Howie joined the UF Diabetes Institute as part of the Brusko Laboratory in 2011 after trying to give back to society as a high school science teacher. His responsibilities include bioinformatic analysis of lymphocyte receptor sequences (AIRR-seq), human immunophenotyping with flow cytometry, fluorescence-activated cell sorting, external website and collaborative intranet design and maintenance, and the other various support duties of a research laboratory manager. Howie was given the title of Core Research Facility Manager for his duties involving the Center for Immunology and Transplantation Flow Cytometry Core Research Facility and the newly formed Immune Monitoring Core.
Howie’s curiosity is focused on how the lymphocyte receptor repertoire affects the pathology of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and how increasing the diversity of the T cell repertoire in T1D patients could lead to a cure. In a recent publication, we describe how this can be done using a patient’s own umbilical cord blood. This currently involves isolating naïve regulatory T cells (Treg) from cryogenically-preserved umbilical cord blood units for expansion and potential re-infusion of autologous immune cells into children suffering from T1D who have had their umbilical cord blood stored after birth. The hypothesis is that this therapy can be used to repopulate the immune system with Treg that can suppress autoimmunity and can help begin to reverse the loss of insulin-producing ß-cells of the pancreas.
Howie is also working with rare human specimens through the nPOD program. The project focus is to identify the adaptive immune repertoire of T1D (which includes autoreactive and regulatory T- and B-cells), as well as DNA methylation signatures in pancreatic-draining lymph nodes in nPOD donors. These methylation patterns can signify whether genes are turned on or off in a cell, and early evidence shows that cytotoxic T-lymphocytes in T1D patients are different at the epigenetic level when compared to healthy donor samples. The next step is determining why those differences happen and how those differences make the cells function in a unique way to aid in diabetes pathogenesis.
Contact Info
Mobile Phone: (352) 514-8839 |
Education
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Johns Hopkins University/Coursera, Specialization Certificate, Data Science, 2016
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Nova Southeastern University, M.Sc., Biomedical Informatics, 2015
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University of Florida, B.S. Zoology, 2005
Professional Certification & Training
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2016 – Specialist in Cytometry [SCYM(ASCP)CM], International Cytometry Certification Examination (ICCE)
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2015 – Core Concepts in Biomanufacturing and Quality Systems: Application of cGMPs, Biotility
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2012 – AAI Introductory Immunology Course, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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2011 – FACSAria™ III Operator Course, BD Biosciences, San Jose, California
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2007 – Laboratory Animal Technologist (LATg), American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS)
Honors
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2018 – Spirit of nPOD Award
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2015 – FluoroFinder‘s First Featured Core Manager
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2014 – University of Florida Superior Accomplishment Award – Division Level
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2004 – University Scholar, University of Florida’s Undergraduate Research Program
Memberships & Activities
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2017 – 54rd Florida Junior Science, Engineering and Humanities Symposium Poster and Speaker Competition Judge
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2016-2018 – CYTO University eLearning Committee Member, International Society for the Advancement of Cytometry
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2016 – 53rd Florida Junior Science, Engineering and Humanities Symposium Poster and Speaker Competition Judge
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2016-Current – American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy Member
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2016-Current – American Association for the Advancement of Science Member
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2015-2016 – UF University Minority Mentor Program (UMMP) Mentor
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2015 – 52nd Florida Junior Science, Engineering and Humanities Symposium Speaker Competition Judge
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2015-Current – stemCONNECT Classroom Expert
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2015-Current – Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Member
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2014-Current – UF LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee Member
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2014-Current – International Society for the Advancement of Cytometry Member
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2013-Current – Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies Member
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2012-Current – Purdue Cytometry Discussion List
Publications
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Wen-I Yeh, Howard R. Seay, Brittney Newby, Amanda L. Posgai, Filipa Botelho Moniz, Aaron Michels, Clayton E. Mathews, Jeffrey A. Bluestone, Todd M. Brusko. Avidity and Bystander Suppressive Capacity of Human Regulatory T Cells Expressing De Novo Autoreactive T-Cell Receptors in Type 1 Diabetes. Frontiers in Immunology, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2017.01313
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Jacobsen LM, Posgai A, Howard R. Seay, Haller MJ, Brusko TM. T Cell Receptor Profiling in Type 1 Diabetes. Curr Diab Rep. 2017 Oct 11;17(11):118. doi: 10.1007/s11892-017-0946-4. Review. PubMed PMID: 29022222.
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Howard R. Seay, Amy L. Putnam, Judit Cserny, Amanda L. Posgai, Emma H. Rosenau, John R. Wingard, Kate F. Girard, Morey Kraus, Angela P. Lares, Heather L. Brown, Katherine S. Brown, Kristi T. Balavage, Leeana D. Peters, Ashley N. Bushdorf, Mark A. Atkinson, Jeffrey A. Bluestone, Michael J. Haller, and Todd M. Brusko. Expansion of human Tregs from cryopreserved umbilical cord blood for GMP-compliant autologous adoptive cell transfer therapy. Molecular Therapy-Methods & Clinical Development. 2016 Dec 24.
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Howard R. Seay, Erik Yusko, Stephanie J. Rothweiler, Lin Zhang, Amanda L. Posgai, Martha Campbell-Thompson, Marissa Vignali, Ryan O. Emerson, John S. Kaddis, Dave Ko, Maki Nakayama, Mia J. Smith, John C. Cambier, Alberto Pugliese, Mark A. Atkinson, Harlan S. Robins, Todd M. Brusko. Tissue distribution and clonal diversity of the T and B cell repertoire in type 1 diabetes. JCI Insight. 2016;1(20):e88242. doi:10.1172/jci.insight.88242.
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Seung-Chul Choi, Tarun E. Hutchinson, Anton A. Titov, Howard R. Seay, Shiwu Li, Todd M. Brusko, Byron P. Croker, Shahram Salek-Ardakani and Laurence Morel. The Lupus Susceptibility Gene Pbx1 Regulates the Balance between Follicular Helper T Cell and Regulatory T Cell Differentiation. The Journal of Immunology 197.2 (2016): 458-469.
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Christopher A. Fuhrman, Wen-I Yeh, Howard R. Seay, Priya Saikumar Lakshmi, Gaurav Chopra, Lin Zhang, Daniel J. Perry, Stephanie A. McClymont, Mahesh Yadav, Maria-Cecilia Lopez, Henry V. Baker, Ying Zhang, Yizheng Li, Maryann Whitley, David von Schack, Mark A. Atkinson, Jeffrey A. Bluestone, and Todd M. Brusko. Divergent Phenotypes of Human Regulatory T Cells Expressing the Receptors TIGIT and CD226. 20 May 2015, 10.4049/jimmunol.1402381
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Yiming Yin, Seung-Chul Choi, Zhiwei Xu, Daniel J. Perry, Howard R. Seay, Byron P. Croker, Eric S. Sobel, Todd M. Brusko and Laurence Morel. “Normalization of CD4+ T cell metabolism reverses lupus” Science Translational Medicine. 2015 Feb 11;7(274):274ra18. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaa0835. PMID: 25673763
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Debalina Sarkar, Moanaro Biswas, Gongxian Liao, Howard R. Seay, George Q. Perrin, David M. Markusic, Brad E. Hoffman, Todd M. Brusko, Cox Terhorst, and Roland W. Herzog. “Ex vivo expanded autologous polyclonal regulatory T cells suppress inhibitor formation in hemophilia.” Molecular Therapy—Methods & Clinical Development 1 (2014).
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Jason R. O’Rourke., Sara A. Georges, Howard R. Seay, Stephen J. Tapscott, Michael T. McManus, David J. Goldhamer, Maurice S. Swanson, and Brian D. Harfe. “Essential role for Dicer during skeletal muscle development.” Developmental biology 311, no. 2 (2007): 359-368.