Daniel A. Portnoy

Dr. Portnoy got his start in microbiology in the lab of Dr. Sydney Rittenberg working on Bdellovibrio as an undergraduate at UCLA where he earned a B.A. in Bacteriology in 1978. He next earned his Ph.D. in 1983 under the tutelage of Stanley Falkow first at the University of Washington finishing at Stanford University. In the Falkow Lab, he worked on the conserved virulence plasmids in Yersinia enterocolitica, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, and Yersinia pestis,{{Cite journal|last1=Portnoy|first1=D A|last2=Falkow|first2=S|date=1981-12-01|title=Virulence-associated plasmids from Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pestis.|journal=Journal of Bacteriology|volume=148|issue=3|pages=877–883|doi=10.1128/JB.148.3.877-883.1981|issn=0021-9193|pmc=216287|pmid=6273385}} and discovered what turned out to be the first effectors of type III secretion.{{Cite journal|last1=Portnoy|first1=D A|last2=Moseley|first2=S L|last3=Falkow|first3=S|date=1981-02-01|title=Characterization of plasmids and plasmid-associated determinants of Yersinia enterocolitica pathogenesis.|journal=Infection and Immunity|volume=31|issue=2|pages=775–782|doi=10.1128/IAI.31.2.775-782.1981|issn=0019-9567|pmc=351377|pmid=7216474}} To further his appreciation of host cells, he did his postdoctoral fellowship in the Zanvil Cohn Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology at the Rockefeller University in New York, working with Jay Unkeless and Jeff Ravetch. At Rockefeller University he worked on macrophage Fc receptors and lysosomal proteases.

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In 1986 Dr. Portnoy started his independent lab at Washington University in St. Louis where he began his studies on Listeria monocytogenes. In 1988, he joined the Department of Microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he collaborated with Dr. Lewis Tilney in the Biology Department and made the observation that L. monocytogenes spreads from one cell to another by exploiting a host cell system of actin polymerization.{{Cite journal|last1=Tilney|first1=L. G.|last2=Portnoy|first2=D. A.|date=1989-10-01|title=Actin filaments and the growth, movement, and spread of the intracellular bacterial parasite, Listeria monocytogenes.|journal=The Journal of Cell Biology|language=en|volume=109|issue=4|pages=1597–1608|doi=10.1083/jcb.109.4.1597|issn=0021-9525|pmid=2507553|pmc=2115783}} His lab also defined the role of the listerial hemolysin in mediating dissolution of phagosomes.{{Cite journal|last1=Portnoy|first1=D. A.|last2=Jacks|first2=P. S.|last3=Hinrichs|first3=D. J.|date=1988-04-01|title=Role of hemolysin for the intracellular growth of Listeria monocytogenes.|journal=The Journal of Experimental Medicine|language=en|volume=167|issue=4|pages=1459–1471|doi=10.1084/jem.167.4.1459|issn=0022-1007|pmid=2833557|pmc=2188911}} In collaboration with Dr. Philip Youngman, he showed that expression of the L. monocytogenes hemolysin by Bacillus subtilis led to its growth inside of host cells.{{Cite journal|last1=Bielecki|first1=Jacek|last2=Youngman|first2=Philip|last3=Connelly|first3=Patricia|last4=Portnoy|first4=Daniel A.|date=1990-05-10|title=Bacillus subtilis expressing a haemolysin gene from Listeria monocytogenes can grow in mammalian cells|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=345|issue=6271|pages=175–176|doi=10.1038/345175a0|pmid=2110628|bibcode=1990Natur.345..175B|s2cid=4366715}} Dr. Portnoy collaborated with Dr. Yvonne Paterson, who also arrived at Penn in 1988, on the use of L. monocytogenes as a recombinant vector-based vaccine for the induction of cell-mediated immunity.{{Cite journal|last1=Schafer|first1=R.|last2=Portnoy|first2=D. A.|last3=Brassell|first3=S. A.|last4=Paterson|first4=Y.|date=1992-07-01|title=Induction of a cellular immune response to a foreign antigen by a recombinant Listeria monocytogenes vaccine|journal=Journal of Immunology|volume=149|issue=1|pages=53–59|doi=10.4049/jimmunol.149.1.53 |issn=0022-1767|pmid=1607662|s2cid=23707962 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Ikonomidis|first1=G.|last2=Paterson|first2=Y.|last3=Kos|first3=F. J.|last4=Portnoy|first4=D. A.|date=1994-12-01|title=Delivery of a viral antigen to the class I processing and presentation pathway by Listeria monocytogenes|journal=The Journal of Experimental Medicine|volume=180|issue=6|pages=2209–2218|issn=0022-1007|pmc=2191788|pmid=7964496|doi=10.1084/jem.180.6.2209}} Both Drs. Paterson and Portnoy went on to work with biotech companies to develop vaccines for both cancer and infectious disease applications.{{Cite web|url=http://aduro.com/|title=Aduro Biotech {{!}} Engineered Immunotherapy for Cancer|website=aduro.com|access-date=2016-09-01}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.advaxis.com/|title=Home - Advaxis|website=www.advaxis.com|access-date=2016-09-01}} Numerous clinical trials based on their discoveries have shown promising results as immunotherapeutic treatments for cancer.

In 1997, Dr Portnoy moved to UC Berkeley where his lab continues to examine fundamental aspects of L. monocytogenes biology, and has expanded to focus on both innate and acquired immunity in the context of Listeria infection. Dr. Portnoy and collaborators have shown that immune cells recognize cyclic di-AMP, a novel and essential bacterial signaling molecule, secreted by L. monocytogenes through multidrug resistance efflux transporters.{{Cite journal|last1=Crimmins|first1=Gregory T.|last2=Herskovits|first2=Anat A.|last3=Rehder|first3=Kai|last4=Sivick|first4=Kelsey E.|last5=Lauer|first5=Peter|last6=Dubensky|first6=Thomas W.|last7=Portnoy|first7=Daniel A.|date=2008-07-22|title=Listeria monocytogenes multidrug resistance transporters activate a cytosolic surveillance pathway of innate immunity|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=105|issue=29|pages=10191–10196|doi=10.1073/pnas.0804170105|issn=0027-8424|pmc=2481368|pmid=18632558|bibcode=2008PNAS..10510191C|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Woodward|first1=Joshua J.|last2=Iavarone|first2=Anthony T.|last3=Portnoy|first3=Daniel A.|date=2010-06-25|title=c-di-AMP Secreted by Intracellular Listeria monocytogenes Activates a Host Type I Interferon Response|journal=Science|language=en|volume=328|issue=5986|pages=1703–1705|doi=10.1126/science.1189801|issn=0036-8075|pmc=3156580|pmid=20508090|bibcode=2010Sci...328.1703W}} Dr. Portnoy and Dr. Russell Vance identified that STING was the host receptor of cyclic-di-nucleotides (CDNs) that leads to the production of type I interferon and other co-regulated genes.{{Cite journal|last1=Sauer|first1=John-Demian|last2=Sotelo-Troha|first2=Katia|last3=Moltke|first3=Jakob von|last4=Monroe|first4=Kathryn M.|last5=Rae|first5=Chris S.|last6=Brubaker|first6=Sky W.|last7=Hyodo|first7=Mamoru|last8=Hayakawa|first8=Yoshihiro|last9=Woodward|first9=Joshua J.|date=2011-02-01|title=The N-Ethyl-N-Nitrosourea-Induced Goldenticket Mouse Mutant Reveals an Essential Function of Sting in the In Vivo Interferon Response to Listeria monocytogenes and Cyclic Dinucleotides|journal=Infection and Immunity|language=en|volume=79|issue=2|pages=688–694|doi=10.1128/IAI.00999-10|issn=0019-9567|pmc=3028833|pmid=21098106}} Modified CDNs are now being evaluated for clinical application as adjuvants and for cancer immunotherapy.

Dr. Portnoy has been awarded a number of honors over the course of his career including the [https://www.asm.org/index.php/awards2/10-awards-a-grants/awards/36-eli-lilly-and-company-research-award Eli Lilly and Company Research Award in Microbiology & Immunology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528212015/http://www.asm.org/index.php/awards2/10-awards-a-grants/awards/36-eli-lilly-and-company-research-award |date=2016-05-28 }},{{Cite web|url=https://www.asm.org/index.php/awards2/140-awards-a-grants/past-laureates/7791-eli-lilly-and-company-elanco-research-award-past-laureates|title=Eli Lilly and Company-Elanco Research Award Past Laureates|website=www.asm.org|access-date=2016-09-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120005303/https://www.asm.org/index.php/awards2/140-awards-a-grants/past-laureates/7791-eli-lilly-and-company-elanco-research-award-past-laureates|archive-date=2016-11-20|url-status=dead}} NIH Merit Award, Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, Senior Scholar Award in Global Infectious Diseases from the Ellison Foundation, and numerous honorary keynote lectures. In 2013, Portnoy's contributions were recognized by his election to the National Academy of Sciences.{{Cite web|url=http://academyofinventors.org/wp/skin/search-fellows.asp?Cursor=1&QueryItem=P&Qa=%&GO=N&qSort=FASC|title = National Academy of Inventors}} In 2017, Portnoy became an Elected Fellow in the National Academy of Inventors.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/20030249.html|title=Daniel Portnoy|website=www.nasonline.org|access-date=2016-09-01}}

Dr. Portnoy has three children, Eleanor Sophie Portnoy (born 1996), Herschel Michael Portnoy (born 1999), and Anna Rose Portnoy (born 2001). His wife, Anna, is a conservation biologist. His father, Bernard Portnoy, M.D. (1929–2015) was a professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases at USC; his mother, Roslyn Portnoy (1931–2021) lived in Dana Point, CA and his sister, Deborah Brown (born 1953) lives in Sherman Oaks, CA.

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• [https://mcb.berkeley.edu/labs/portnoy/ Portnoy Lab Website]

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Category:1956 births

Category:Living people

Category:American microbiologists

Category:University of California, Berkeley faculty

Category:Scientists from the San Francisco Bay Area

Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni

Category:Stanford University alumni

Category:Rockefeller University people

Category:Washington University in St. Louis faculty

Category:University of Pennsylvania faculty

Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences