Jennifer Clare Jones, M.D., Ph.D.

Jennifer Clare Jones, M.D., Ph.D.
Stadtman Investigator
Laboratory of Pathology
NIH Distinguished Scholar
Head, Translational Nanobiology Section

Dr. Jones (McIntire) positionally cloned the TIM gene family and demonstrated the genetic association between TIMs and immune response profiles (McIntire et al., Nature Immunology 2001, and Nature 2003). As a radiation oncologist, her current research is focused on developing immune-based therapies that synergize with radiation to produce optimal anti-tumor immune responses.

Tumor cells, immune cells, and irradiated tissues release large quantities of biologically active (and distinct) nanoscale extracellular vesicles (e.g., exosomes and microparticles). Dr. Jones is developing improved methods to characterize, sort, and perform functional studies of nanoparticles, and has established a translational EV analysis pipeline, with instrumentation for preparation, analysis, counting, and cytometric study of extracellular vesicles.

Current Translational Nanobiology Lab information, software, and protocols are found at our lab website: https://nano.ccr.cancer.gov/

Areas of Expertise

1) tumor immunology, 2) radiobiology, 3) (nano) flow cytometry, 4) nanoscale particle analysis (particularly exosomes, microparticles, and other extracellular vesicles),
5) immune receptor immunogenetics and evolution, 6) vaccine and immunotherapy development

Contact Info

Jennifer Clare Jones, M.D., Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research
National Cancer Institute
Building 10-CRC, Room B2-3500
Bethesda, MD 20892-5062
Ph: 301-496-5457
jennifer.jones2@nih.gov

The Jones Lab has two primary research goals:

1) Developing optimal strategies for combining immune-based therapies with radiation to produce optimal anti-tumor immune responses. 

2) Developing new ways to investigate (characterize and categorize) extracellular vesicles, as biological agents, biomarkers, and therapeutic targets.  Tumor cells, immune cells, and irradiated tissues release large quantities of biologically active (and distinct) nanoscale extracellular vesicles (e.g., exosomes and microparticles). The Jones Lab combines leading edge technologies and new methods together in a cohesive translational pipeline to investigate extracellular vesicles. This research involves developing improved methods in three broad categories: 1) how samples are collected and processed, 2) establishing high-throughput and precise methods to characterize extracellular vesicles, and 3) utilizing extracellular vesicle data to better understand tumor- and immune-biology and to establish a foundation for next-generation EV-based personalized cancer treatment and monitoring.

NIH Scientific Focus Areas:
Biomedical Engineering and Biophysics, Cancer Biology, Clinical Research, Genetics and Genomics, Immunology
View Dr. Jones' Complete Bibliography at Researcher ID.
View Dr. Jones' ORCID page.
View Dr. Jones' Scopus page.

Selected Recent Publications

  1. Prospective Use of High-Refractive Index Materials for Single Molecule Detection in Flow Cytometry.
    Welsh JA, Kepley J, Rosner A, Horak P, Berzofsky JA, Jones JC.
    Sensors. 18(8): 2461, 2018. [ Journal Article ]
  2. Labeling Extracellular Vesicles for Nanoscale Flow Cytometry.
    Morales-Kastresana A, Telford B, Musich TA, McKinnon K, Clayborne C, Braig Z, Rosner A, Demberg T, Watson DC, Karpova TS, Freeman GJ, DeKruyff RH, Pavlakis GN, Terabe M, Robert-Guroff M, Berzofsky JA, and Jones JC.
    Sci Rep. 7(1): 1878, 2017. [ Journal Article ]
  3. Detection of platelet vesicles by flow cytometry.
    Nolan JP, Jones JC.
    Platelets. 28(3): 256-262, 2017. [ Journal Article ]
  4. Flow Cytometric Analysis of Extracellular Vesicles.
    Morales-Kastresana A, Jones JC.
    Methods Mol Biol. 1545: 215-225, 2017. [ Journal Article ]
  5. Flow virometric sorting and analysis of HIV quasispecies from plasma.
    Musich T, Jones JC, Keele BF, Jenkins LM, Demberg T, Uldrick TS, Yarchoan R, and Robert-Guroff M.
    JCI Insight. 2(4): e90626, 2017. [ Journal Article ]

Dr. Jones received her M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford University. She is a board-certified radiation oncologist specialized training in radiosurgery, with graduate and postdoctoral training in both cancer biology and general immunology.

Awards:

  • Pamela Anne Cafritz Renal Cell Carcinoma Award, 2018
  • Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award, 2018 - present
  • Federal Technology Transfer Awards, 2014 - 2018
  • ASCO/AACR Methods in Clinical Cancer Trials Workshop Fellowship, 2011
  • Stanford University Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2011
  • American Association for Women Radiologists (AAWR): Member-In-Training Award, 2008
  • American Association of Immunologists Trainee Achievement Award, 2004
  • Western Association for Medical Research Annual Meeting: Edwin E. Osgood Award, 1998
  • American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI): Travel Award, 1997
  • Cum Laude, Princeton University, 1994

 

Name Position
Joshua A. Welsh, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow (Visiting)

The following software was written by Joshua A. Welsh (https://go.cancer.gov/a/y4ZeFtA)

FCM MESF Calculator – This is a standalone software package used to convert flow cytometry arbitrary unit data to .fcs files for standardizing downstream analysis and interpretation of data.

NTA PASS – This is a standalone software package that allows high-throughput analyses of nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) data from nanosight instrumentation.

FCM PASS – This is a standalone software package that uses particle scatter modeling to convert flow cytometer scattering parameters to absolute units and writes these to .fcs files for standardizing downstream analysis and interpretation of data. This software is also capable of determining the collection angle of flow cytometers with conventional optics, and converting scatter data to diameter or refractive index given the correct controls.

MPA PASS – This is a standalone software package that uses particle scatter modeling to convert flow cytometer scattering parameters to absolute units and writes these to .fcs files for standardizing downstream analysis and interpretation of data. This software is also capable of determining the collection angle of flow cytometers with conventional optics, and converting scatter data to diameter or refractive index given the correct controls.

Because many extracellular vesicles (especially exosomes) are 100nm or smaller, conventional flow cytometric instruments and methods are not suitable for analysis of individual EVs. There have been several efforts worldwide to develop and refine methods for EV flow cytometry, but until 2015, there was no rigorous, consistent framework established for validating these methods or for conducting EV flow cytometry experiments with appropriate controls.  In collaboration with flow cytometry experts from the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV), International Society for the Advancement of Science (ISAC), and International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis (ISTH), we have established an EV Flow Cytometry Working Group that is working to establish guidelines for best practices for this area of research. The working group webpage contains links to the societies, tools, reports, and working group materials.

ISEV-ISAC-ISTH Working Group

NCI Translational Nanobiology Lab information, software, and protocols are located at: https://nano.ccr.cancer.gov/