Meet Dr. Paul Denton
NSRI Fellow Dr. Paul Denton, associate professor in the department of biology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha
(UNO), has a long-standing track record in the study of fundamental aspects of immunotherapy, mucosal immunology and
HIV virology. His extensive experience (pre-clinical and clinical) is fully documented in multiple publications in
these research areas.
Prior to joining the biology faculty at UNO in June 2019, Dr. Denton spent more than five years
participating in the conduct of exciting and fast-paced clinical trials in the Aarhus University Infectious Diseases
Department (Denmark). The focus of these studies was to understand the impact of immunotherapies in an HIV
eradication context. Before joining Aarhus University, Dr. Denton worked at the University of North Carolina-Chapel
Hill and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. His research used specialized mouse models to examine
how HIV spreads, how to prevent transmission and to test the potential treatments. Additionally, his research
studies how immune tissues develop and function. While he was in Aarhus, in addition to conducting the clinical
research outlined above, he led efforts to establish a humanized mouse colony for studying innate immunology and
novel immunotherapies as well as HIV preclinical research.
Q&A
Why are you interested in supporting national security?
The opportunity to support national security excites me because I believe strongly in contributing in any way that I can to national security. I desire to utilize my skill set to participate in robust, fast-paced and impactful collaborations and make advances to benefit our Nation.
What national security challenges do you think you could offer your expertise to solve?
As a function of my training, I have been privileged to conduct basic, pre-clinical and clinical immunology research. My research efforts have predominantly focused on human immunology in the context of viral infections. Five points of emphasis in these efforts are:
- Developing and validating pre-clinical models to recapitulate human-specific infections
- Preventing infections
- Defining systemic pathological impacts of infections
- Evaluating interventions aimed at eradicating infections
- Evaluating immunotherapy impacts on specific human immune responses
Having extensive experience in these areas provides me with relevant expertise as well as insights for solving national security challenges related to emerging infections and generating useful medical countermeasures to known challenges.
How do you think your area of expertise can contribute to national security challenges?
Many strategies being investigated as responses to national security challenges will intersect with the immune system at some point. Medical countermeasures or implantable devices must be considered in the context of their potential to generate immune responses. In some cases, the immune responses may be desired (i.e., anti-pathogen responses); however, that may not be the goal case in other scenarios (i.e., allergic responses). Anything over or in a human body needs to be assessed for immune compatibility. Everything seemingly comes back to the immune systems at some point, if it touches a human. My expertise in human immunology can be leveraged to make such efficacy and safety evaluations.
Some of Dr. Denton's published research on various human immunology studies are listed below and accessible via NSRI's publications database:
- Scientific Reports | TLR9 agonism differentially impacts human NK cell-mediated direct killing and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. June 25, 2024
- Heliyon | Development and implementation of natural killer cell simultaneous ADCC and direct killing assay. November 28, 2023
- Nature Medicine | Impact of a TLR9 agonist and broadly neutralizing antibodies on HIV-1 persistence: the randomized phase 2a TITAN trial. September 11, 2023
- Nature Communications | Administration of broadly neutralizing anti-HIV-1 antibodies at ART initiation maintains long-term CD8+ T cell immunity. October 29, 2022
- Nature Medicine | Early intervention with 3BNC117 and romidepsin at antiretroviral treatment initiation in people with HIV-1: a phase 1b/2a, randomized trial. October 17, 2022
What do you see in the next five or 10 years in your space that you think is important for national security leaders to consider?
Advances in biomedical technologies are rapid and profound. In immunology, each day brings a deeper understanding of how immune responses are generated and regulated. Any such advance may hold an essential key to rapidly unlocking a mystery, like the one we all witnessed over the last several years where a pathogen caused widespread society disruption. That experience taught us that, as a society, we need to be prepared for the unexpected. Thus, there is an urgent need to continue making basic and clinical immunology discoveries to position us as a nation for swift, confident, decisive and effective action when we face the next major infectious disease outbreak.
What are you working on now that excites you?
My research group has an immunotherapy project that is making an impact. Our data is shining a light on why a particular drug class has underperformed in human trials. We believe that our efforts are helping the field reinterpret prior trial data as well as reconsider future clinical trial designs for testing drugs in this class. We are also examining potential adjunct approaches that could boost clinical success for drugs in this class. Working on a project where we can readily visualize the clinical implications of our efforts is extremely rewarding.
"Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity." A major area of study in the Denton Immunobiology Laboratory. Logo designed by Denton lab members; led by Jaden Nienhueser
Learn more about Dr. Denton via his UNO bio.
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About the National Strategic Research Institute
Through the National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska leading scientists deliver innovative national security research, technology, product and strategy development, training and exercises, and subject matter expertise to the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies. One of only 15 DOD-designated University Affiliated Research Centers in the country, NSRI is sponsored by U.S. Strategic Command and works to ensure the United States’ safety and preparedness against increasingly sophisticated threats. Read about our mission.
