Leukocyte Development

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITIONS:
• Professor, Fox Chase Cancer Center
• Co-Leader, Blood Cell Development and Cancer Keystone, Fox Chase Cancer Center
• Director, DNA Sequencing Facility, Fox Chase Cancer Center
• Director, Cell Sorting Facility, Fox Chase Cancer Center

EDUCATION AND BACKGROUND:
Dr Hardy earned his BS in chemistry from the Illinois Institute of Technology and his PhD, in biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology, where he received the Herbert Newby McCoy Award for outstanding achievement in research. He completed his postdoctoral training at Stanford University, where he was a fellow of the California Division of the American Cancer Society. He was a visiting scientist at Osaka University’s Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Japan for two years before joining Fox Chase in 1987.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Dr Hardy’s research interests include development of the immune system’s B lymphocytes from stem cells in fetal liver and bone marrow; regulation of this process by pre-B-cell receptors; and the development and function of B-cell subsets, including the early generated B-1 B cells and their role in autoimmunity, leukemia and chronic B-cell lymphoma. These B1 B-cells predominate during prenatal and newborn development but dwindle to a small minority in adults. This unusual cell type holds special interest because of its tendency to grow out of control and its association with hematologic cancers. Hardy’s research includes study of B-1 cell genes and antibody targets to help reveal the genetic origin of related cancers and to increase understanding of their role in malignancies.