Kenneth Murphy, MD, PhD
Eugene Opie First Centennial Professor, Pathology & Immunology
- Phone: 314-362-2009
- Email: kmurphy@wustl.edu
Division
- Immunobiology
Related Links
Education
- BA, Summa Cum Laude, Chemistry: Rice University, Houston, TX (1978)
- MD, PhD: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (1984)
- Resident-in-Training, Department of Pathology: Washington University, Barnes Hospital, St. Louis, MO (1988)
- Chief Resident, Anatomic Pathology: Washington University, St. Louis, MO (1998)
- Postdoctoral Training (with Dennis Y. Loh): Washington University, St. Louis, MO (1990)
Recognition
- 1975-1977: Board of Governors Scholar, Rice University, Houston, TX
- 1977: Phi Beta Kappa
- 1978: B.A. Summa Cum Laude, Rice University, Houston, TX
- 1978: Z.W. Salsburg Memorial Award, Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, TX
- 1978-1984: Medical Scientist Training Program Award, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- 1984: D.I. Macht Memorial Prize, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
- 1988-1990: Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Career Development Award
- 2009: Distinguished Investigator Award, Washington University School of Medicine
- 2012: William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic Immunology, Cancer Research Institute
- 2016: AAI-Thermo Fisher Meritorious Career Award, Thermo Fisher Scientific
- 2016: National Academy of Sciences
Clinical Interests
Anatomic and Molecular Pathology – Autopsy Pathology
Research Interests
Selecting the correct immune response to pathogens – development of dendritic cells and lymphocyte subsets.
My laboratory examines how specialized lineages of the immune system develop to anticipate various types of infections and to generate the correct quality of immune response. Our initial focus examined the basis of CD4 T cell development into the function helper subsets, such as TH1, TH2,TH17, and so on. Our work defined the physiological basis of instructive differentiation that occurs in response to pathogens and defined the signaling pathways and transcriptional circuits involved. Our early discovery that dendritic cells and macrophages determined the direction of T cell differentiation, by their production of cytokines such as IL-12, led us to examine how myeloid cells evolved to be the decision makers for T cell differentiation in immunity. We are currently focused on defining the developmental basis for dendritic cell diversification into the functional subsets that control induction of the various types of lymphocyte effector responses. This work has practical implications for improved immunotherapy, including vaccine design. Ongoing projects can be found by reading our recently published work and review articles.
Editorial Responsibilities
| 2016 – Present | Executive Committee, Senior Editorial Board | European Journal of Immunology |
| 2005 – Present | Lead Author | Janeway’s Immunobiology, Garland Science |
| 2001 – Present | Transmitting Editor | International Immunology |
| 2001 – Present | Editorial Board | European Journal of Immunology |
| 2000 – Present | Associate Editor | Immunity |
| 1997 – 2000 | Editor | Immunity |
Service to the Department
| 2015 – Present | Center for Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Program (CHiiPs) Member |
| 2015 – Present | Inaugural Siteman Investment Program Review Committee |
| 2011 – 2012 | Course master, Immunobiology I 5052 & Immunobiology II 5053 |
| 2010 – 2013 | Animal Studies Committee |
| 2009 – Present | Selection Committee for Faculty Affairs |
| 2009 – 2011 | Course master, Lymphoid Organogenesis Immunology 5161 |
| 2008 – Present | DBBS Evaluation Committee, Pathology and Immunology |
| 2008 – Present | Faculty Search Committee, Immunobiology |
| 2008 – 2011 | Cell Biology Search Committee |
| 2003 – 2012 | Course Master, Foundations Immunology 5051 |
| 2000 – 2007 | Barnes Hospital Medical Staff, Department of Pathology |
| 2000 – Present | Immunology Student Admissions Committee |
| 1997 – 2000 | American Association of Immunologist Nominating Committee |
| 1992 – Present | Speaker Committee, Pathology and Immunology |
| 1992 – Present | Steering Committee, Immunology Program |
| 1992 – Present | DBBS Admissions Committee |
| 1992 – 1995 | Graduate School Admissions Committee |
Service to the University
| 1997 – Present | Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute |
DBBS Graduate Program Affiliation
- DBBS Admissions Committee (1992-Present)
- Director, DBBS Immunology Program (2008-2012)
- DBBS Evaluation Committee, Pathology and Immunology (2008-2012)
Selected Publications
| Anderson, D. A., Ou, F., Kim, S., Murphy, T. L., & Murphy, K. M. (2022). Transition from cMyc to L-Myc during dendritic cell development coordinated by rising levels of IRF8. The Journal of experimental medicine, 219(2), e20211483. |
| Wu, R., & Murphy, K. M. (2022). DCs at the center of help: Origins and evolution of the three-cell-type hypothesis. The Journal of experimental medicine, 219(7), e20211519. |
| Ferris, S. T., Durai, V., Wu, R., Theisen, D. J., Ward, J. P., Bern, M. D., Davidson, J. T., 4th, Bagadia, P., Liu, T., Briseño, C. G., Li, L., Gillanders, W. E., Wu, G. F., Yokoyama, W. M., Murphy, T. L., Schreiber, R. D., & Murphy, K. M. (2020). cDC1 prime and are licensed by CD4+ T cells to induce anti-tumour immunity. Nature, 584(7822), 624–629. |
| Durai, V., Bagadia, P., Granja, J. M., Satpathy, A. T., Kulkarni, D. H., Davidson, J. T., 4th, Wu, R., Patel, S. J., Iwata, A., Liu, T. T., Huang, X., Briseño, C. G., Grajales-Reyes, G. E., Wöhner, M., Tagoh, H., Kee, B. L., Newberry, R. D., Busslinger, M., Chang, H. Y., Murphy, T. L., Murphy, K. M. (2019). Cryptic activation of an Irf8 enhancer governs cDC1 fate specification. Nature immunology, 20(9), 1161–1173. |
| Bagadia, P., Huang, X., Liu, T. T., Durai, V., Grajales-Reyes, G. E., Nitschké, M., Modrusan, Z., Granja, J. M., Satpathy, A. T., Briseño, C. G., Gargaro, M., Iwata, A., Kim, S., Chang, H. Y., Shaw, A. S., Murphy, T. L., & Murphy, K. M. (2019). An Nfil3-Zeb2-Id2 pathway imposes Irf8 enhancer switching during cDC1 development. Nature immunology, 20(9), 1174–1185. |
| Theisen, D. J., Davidson, J. T., 4th, Briseño, C. G., Gargaro, M., Lauron, E. J., Wang, Q., Desai, P., Durai, V., Bagadia, P., Brickner, J. R., Beatty, W. L., Virgin, H. W., Gillanders, W. E., Mosammaparast, N., Diamond, M. S., Sibley, L. D., Yokoyama, W., Schreiber, R. D., Murphy, T. L., & Murphy, K. M. (2018). WDFY4 is required for cross-presentation in response to viral and tumor antigens. Science (New York, N.Y.), 362(6415), 694–699. |
| Briseño, C. G., Satpathy, A. T., Davidson, J. T., 4th, Ferris, S. T., Durai, V., Bagadia, P., O’Connor, K. W., Theisen, D. J., Murphy, T. L., & Murphy, K. M. (2018). Notch2-dependent DC2s mediate splenic germinal center responses. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(42), 10726–10731. |
Assistant:
Kelly Antolik
314-273-3048
kellyantolik@wustl.edu
Clinical Sciences Research Building, 7th Floor, Room 7739