Dr. Jan Storek, MD, PhD
Positions
Professor
Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Medicine
Professor
Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Oncology
Professor
Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Member
Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute
Full Member
The Calvin, Phoebe and Joan Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases
Contact information
Web presence
Phone number
Office: 403.210.8630
Lab: 403.220.7671
For media enquiries, contact
Kelly Johnston
Senior Communications Specialist
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Admin Assistant
Cindy Miskolczi-McCallum
Email: cindy.miskolczi.mccal@ucalgary.ca
Office: 403.210.3935
Background
Educational Background
Doctor of Medicine Medicine, Charles University, 1984
Doctor of Philosophy Medicine, Charles University, 1994
Biography
Dr. Storek is a Professor in the Departments of Medicine (Hematology), Oncology and Microbiology/Immunology/Infectious Diseases at the University of Calgary. He is also a member of the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute and the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases. Dr. Storek’s major interest is in the immunology of hematopoietic cell transplantation.
Research
Areas of Research
- Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT)
- Prevention of graft-vs-host disease
- HCT for autoimmune diseases
Hematopoietic cell transplantation is used to treat hematologic malignancies, aplastic anemia and congenital defects of hematopoiesis. The most frequent complications are immune complications. These include either insufficient immunity against microorganisms or leukemic cells, leading to infections or leukemic relapse, or deleterious immunity leading to, e.g., graft-versus-host disease. We study how immunity develops after hematopoietic cell transplantation. This includes evaluation of immunity against virus-infected cells or leukemic cells, with the goal of limiting the incidence of infections and relapse. It also includes evaluation of alloimmunity, autoimmunity and allergy. For example, we search for biomarkers of graft-vs-host disease, with the goal of improving donor selection or treating graft-vs-host disease preemptively. For another example, we explore whether and how allergic diseases (asthma, rhinitis, eczema) or autoimmune diseases are transferred from a hematopoietic cell donor to a recipient, or cured if a hematopoietic cell transplant recipient with an autoimmune or allergic disease receives the graft from a healthy donor.
Awards
- award, 2017
- Magazine article about my research, 2017
- award, 2016
- commendation, 2016
- award, 2015
- Nomination for AHS President's Excellence Award, Alberta Health Services. 2015
- award, 2014
- award, 2013
- Invited Speaker, Canadian Blood and Marrow Transplant Group Annual Meeting, 2013
- Invited Speaker, Prague Hematology Day (Annual event organized by Czech Hematology Society), 2011
- Fellow, American College of Physicians, 2010
- Invited Speaker, Blood and Marrow Transplant/CLIP (Childhood Leukemia Investigation Prague) seminar, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, April 2009, 2009
- Invited Speaker, Minisymposium on Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Autoimmune Diseases, Prague, Czech Rep., November 2009, 2009
- Invited Speaker, Mt. Sinai Hospital/University of Toronto Rheumatology Rounds, Toronto, ON, September 2009, 2009
- Invited Speaker, University of British Columbia Rheumatology Rounds, and Rheumatology Resident/Fellow Seminar, Vancouver, BC, November 2008, 2008
- Invited Speaker, University of Saskatchewan Rheumatology Rounds, Resident/Fellow Seminar, and Internal Medicine Grand Rounds, Saskatoon, SK, September 2008, 2008
- Invited Speaker, Univ. of Toronto/Mt.Sinai Hospital Rheumatology Rounds, Toronto, ON, Sep 2008, 2008
- Workshop Member for the development of a Registry and International Guidelines for follow up of patients with Multiple Sclerosis undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation, Minneapolis, MN, 2008
- Committee Member for the Preparation of the CIBMTR State of the Science Symposium (Ann Arbor, MI), section on Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Non-Malignant Diseases, 2007
- Executive Committee Member for the development of International Guidelines for Infection Prophylaxis after Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, 2007-2009, 2007
- Invited Speaker, Airway Inflammation Group and Immunology Research Group of the University of Calgary Joint Meeting, Banff, AB, 2007
- Invited Speaker, Alberta-Saskatchewan-Manitoba Flow Cytometry Users Group Annual Meeting, Red Deer, AB, 2007
- Invited Speaker, Canadian Scleroderma Research Group Annual Meeting, Calgary, AB, 2007
- Invited Speaker, Canadian Scleroderma Society Annual Meeting, Calgary, AB, 2007
- Invited Speaker, Danish Society of Immunology, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2007
- Invited Speaker, International Society for Cellular Therapy, Sydney, Australia - Keynote Speaker on Flow Cytometry, 2007
- Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Clinical Investigator, 2006
- Canada Research Chair in Immunology, 2005
- Canada Research Chair in Immunology, Tier 2, 2005
- award, 2004
- Travel Award for meritorious abstracts at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology 2004 Meeting, 2004
- award, 2002
- award, 2001
- award, 1982
In the News
My research focus is on
1. Pathogenesis and prevention of hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) complications, in particular
- relapse, e.g., we study how to detect minimal residual leukemia after HCT in a way that reliably predicts which patient will develop relapse
- graft-vs-host disease, particularly using antithymocyte globulin (ATG, we study its pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics)
- infections, particularly CMV and EBV
2. Using HCT for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, particularly systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
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