The company’s cell analyzer will enable the investigation of 30-plus cellular characteristics to capture key biological insights and support a planned 1,000-person immune profiling study.
BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) has announced a collaboration with the Institute for Immunology and Immune Health (I3H) at the University of Pennsylvania to advance research in deep human immune profiling and support the development of immune-mediated therapies.
The partnership will focus on developing and validating a high-parameter flow cytometry panel capable of capturing key functional pathways in whole blood, including phosphorylation markers that provide insight into how single cells respond to drugs or disease states. The panel will support a planned 1,000-patient immune profiling study in partnership with the Penn Colton Center for Autoimmunity, expected to begin this summer.
The project will leverage the BD FACSDiscover A8 cell analyzer, BD Rhapsody System, BD reagents, software, and informatics. BD teams will manage reagents, instrumentation, and spectral data algorithms, while I3H teams will serve as scientific and clinical leads. The team plans to publish a peer-reviewed manuscript describing the study results.
“This project demonstrates the power of collaboration between academia and industry,” says E. John Wherry, PhD, the Richard and Barbara Schiffrin President’s Distinguished Professor, director of the Institute for Immunology and Immune Health at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Colton Consortium for Autoimmunity, in a release. “We are bringing together cross-functional experts to transform human immune profiling for maximum impact, enabling deeper insights from our immune cells that could accelerate development of precise medical treatments.”
Advanced Cell Analysis Technology
The collaboration utilizes the BD FACSDiscover A8 Cell Analyzer, which features spectral and real-time cell imaging technologies, along with the BD Horizon Chroma solution for dried high-parameter panels. The system enables investigation of more than 30 cellular characteristics to capture key biological insights.
“High-parameter single-cell studies of this kind, once considered infeasible, are increasingly becoming central to better understanding the human immune system,” says Steve Conly, worldwide president of BD Biosciences, in a release. “Our ecosystem of industry-leading BD flow cytometers, single-cell systems, reagents, software and informatics, provide a critical missing puzzle piece that can support the important work of organizations like I3H to translate and deliver immunological insights into quantitative, actionable information for discovery and clinical care teams around the world.”
Photo caption: BD announces collaboration with I3H.
Photo credit: BD
