Research
During fellowship in allergy and immunology at Washington University in St. Louis, William worked in the laboratory of Dr. John Atkinson, Professor of Rheumatology and a leading expert on complement — a group of proteins in the innate immune system. Complement helps fight infection, especially early, and also helps modulate the immune response.
The project looked at regulatory T cells (Tregs), whose development can be influenced when complement binds the surface molecule CD46. The question was what complement-induced Tregs do in viral infections of the lung and in the development of asthma. Regulatory T cells are thought to help control inflammation in the lung and elsewhere. The hope was that understanding those cells better would lead to better treatments for allergic diseases such as asthma and for viral lung infection.
During medical school and residency, work in the lab of Dr. Yie-Hwa Chang at Saint Louis University School of Medicine focused on methionine aminopeptidase type 2 (MetAP2). The enzyme is present in all cells and helps process other proteins as they are made. An inhibitor of MetAP2, TNP-470, blocked angiogenesis — the growth of new blood vessels. That matters because tumors need new vessels in order to grow, and blocking that process was (and still is) a strategy in cancer treatment.
Papers from the Chang lab are on the Publications page.