Frank Cichocki, PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation

Frank Cichocki

Contact Info

cich0040@umn.edu

Office Phone 612-626-2408

Mailing Address:
420 Delaware Street SE
MMC 480
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Administrative Assistant Name
Barbara Porwit

Administrative Phone
612-624-5620

Administrative Email
porw0001@umn.edu

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation

Faculty, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology (MICaB) Ph.D. Graduate Program


PhD, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Bachelor's Degree, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Summary

Dr. Cichocki received his PhD in immunology from the University of Minnesota in 2010. He carried out his postdoctoral training at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden and returned to the University of Minnesota in 2013. Dr. Cichocki researches basic human natural killer (NK) cell biology and NK cell immunotherapy in the context of hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Expertise

Natural killer cell biology

Awards & Recognition

  • University of Minnesota Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (2009)
  • Society for Innate Immunity Scholarship (2010, 2012)
  • Frontiers in Biomedical Research Scholar (2011)
  • Frontiers in Immunology Scholarship (2014)
  • Frontiers in Biomedical Research Fellowship (2011-2012)
  • Karolinska Institute Research Grant, (2012)
  • University of Minnesota T32 Hematology Training Grant (2013-2014)

Research

Research Summary/Interests

  • NK cell development from hematopoietic precursors
  • Transcriptional and epigenetic control of NK cell development
  • NK cells in hematopoietic cell transplantation
  • Primary immunodeficiencies

Human NK cell biology
Our group has a long-standing interest in the development and differentiation of human natural killer (NK) cells. NK cells represent a lineage of cytotoxic lymphocytes that play key roles in immunosurveillance of virally infected and transformed cells. Our current work is focused on the molecular mechanisms controlling the differentiation, expansion, signaling and function of unique, heterogeneous subsets of adaptive NK cells that arise in response to cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in healthy individuals and CMV reactivation in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients. Our group is also actively exploring pathways important for the efficient generation of highly functional NK cells from induced pluripotent stem cells