Dr. Burrack completed his PhD in Immunology in 2014 under the guidance of Dr. Ronald Gill at the University of Colorado-Anschutz. For his degree, Adam studied the ability of autoreactive T cells to simultaneously respond to allogeneic MHC of transplanted islets in diabetic NOD mice. Adam then moved to the U of MN to conduct postdoctoral studies with Dr. Brian Fife. In this role and in collaboration with Dr. Marc Jenkins, Adam defined donor MHC-specific CD4 T cell peptide specificities that associate with transplant rejection. Adam then joined the laboratory of Dr. Ingunn Stromnes in 2017 to study T cell responses against pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) and developed a syngeneic, implantable model of PDA in which mice respond to a tumor-specific target. Using this system Adam and Dr. Stromnes have defined immunotherapy regimens to eradicate neoantigen high PDA. Active work is defining mechanisms of immunotherapy efficacy, uncovering native PDA targets of T cell-mediated immunity in the neoantigen low setting, and extending these systems to study how PDA fails in setting of clinically relevant comorbidities such as hyperglycemia and Aging.
