Current activity: I am back working with Dr. Kong in our mouse model of experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT). I am working with HLA-D transgenic mice, which are devoid of endogenous class II molecules, to examine which human class II genes support EAT. We are doing this on various mouse backgrounds, including the nonobese diabetic (NOD) strain. Knowing that DR3+ mice are susceptible to disease, we have begun to identify pathogenic thyroglobulin peptides in these mice. We have also used these mice to develop an animal model of Graves' disease, by injecting thyroid stimulating hormone receptor DNA along with DNAs from different cytokines.
In our EAT model with CBA/J mice, I have isolated mouse thyroglobulin- and T4(2553)-reactive T cell hybridomas. We hope to generate T cell receptor transgenic mice from the latter hybridomas to eventually be able to address pathogenic and suppressor function of T cells with a known antigen reactivity.

Personal: I am married to Cheryl Aslakson (I/M alum, 1991), and we have 2 daughters (Amelia, Rebecca). After doing post-docs in Maine, Ohio and two in Illinois, I am back in Michigan. Now that I am back, it is easier to keep in touch with other I/M alumni as I continue to pursue my outdoor interests, such as golf and hunting. In fact, Mike Shaw, Nick Lukacs and I have continued with a softball team, which plays in Canton (centrally located between Ann Arbor and Detroit).