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Abbe N. de Vallejo, PhD

Job Title Associate Professor, Division of Pediatric Rheumatology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC

Job Title Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Job Title Director, Flow Cytometry I Core Facility, John G. Rangos Sr. Research Center

Job Title Manager, Xrad User Facility, Rangos Research Center

Job Title Member Faculty, Cancer Immunology Program, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute

Job Title Member Faculty, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine

Division of Pediatric Rheumatology

One Children's Hospital Drive
4401 Penn Ave., Suite Floor 9

Pittsburgh, PA 15224

412-692-8455 Phone

412-692-5565 Fax

Email vallaj@upmc.edu

Profile
Active Research Projects

Education and Training

Medical School:	1992 University of Mississippi Medical Center, PhD in Immunology & Microbiology
Residency:	1996 Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, Postdoctorate in Molecular Immunology
Fellowship:	1998 Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, Postdoctorate in Rheumatology

Memberships

The Royal Society of Medicine
American Association of Immunologists
American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
American College of Rheumatology
Gerontological Society of America
Editorial Board, Rheumatology Current Research
Editorial Board, Aging and Disease

Awards

Julie Martin Career Award on Aging, American Federation for Aging Research
Junior Faculty Travel Award, American Association of Immunologists
Outstanding Paper Award, Institute for Advanced Studies in Aging & Geriatric Medicine
Mayo Research Building Bridges Award
Frederik B. Bang Scholar
The Sigma Xi Research Award

Publications

Dvergsten JA, Mueller RG, Griffin, P, Abedin, S, Pishko, A, Michel, JJ, Rosenkranz, ME, Reed AM, Kietz, DA, Vallejo AN. Premature cell senescene and T cell receptor-independent activation of CD8T cells in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. Arthritis and Rheum. In Press.
Griffin P, Michel JJ, Huysman K, Logar AJ, Vallejo AN. 2012. Integration of immunity with physical and cognitive function in definitions of successful aging. Aging Dis 3:34-50.
Lowry, KA, Vallejo AN, Studenski SA. 2012. Successful aging as a continuum of functional independence: Lessons from physical disability models of aging. Aging Dis 3:16-33.
Vallejo AN, Hamel Jr.DL, Mueller RG, Ives DG, Michel JJ, Boudreau RM, Newman AB. NK-Like T Cells and Plasma Cytokines, but Not Anti-Viral Serology, Define Immune Fingerprints of Resilience and Mild Disability in Exceptional Aging. PLoS ONE. 2011 Oct; 6(10):e26558.
He M, Kratz LE, Michel JJ, Vallejo AN, Ferris L, Kelley RI, Hoover JJ, Jukic D, Gibson KM, Wolfe L, Ramachandran D, Zwick ME, Vockley J. Mutations in the SC4MOL gene encoding a novel methyl sterol oxidase cause psoriasiform dermatitis, microcephaly and developmental delay. J Clin Invest. 2011; 121:976-984.
Kale S, Sachin Y, Kong L, Perkins A, Kellum JA, Newman AB, Vallejo AN, Angus DC. The effects of age on inflammatory and coagulation-fibrinolysis response in patients hospitalized for pneumonia. PLoS One. 2010; 5:e13852.
Vallejo AN, Michel JJ, Bale LK, Lemster BH, Borghesi L, Conover CA. Resistance to age-dependent thymic atrophy in long-lived mice that are deficient in pregnancy-associated plasma protein A. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Jul 7;106(27):11252-7.
López De Padilla CM, Vallejo AN, Lacomis D, McNallan K, Reed AM. Extranodal lymphoid microstructures in inflamed muscle and disease severity of new-onset juvenile dermatomyositis. Arthritis Rheum. 2009 Apr;60(4):1160-72.
Lemster BH, Michel JJ, Montag DT, Paat JJ, Studenski SA, Newman AB, Vallejo AN. Induction of CD56 and TCR-independent activation of T cells with aging. J Immunol. 2008 Feb 1;180(3):1979-90.
Michel JJ, Turesson C, Lemster B, Atkins SR, Iclozan C, Bongartz T, Wasko MC, Matteson EL, Vallejo AN. CD56-expressing T cells that have features of senescence are expanded in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2007 Jan;56(1):43-57.

View Dr. de Vallejo's full list of publications from PubMed.

Biography Summary

Abbe N. de Vallejo, PhD, is a highly regarded researcher and educator with a funded research program. He is Associate Professor in the Division of Pediatric Rheumatology at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Immunology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He also holds appointments as Member Faculty of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and is director of the Flow Cytometry I Core Facility at the John G. Rangos Sr. Research Center.

Dr. de Vallejo earned a master's degree in Pathobiology at Stirling University in Scotland, U.K., and a doctoral degree in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He undertook postdoctoral studies at the Mayo Clinic, focusing on the molecular evolutionary genetics of the MHC gene family in primates. Dr. de Vallejo remained at the Mayo Clinic to pursue clinical-oriented training in Rheumatology, which provided the groundwork for his research program focusing on the Immunobiology of Inflammatory Syndromes and Aging. He has held several fellowships throughout his career. Dr. de Vallejo's previous academic appointments included serving as Assistant Professor of Medicine and Associate Consultant in Rheumatology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.

Scientific research has defined Dr. de Vallejo's career. Among the current research topics are:

T cell-mediated immunopathway(s) of pediatric and adult arthritis and myositis
Lymphocyte senescence
Immune mechanisms underlying successful aging
Immune-endocrine regulation of longevity

His research program is funded by grants from the Nancy E. Taylor Foundation for Chronic Diseases, the American Federation for Aging Research, and the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Vallejo is the author and co-author of numerous articles that have been published in leading scientific journals. He was associate editor of the Journal of Immunology (2000-2005), and was a special issue editor of Aging Research Reviews (2010-2011). Beginning in 2011, he became a member of the Editorial Boards of two journals: Rheumatology Current Research and Aging and Disease. He is a reviewer for several scientific journals, and has served (and continue to serve) as member of various research advisory councils and study sections of private foundation and federal funding agencies including those of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Vallejo is fellow of The Royal Society of Medicine.

Active Research Projects / Grants

NIH R01 (PI): “Immunity and Healthy Aging”
NIH R01 (Co-I): “Vitamin D and Vascular Function in Obese Children”
(NGA pending) NIH R01 (Co-I): “Translational Evaluation of Aging, Inflammation, and HIV in lung dysfunction”
Nancy Taylor Foundation for Chronic Diseases Inc (PI): “Maladaptive DN T cells in juvenile idiopathic arthritis”
American Federation for Aging Research (PI): “Thymic preservation and immune protection in a long-lived mouse model”

Last Update
May 17, 2013

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