Colm S. O'Huigin, Ph.D.

Colm S. O'Huigin, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist (Contr)
Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology
Head, Microbiome and Genetics Core

A background in both computational and in experimental biology, leads naturally to an interest in research that interfaces both approaches. In the areas of inflammation and cancer unravelling the complex patterns of change and regulation of molecules of adaptive (MHC, KIR) and innate (Trim5, IL28B) immunity have provided both bioinformatic and experimental challenges that are being met using comparative sequence analysis and inference. Research interest is also turning to the selective forces associated with immunity.

Areas of Expertise

Immunity, computation biology, experimental biology

Contact Info

Colm S. O'Huigin, Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research
National Cancer Institute
Building 37, Room 4140B
Bethesda, MD 20852
Ph: 301-594-9604
ohuiginc@mail.nih.gov

A background in both computational and in experimental biology, leads naturally to an interest in research that interfaces both approaches. In the areas of inflammation and cancer unravelling the complex patterns of change and regulation of molecules of adaptive (MHC, KIR) and innate (Trim5, IL28B) immunity have provided both bioinformatic and experimental challenges that are being met using comparative sequence analysis and inference. Research interest is also turning to the selective forces associated with immunity. To what extent are rapidly evolving pathogens (HIV, HCV) shaped to escape host immunity? Given the disparity of mutation rates compared with their host, can pathogens or commensals shape host immunity?

Selected Publications

  1. Increased incidence and disparity of diagnosis of retinoblastoma patients in Guatemala.
    Dean M, Bendfeldt G, Lou H, Giron V, Garrido C, Valverde P, Barnoya M, Castellanos M, Jiménez-Morales S, Luna-Fineman S.
    Cancer Lett.. 351: 59-63, 2014. [ Journal Article ]
  2. LILRB2 interaction with HLA class I correlates with control of HIV-1 infection.
    Bashirova AA, Martin-Gayo E, Jones DC, Qi Y, Apps R, Gao X, Burke PS, Taylor CJ, Rogich J, Wolinsky S, Bream JH, Duggal P, Hussain S, Martinson J, Weintrob A, Kirk GD, Fellay J, Buchbinder SP, Goedert JJ, Deeks SG, Pereyra F, Trowsdale J, Lichterfeld M, Telenti A, Walker BD, Allen RL, Carrington M, Yu XG.
    PLoS Genet.. 10: e1004196, 2014. [ Journal Article ]
  3. Association of HLA-DRB1-restricted CD4? T cell responses with HIV immune control.
    Ranasinghe S, Cutler S, Davis I, Lu R, Soghoian DZ, Qi Y, Sidney J, Kranias G, Flanders MD, Lindqvist M, Kuhl B, Alter G, Deeks SG, Walker BD, Gao X, Sette A, Carrington M, Streeck H.
    Nat. Med.. 19: 930-3, 2013. [ Journal Article ]
  4. Association study of common genetic variants and HIV-1 acquisition in 6,300 infected cases and 7,200 controls.
    McLaren PJ, Coulonges C, Ripke S, van den Berg L, Buchbinder S, Carrington M, Cossarizza A, Dalmau J, Deeks SG, Delaneau O, De Luca A, Goedert JJ, Haas D, Herbeck JT, Kathiresan S, Kirk GD, Lambotte O, Luo M, Mallal S, van Manen D, Martinez-Picado J, Meyer L, Miro JM, Mullins JI, Obel N, O'Brien SJ, Pereyra F, Plummer FA, Poli G, Qi Y, Rucart P, Sandhu MS, Shea PR, Schuitemaker H, Theodorou I, Vannberg F, Veldink J, Walker BD, Weintrob A, Winkler CA, Wolinsky S, Telenti A, Goldstein DB, de Bakker PI, Zagury JF, Fellay J.
    PLoS Pathog.. 9: e1003515, 2013. [ Journal Article ]
  5. Distinct assembly profiles of HLA-B molecules.
    Rizvi SM, Salam N, Geng J, Qi Y, Bream JH, Duggal P, Hussain SK, Martinson J, Wolinsky SM, Carrington M, Raghavan M.
    J. Immunol.. 192: 4967-76, 2014. [ Journal Article ]

Dr. O'Huigin heads the CIP Genetic Core Facility. His training in both quantitative and molecular genetics was at the Genetics Dept. of Trinity College, Dublin. He learnt the techniques of molecular evolutionary analysis as a postdoctoral fellow with Wen-Hsiung Li at the Center for Population and Demographic Genetics in Houston Texas. As an EMBO fellow he worked at the Max-Planck Institute in Tuebingen, Germany with Jan Klein where later he headed a group working on the origins and genetic characteristics of the major histocompatability complex, on organogenesis and on speciation.

Name Position
Ming Suet (Isabelle) Kwan Postbaccalaureate Fellow (CRTA)
Ying Qi Ph.D. Senior Computational Scientist (Contr.)
Richard Rodrigues Ph.D., M.S. Bioinformatics Analyst IV (Contr.)
Vishal Thovarai Ph.D. Bioinformatics Analyst III (Contr.)
Wuxing (Jane) Yuan M.S. Research Associate III (Contr.)