Graduate School of Medical Sciences
A partnership with the Sloan Kettering Institute

John Wagner

Professor
Dr. Wagner Headshot
The Wagner laboratory explores neural development and function at the cellular and molecular levels.

Research

Dr. Wagner is interested studies the development and function of the nervous systemHis current focus is the bi-directional interaction between the nervous system and the immune functionIn collaboration with Richard Granstein, he is exploring the innervation of antigen presenting cellsSensory nerves form a synapse with antigen presenting cells in the skin and release the neuropeptide CGRP and epinephrineWe discovered that these neurotransmitters modify the ability of antigen presenting cells, biasing the immune response from a TH1 to a TH2 or an inflammatory responseWe are taking a genetic approach to understand the role of Il-6 in signaling between the antigen presenting cell and the responding T cellWe are also interested in the ability of adenosine to act on cell surface receptors on antigen presenting cells to modify their ability to present antigen. 

Dr. Wagner also collaborates with Dr. Lorraine Gudas and Dr. Xiao-Han Tang to study the therapeutic potential of retinoids on Type 2 Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, and cardiovascular health.

Current projects 

  • How is IL-6 presented to naive T cells? 
  • Regulation of IL-6 expression 
  • Signaling by IL-6 receptors 

Bio

Dr. Wagner received his Ph.D. studying virus assembly under Dr. Uli Laemmli at Princeton UniversityHe did a NRSA Neuroscience Fellowship with Dr. Regis Kelly at the University of California, San Francisco, where he developed a method to purify synaptic vesicle to homogeneity and studied their molecular structureHe also developed a method to identify presynaptic proteins in the visual system and studied axonal transportHe then became an Assistant and Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Harvard Medical School and Dana Farber Cancer Institute where he studied signaling by NGF and adenosine.  He joined Weill Cornell as a Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience. 

Current Areas of Focus

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Weill Cornell Medicine Graduate School of Medical Sciences 1300 York Ave. Box 65 New York, NY 10065 Phone: (212) 746-6565 Fax: (212) 746-8906