 |
 |
Caroline Le Poole, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Pathology
Phone: 708-327-2032
Fax: 708-327-3238
ilepool@lumc.edu |
Education
- Graduate School:
Microbiology, Molecular Cell Biology and Bioprocess Technology
Utrecht University
Utrecht, Netherlands
MS, 1987
- Doctorate:
Medicine
Department of Dermatology
Amsterdam University
Amsterdam, Netherlands
PhD, 1993
Biography
Dr. Caroline Le Poole studied Biology (Majors: Microbiology, Molecular Cell Biology and Bioprocess Technology) at Utrecht University in the Netherlands (M.S., 1987) and went on to receive a Ph.D. in Medicine from the Department of Dermatology at Amsterdam University, also in the Netherlands on ‘Aspects of Melanocytes in Relation to Vitiligo’ (Ph.D., 1993). She was the first woman ever to receive a Ph.D. from this century old Department. Dr Le Poole completed further postdoctoral studies on melanocyte adhesion in Amsterdam until 1995. After a short sabbatical at the CNRS in Orleans, France she obtained a Stipend from the Dutch Organization for Pure Scientific Research (NWO), and came to the University of Cincinnati (OH) in 1995 to characterize differential gene expression in vitiligo melanocytes in the laboratory of Dr. Raymond Boissy. The first vitiligo-associated gene VIT1 was identified and Dr Le Poole received a Young Investigator Award from the Pan American Society for Pigment Cell Research for these studies. In Cincinnati, Dr. Le Poole also worked with Dr. Steven Boyce on cytokine expression in reconstituted skin at the Shriners Burns Institute. In 1998, Dr. Le Poole was appointed as Research Assistant Professor of Dermatology and obtained a Career Development Award from the Dermatology Foundation to investigate the autoimmune response in vitiligo. In 1999, she moved to Chicago to join Dr. Nickoloff’s Cutaneous Oncology program as a (Research) Assistant Professor of Pathology at Loyola University Medical Center.
Autoimmune recognition of melanocytes in vitiligo remains a primary research interest of Dr. Le Poole, as well as dendritic cell effector functions and immune recognition of tumor cells. The progressive loss of skin color as observed in vitiligo is considered a positive prognostic factor in patients with malignant melanoma, where the immune response all to often fails to clear patients of their tumor. By studying effective recognition of melanocytic cells in vitiligo, Dr. Le Poole aims to contribute to the development of new anti-melanoma vaccines.
Dr. Le Poole has authored 50 book chapters and publications in peer reviewed scientific journals. She was elected secretary of the Chicago Association of Immunologists (2000-2002), and her current activities include the Directorship of the Immune Monitoring Core in the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, where patient immune responses to experimental vaccines are characterized and quantified.
Publications
View a partial list of
Dr. LePoole's publications through the National Library of
Medicine's PubMed online database. |
