Khor lab
A major interest of the lab is understanding the mechanistic basis of immune dysregulation in people with Down syndrome, and leveraging these efforts to identify novel therapies that may benefit both people with Down syndrome as well as people with other immune disorders. Key ongoing interests center around how aging, autoimmunity and vaccine response is dysregulated in the setting of Down syndrome. These findings will develop precision therapy strategies to help people with (and some without) Down syndrome. The lab has demonstrated two separate pathways of immune dysregulation in people with Down syndrome, one driving advanced immune aging and one driving an autoimmunity-poised state. Mechanistic studies are ongoing. We take a multidisciplinary approach that brings together genetics, chemistry, computational and clinical collaborators to highlight disease-relevant biology. We have built new computational tools for next-gen integrated analyses of high-dimensional data.
We are also working to better understand novel druggable regulators of T cell differentiation that we identified, including DYRK1A. Inhibition of these kinases promises to reveal novel therapeutic modalities for autoimmunity.
Please contact Bernard directly if you're interested in joining the lab. The Khor lab is a high-mentoring, high-striving environment where trainees take creative, rigorous and multidisciplinary approaches to clinically relevant problems.
Please visit my lab page @ BRI
News
2/20/25: Speaker at Kansas U Med Ctr, Cell Biology and Physiology: "Aging and autoimmunity: Down syndrome gives a masterclass"
1/23/25: Published in Immunohorizons: "Defining a novel DYRK1A-gp130/IL-6R-pSTAT axis that regulates Th17 differentiation"
10/18/24: Speaker at American College of Rheumatologists: "Aging and autoimmunity: Down syndrome gives a masterclass"
10/13/24: Puget Sound Buddy Walk!
10/5/24: Pierce County Buddy Walk!
9/9/24: Speaker at NIAID Council: "Aging and autoimmunity: Down syndrome gives a masterclass"
6/8/24: Speaker at T21RS: "Dissecting Immune Aging in People with Down syndrome"
10/8/23: Puget Sound Buddy Walk!
10/7/23: Pierce County Buddy Walk!
9/8/23: Speaker at Univ. Washington Div. Rheumatology: "Aging and autoimmunity: Down syndrome gives a masterclass"
7/27/23: Speaker at Int'l Mosaic DS Association: "Aging and autoimmunity: Down syndrome gives a masterclass"
7/21/23: Speaker at DS Medical Interest Group meeting: "Aging and autoimmunity: Immune dysregulation in people with Down syndrome"
5/20/23: Attended Down syndrome Day in the Park, Wright Park, Tacoma, WA
5/9/23: Speaker at NIH workshop: Advances in Aging, Immunity, and Chronic Inflammatory Diseases: "Down syndrome: Accelerated aging and immune dysregulation"
5/5/23: Published in Nature Reviews Immunology: "Down syndrome: Insights into autoimmune mechanisms"
4/20/23: Speaker at BRI Translational Symposium: "Aging and autoimmunity: Down syndrome gives a masterclass"
2/27/23: Speaker at nPOD conference: "Immune aging and Type 1 Diabetes: Lessons from Down syndrome"
1/6/23: Published in Journal of Translational Autoimmunity: "FRTX-02, a selective and potent inhibitor of DYRK1A, modulates inflammatory pathways in mouse models of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis"
11/23/22: Speaker at DYRK1A conference: "Aging, Autoimmunity and DYRK1A: Down syndrome leads the way"
11/10/22: Speaker at Down syndrome community of Puget Sound: "Impact of GnRH on cognition in people with DS"
10/25/22: Faculty poster: UW MCB program (Best oral presentation)
10/12/22: Speaker at NIH INCLUDE workshop: Aging, autoimmunity & Down syndrome
8/29/22: Grant awarded: NIH R01 "Mechanistic and functional dissection of inflammaging in Down syndrome"
6/21/22: Speaker at FOCIS: "Immune aging in people with Down syndrome"
6/11/22: Speaker at T21 Research Society: "Immune aging in people with Down syndrome"
6/9/22: Speaker at T21 Research Society: "Autoimmunity in people with Down syndrome"
5/13/22: Speaker at VMFH Grand rounds: "Aging and autoimmunity: Down syndrome gives a masterclass"
4/27/22: Speaker at Down syndrome community of Puget Sound: "Aging and autoimmunity: Down syndrome gives a masterclass"
4/26/22: Speaker at Lifespan WA: "Aging and autoimmunity: Down syndrome gives a masterclass"
4/22/22: Speaker at Down syndrome association of Singapore: "Aging and autoimmunity: Down syndrome gives a masterclass"
1/12/22: Published in Science Translational Medicine: "Deep immune phenotyping reveals similarities between aging, Down syndrome, and autoimmunity"