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Research Focus

Autoimmunity Induced by Xenobiotics

Our research seeks to understand mechanisms of systemic autoimmunity, and the role that exogenous (or xenobiotic) agents play in the initiation and/or exacerbation of autoimmune disease. Together with collaborators in TSRI and elsewhere we pioneered the use of mercury-induced autoimmunity (HgIA) as a model for the study of xenobiotic-induced systemic autoimmunity. This model has many advantages over most other murine models of systemic autoimmunity and has allowed us to examine numerous mechanistic facets of autoimmune disease. Currently we focus on three major areas of investigation: 1) Role of innate and adaptive immune responses in xenobiotic-induced autoimmunity, 2) Xenobiotic-induced acceleration of idiopathic systemic autoimmunity, and 3) Identification of genes that confer resistance or susceptibility to xenobiotic-induced systemic autoimmunity.

Education

B.S., Biochemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, 1974
Ph.D., Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, 1983

Professional Experience

Scientific Officer, Sutton Rheumatism Research Laboratory, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia 1975-1978.
Graduate Student, University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine, Sydney, Australia 1978-1982.
Research Associate, W.M. Keck Autoimmune Disease Center, Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, La Jolla, California, U.S.A. 1982-1985.
Research Officer, Sutton Rheumatism Research Laboratory, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia. 1985-1987.
Senior Research Associate, W.M. Keck Autoimmune Disease Center, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, U.S.A. 1987-1991.
Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, U.S.A. 1992-1996.
Associate Professor, Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, U.S.A. 1997-Present.

Awards & Professional Activities

Australian Commonwealth University Scholarship 1972-1974.
Eleanor Sophia Wood Traveling Fellow of the University of Sydney, Australia 1982-1983.
Research Awardee, NSW Lupus Association, Australia 1982-1983.
Terri Gotthelf Lupus Research Institute Scholar, U.S.A. 1988-1991.
First Independent Research Support and Transition (FIRST) Award (R29), National Institute of Allergy and Immunology, NIH, USA 1991-1996.
Dr. Pollard is one of the autoimmune disease researchers featured in Donna Jackson Nakazawa's The Autoimmune Epidemic. Touchstone/Simon and Schuster, 2008. 352 pages.
Books: Autoantibodies and Autoimmunity: Molecular Mechanisms in Health and Disease. Pollard, K.M. (Ed.) Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, Germany, 2006. 640 pages.

Selected References

Pollard KM, Hultman P, Kono DH. Toxicology of autoimmune diseases. Chem. Res. Toxicol. 2010 23:455-66. 

Toomey CB, Cauvi DM, Song WC, Pollard KM. Decay-accelerating factor 1 (Daf1) deficiency exacerbates xenobiotic-induced autoimmunity. Immunology. 2010. 131:99-106.

Cauvi DM, Hultman P, Pollard KM. Autoimmune Models. In Comprehensive Toxicology, Edited by Charlene A. McQueen Oxford: Academic Press. 2010. Volume 5, p. 413–438.

Havarinasab S, Pollard KM, Hultman, P. Gold- and silver-induced murine autoimmunity - requirement for cytokines and CD28 in murine heavy metal-induced autoimmunity. Clin. Exp. Immunol. 2009. 155. p567-88

Kono DH, Haraldsson MK, Lawson BR, Pollard KM, Koh YT, Du X, Arnold CN, Baccala R, Silverman GJ, Beutler BA, Theofilopoulos AN. Endosomal TLR signaling is required for anti-nucleic acid and rheumatoid factor autoantibodies in lupus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2009. 106:12061-6.

Links

Molecular and Experimental Medicine Home Page

Expert panel examines autoimmunity research

"The Autoimmune Epidemic" by Donna Jackson Nakazawa

Questions Persist: Environmental Factors in Autoimmune Disease

Examining Assumptions about Female Dominance in Autoimmune Disease