GILL DIAMOND, Ph.D. gdiamond@umdnj.edu Phone: 973-972-3324 Fax: 973-972-0045

Education

1982 B.A., Biochemistry, University of Pennsylvania
1988 Ph.D., Genetics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
1993 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Genetics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Faculty appointments

1993 Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Injury Sciences, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
2000 Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
2002 Associate Professor, Department of Oral Biology, UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School
2004 Vice Chair, Department of Oral Biology, UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School

Administrative appointments

2005-present Chair, research committee, UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School
2001-present Director, Ph.D. program in Biomedical Sciences

My main research interests focus on host‑pathogen interactions in mammalian mucosal epithelia. Specifically, I have been concentrating on the steps involved in the innate immune response of the airway and the gingival epithelium to pathogenic bacteria. This is being studied at several levels of the response: the recognition of the bacteria by pattern recognition receptors, such as the Toll-like receptors (TLRs), the subsequent signal transduction pathways induced by this interaction, and the induction of host defense gene expression. In the last step, I have been most interested in the regulation of the expression of antimicrobial peptide genes and their role in the innate defense against microbial infection. More recently, my research has focused on the hypothesis that suppression of this innate immune response can lead to increased susceptibility to colonization and infection. Research is funded by grants from the NIH and Polymedix, Inc.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Legarda, D., Klein‑Patel, M., Yim, S., Yuk, M.H., Diamond, G. Suppression of NF-KB-mediated beta-defensin gene expression in the mammalian airway by the Bordetella type III secretion system. Cell. Microbiol., 7:489-97, 2005.

Laube, D.M., Yim, S., Ryan, L.K., Kisich, K.O., Diamond, G. Antimicrobial Peptides in the

Airway. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, 306:155-184, 2006.

Klein‑Patel, M.E., Diamond, G., Saad, S., Boniotto, M., Ryan, L.K. Inhibition of P‑Defensin Gene Expression in Airway Epithelia] Cells By Low Doses of Residual Oil Fly Ash is Mediated by Vanadium. In press, Toxicol. Sci., 2006.

Kurland, A.R., Schreiner, H.C., Diamond, G. In vivo P‑defensin Gene Expression in Rat Gingival Epithelium in Response to Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans infection. In press, J. Periodontal Res., 2006

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