The Good and The Bad of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)

 

This presentation will provide a great overview of structure, functions, and clinical relevance of human leukocyte antigen (HLA). It will also provide insights on the common methodologies and address the current challenges with HLA testing and interpretation.

Originally published on March 5, 2024

Lecture Presenter

Dharmendra Jain, PhD

Dharmendra Jain, PhD

Assistant Professor (Clinical)
University of Utah School of Medicine
Medical Director, Immunology Division; Associate Director, Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory
ARUP Laboratories

Dr. Dharmendra Jain is a medical director of immunology and an associate director of the Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory at ARUP Laboratories. He is an assistant professor (clinical) at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Dr. Jain has 12 years of collective experience in the field of transplant immunology, with extensive work in both clinical and research laboratories. He was working in histocompatibility laboratories in his home country of India before joining the postdoctoral research fellowship in transplant immunology at the University of Chicago. He then moved to the University of Utah and ARUP Laboratories to pursue a combined fellowship in immunology, histocompatibility, and immunogenetics. Dr. Jain is certified by the American College of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. He has received the following awards: TxDx COP ATC 2023 Travel Grant, American Transplant Congress; Second Place Award, Fellow Research Grand Rounds, University of Utah, 2022; Travel Award, American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics 47th Annual Meeting, 2021; Doctorate Award, The Association of Medical Laboratory Immunologists 34th Annual Meeting, 2021; Career Advancement for Postdocs Travel Award, Division of Biological Science, Immunology, 2019; Poster Award, American Association of Immunologist, 2019; Mentee-Mentor Award, International Transplantation Science, 2019; Quality Champion Award, National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories, Medanta-The Medicity, 2016; and the Harold Gunson Fellowship Award, International Society of Blood Transfusion, 2015. He specializes in clinical immunology, histocompatibility, and immunogenetics. Dr. Jain’s research interests include identifying the role of non-HLA antibodies in solid organ transplantation and evaluation of clinical non-HLA testing assays in the context of clinical utility.

Objectives

After this presentation, participants will be able to:

  • Define the characteristics of HLA
  • Describe the association of HLA alleles with adverse drug reactions (ADR)
  • Discuss HLA testing as a companion diagnostic tool in immunotherapy

Sponsored by:

University of Utah School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, and ARUP Laboratories