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Haval Shirwan, PhD

Shirwan Headshot

Marvin Hall, MD Faculty Scholar in Diabetes, School of Medicine
Professor of Child Health and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine
Director, Division of Pediatric Research, School of Medicine
Associate Director, Immunomodulation and Regenerative Medicine Program, Ellis Fischel Cancer Center

NextGen Focus Area: Cancer and Immunology (Immunomodulation, Type 1 Diabetes and Transplantation)

The primary focus of Haval Shirwan’s translational research program is to develop safe and practical approaches to modulate the immune system for the treatment of immune-based disorders. He co-pioneered with his colleague Esma S. Yolcu a proprietary platform known as ProtEx™ that allows for the generation of novel recombinant immune ligands and their positional display on biological surfaces. This practical and safe alternative to gene therapy for localized immunomodulation has applications in transplantation, autoimmunity, cancer and infections. Dr. Shirwan is an inventor on 25 issued and eight pending patents and founder/co-founder of three biotech startups.

Precision Health Impact:

  • Using precision medicine to identify immune pathways with druggable targets for the prevention and treatment of cancer, Type 1 diabetes and transplant rejection. 
  • Generating novel biologics for druggable immune pathways and employing different vehicles, such as live bacteria and nanoparticles, for their targeted delivery to ensure efficacy and safety. 

Publications:

     Google Scholar
     PubMed
     ResearchGate

 

Email: haval.shirwan@health.missouri.edu
Department website: https://medicine.missouri.edu/faculty/haval-shirwan-phd