Bernard B. Lanter, Ph.D. Email & Phone Number

Waltham, Massachusetts, United States

Building out Xilio’s Cell Line Engineering capabilities. Generating numerous cells lines and subsequently building out in vitro assays and enabling in vivo model development.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Looking to make a difference for patients in need by leading cutting edge science focused around NK and T cell biology.

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Greater Boston Area

Bridging natural host-microbe communication to restore health.

Pediatrics- Mucosal Immunology

My research worked towards dissecting the signaling pathways between infected epithelial cells and the resulting immune response in order to identify potential therapeutic targets. I employed the genome editing technique CRISPR/Cas9 to knock out genes involved in eicosanoid synthesis. The resulting cell lines were used in co-culture transwell models to study the migration of immune cells to the various eicosanoid signals in response to bacterial infection. Additionally, I was heavily involved in the development of various in vitro and in vivo models to mimic disease states, enable the testing of pharmaceutical compounds and to screen for novel potential therapeutic targets.

Pediatrics- Mucosal Immunology

I investigated the role bacterial presence plays in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, particularly within the human carotid artery. Over the past 20 years there have been publications which indicate a role for bacterial infection within atherosclerosis, however these studies were preliminary and inconclusive. Within my study, human atherosclerotic arteries were obtained and probed for bacterial presence using both molecular and culturing techniques. A total of 11 different species were recovered in culture from 10 human atherosclerotic carotid arterial samples, including Propionibacterium acnes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, demonstrating viable infecting bacteria present within the surrounding tissue and plaque. Fluorescence in-situ hybridization was applied to these carotid arteries, and we found the infecting bacteria are in a biofilm mode of growth. Additionally, I investigated how increased host free-iron levels, caused by physiologically relevant norepinephrine-transferrin interactions, can cause P. aeruginosa and P. acnes biofilms to undergo biofilm dispersion events. These events were then linked to an increase in the release of degradative enzymes by P. acnes biofilms, which could result in damage to the surrounding host tissue within the carotid arterial wall, contributing to increased risk of heart attack or stroke. While preliminary, these findings provided a link to the stressed out state of the host and the occurrence of heart attack or stroke. This work resulted in the first published study in which the bacterial infection within human atherosclerotic carotid arteries was visualized, and multiple bacterial species were recovered in culture from human atherosclerotic carotid arteries.

United States

During this time I was responsible for lecturing, teaching laboratory activities, holding office hours and preparing/grading quizzes and exams. Classes taught include microbiology, microbiology lab, medical microbiology, biochemistry and biochemistry lab. (Classes ranged from 32-180 students)

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Biochemistry, Cell And Molecular Biological Sciences, 4.0

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), Chemistry, 3.8