Dr. Braun.
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Dr. Donald Braun, Ph.D. received his B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Illinois
in Urbana in 1972. In 1976, he was awarded his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees as a
designated National Cancer Institute (USA) Immunology and Oncology trainee from the
Department of Microbiology/Immunology of the University of Illinois Medical Center.
He joined Rush Medical College in Chicago in 1978 where he currently is a Professor of
Medicine and Professor of Immunology/Microbiology and the Director of Scientific Program
Development of the Rush Cancer Institute.
Dr. Braun is recognized nationally and internationally as an expert in the
immunology of human malignant diseases and related diseases with immune system
etiologies. He is widely recognized for his work in defining the central role of the
monocyte in the immunodeficiency of cancer patients and for demonstrating that abnormal
prostaglandin metabolism by the monocyte is the principle mechanism whereby immunological
changes associated with solid tumors develop.
His interest in the etiology and
pathogenicity of endometriosis stems from his work in gynecological malignancies, in which
he demonstrated the impact of abnormal prostaglandin metabolism on macrophage mediated
tumor killing in patients with ovarian cancers. By applying principles learned in
those studies to investigations of women with endometriosis, Drs. Braun, Gebel, and
Dmowski, have demonstrated that many of the functional changes associated with monocytes
in ovarian cancer patients are also present in women with endometriosis. A major
difference, however, between endometriosis and gynecological malignancy is the impact that
these monocyte functions have on the gynecological tissues themselves. Thus, in
malignant disease, macrophage activation is inhibited which permits gynecological tumor
cells to escape immune mediated destruction. In women with endometriosis, however,
misplaced endometrium within the pelvis or peritoneal cavity exploits the products of
macrophages to facilitate implantation and growth of the endometrium in ectopic
locations.
A major challenge for the current generation of studies conducted in this
program is to learn how to stimulate the positive effects while shutting off the
negative effects of macrophages on endometrial cell growth in women with endometriosis.
Dr. Braun is the author of more than 70 original research articles in peer reviewed
literature, 16 reviews and book chapters, and the editor of 1 textbook. He is a past
member of both the Experimental Therapeutics Study Section and the Small Business
Innovation Research Grant Study Section of the National Cancer Institute (USA). He
has served on the Illinois Cancer Council on both the Research Advisory Committee and the
Biological Response Modifier Committee of that organization, and is a former member of the
Scientific Advisory Committee of the Chicago Leukemia Society. He is currently a
member of the Immunology and Immunotherapy Advisory Committee of the American Cancer
Society and a reviewing member of the Arizona Disease Research Control Commission.
He is also a member of numerous professional societies including the American
Association for Cancer Research, the American Chemical Society, and the American
Society for Reproductive Medicine.
Medical Director:
Dr. W. P. Dmowski, M.D., Ph.D.
Researchers:
Dr. Jianchi Ding, Ph.D.
Dr. Nasir Rana, M.D.
Dr. Donald Braun, Ph.D.
