recipient of the NIH Director’s Award, NIH Merit Award, and PHS Superior Service Award. He was appointed to the NIH Senior Biomedical Research Service in 1997. Dr. Caldwell is a member of the editorial board of Infection and Immunity and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. He is an internationally recognized leader in the fields of chlamydial pathogenesis and immunology.
Description of Research Program
The focus of our research is to understand how chlamydiae evade innate host defense mechanisms, to define mechanisms of adaptive protective immunity, and to identify protective antigens. This information is being used to design new therapeutic strategies for the prevention of human chlamydial diseases. We utilize in vitro and in vivo models of infection together with comparative genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, modern cell biology, and immunology to accomplish these goals.
Research Group Members
Left to right, front row: Lacey Taylor, David Nelson, Debbie Crane, Nathalie Reveneau, Gail Sturdevant. Back row: John Carlson, Laszlo Kari, Bill Whitmire, Harlan Caldwell, Peter Virok, Kena Swanson.
Selected Recent Publications
Belland R, Scidmore MA, Crane D, Hogan D, Whitmire B, McClarty G, Caldwell HD. Chlamydia trachomatis cytotoxicity associated with complete and partial cytotoxin genes. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2001. 98(24): 13984-13989.
Morrison R, Caldwell HD. Protective immunity to chlamydia trachomatis infection of the female genital tract. Review. Infect Immun. 70(6): 2741-2751.
Shaw J, Grund V, Durling L, Crane D, Caldwell HD. Dendritic cells pulsed ex vivo with recombinant chlamydial major outer membrane protein antigen elicit a type II rather than type I immune response that is not protective. Infect Immun. 2002. 70:1097-1105.
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