Nico Ghilardi

Senior Scientist, Molecular Biology and Immunology

POSTDOC MENTOR

"I moved halfway around the world and joined Genentech for a postdoctoral fellowship."

• 15
  years at Genentech
• 13
  publications (2010-12)
• 4
  awards & honors

After completing grade school and a mandatory stint in the Swiss army, I enrolled in a biology program at the University of Basel, Switzerland, where I completed my diploma in 1994 and my Ph.D. in 1998. Driven by the desire to get a new experience abroad, I moved halfway around the world and joined Genentech for a postdoctoral fellowship.

In 2003, a dream came true, as I was hired permanently as an Associate Scientist in the Molecular Biology Department at Genentech. Since then, I have had the opportunity to pursue my scientific interests while also participating in many interdisciplinary and drug development efforts. It has been a most rewarding experience, as working here means being part of an incredible team of excellent scientists, and even after 12 years here, I keep learning new things every day.

• My Focus

  For the majority of my career, I have focused on investigating the biology of cytokines. Cytokines and their receptors represent excellent targets for pharmacological intervention, not only because they are accessible to protein therapeutics, but also because many of them have very specific biological functions and are often found to be involved in disease pathophysiology.

  My lab has specifically focused on IL-27, IL-23, and IL-31 over the past few years. In addition, we are interested in defining and pursueing novel small and large molecule targets for therapeutic intervention in immunological diseases.

• Publications

  • Novel triazolo-pyrrolopyridines as inhibitors of Janus kinase 1

    Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 2013, ISSN: 0960-894X

    Hurley, Christopher A.; Blair, Wade S.; Bull, Richard J.; Chang, Christine; Crackett, Peter H.; Deshmukh, Gauri; Dyke, Hazel J.; Fong, Rina; Ghilardi, Nico; Gibbons, Paul; Hewitt, Peter R.; Johnson, Adam; Johnson, Tony; Kenny, Jane R.; Kohli, Pawan Bir; Kulagowski, Janusz J.; Liimatta, Marya; Lupardus, Patrick J.; Maxey, Robert J.; Mendonca, Rohan; Narukulla, Raman; Pulk, Rebecca; Ubhayakar, Savita; Van Abbema, Anne; Ward, Stuart I.; Waszkowycz, Bohdan; Zak, Mark

     View on PubMed

  • Structure-based discovery of C-2 substituted imidazo-pyrrolopyridine JAK1 inhibitors with improved selectivity over JAK2

    Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 2012, ISSN: 0960-894X

    Labadie, Sharada; Dragovich, Peter S; Barrett, Kathy; Blair, Wade S; Bergeron, Philippe; Chang, Christine; Deshmukh, Gauri; Eigenbrot, Charles; Ghilardi, Nico; Gibbons, Paul; Hurley, Christopher A; Johnson, Adam; Kenny, Jane R; Kohli, Pawan Bir; Kulagowski, Janusz J; Liimatta, Marya; Lupardus, Patrick J; Mendonca, Rohan; Murray, Jeremy M; Pulk, Rebecca; Shia, Steven; Steffek, Micah; Ubhayakar, Savita; Ultsch, Mark; van Abbema, Anne; Ward, Stuart; Zak, Mark

     View on PubMed

  • Discovery and Optimization of C-2 Methyl Imidazopyrrolopyridines as Potent and Orally Bioavailable JAK1 Inhibitors with Selectivity over JAK2

    Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2012, ISSN: 0022-2623

    Zak, Mark; Mendonca, Rohan; Balazs, Mercedesz; Barrett, Kathy; Bergeron, Philippe; Blair, Wade S; Chang, Christine; Deshmukh, Gauri; Devoss, Jason; Dragovich, Peter S; Eigenbrot, Charles; Ghilardi, Nico; Gibbons, Paul; Gradl, Stefan; Hamman, Chris; Hanan, Emily J; Harstad, Eric; Hewitt, Peter R; Hurley, Christopher A; Jin, Tian; Johnson, Adam; Johnson, Tony; Kenny, Jane R; Koehler, Michael F T; Bir Kohli, Pawan; Kulagowski, Janusz J; Labadie, Sharada; Liao, Jiangpeng; Liimatta, Marya; Lin, Zhonghua; Lupardus, Patrick J; Maxey, Robert J; Murray, Jeremy M; Pulk, Rebecca; Rodriguez, Madeleine; Savage, Scott; Shia, Steven; Steffek, Micah; Ubhayakar, Savita; Ultsch, Mark; van Abbema, Anne; Ward, Stuart I; Xiao, Ling; Xiao, Yisong

     View on PubMed

  • Opposing consequences of IL-23 signaling mediated by innate and adaptive cells in chemically induced colitis in mice

    Mucosal immunology, 16 Nov 2011, ISSN: 1935-3456

    Cox, J H; Kljavin, N M; Ota, N; Leonard, J; Roose, Girma M; Diehl, L; Ouyang, W; Ghilardi, N

     View on PubMed

  • Functional Studies on the IBD Susceptibility Gene IL23R Implicate Reduced Receptor Function in the Protective Genetic Variant R381Q.

    PloS one, {PLoS-ONE}, 2011 (epub: 12 Oct 2011), vol. 6, no. 10, p. e25038, ISSN: 1932-6203.

    Pidasheva, Svetlana; Trifari, Sara; Phillips, Anne; Hackney, Jason A; Ma, Yan; Smith, Ashley; Sohn, Sue J; Spits, Hergen; Little, Randall D; Behrens, Timothy W; Honigberg, Lee; Ghilardi, Nico; Clark, Hilary F

     View on PubMed

  • IL-27 supports germinal center function by enhancing IL-21 production and the function of T follicular helper cells.

    Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2010, ISSN: 1540-9538

    Batten, M.; Ramamoorthi, N.; Kljavin, N.; Ma, C.; Cox, J.; Dengler, H.; Danilenko, D.; Caplazi, P.; Wong, M.; Fulcher, D.; Cook, M.; King, C.; Tangye, S.; de Sauvage, F.; Ghilardi, N.

  • IL-27 promotes T cell-dependent colitis through multiple mechanisms.

    Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2010, ISSN: 1540-9538

    Cox, J.H.; Kljavin, N.M.; Ramamoorthi, N.; Diehl, L.; Batten, M.; Ghilardi, N.

  • A mouse knockout library for secreted and transmembrane proteins.

    Nature Biotechnology, 2010, ISSN: 1546-1696

    Tang, T.; Li, L.; Tang, J.; Li, Y.; Lin, W.Y.; Martin, F.; Grant, D.; Solloway, M.; Parker, L.; Ye, W.; Forrest, W.; Ghilardi, N.; Oravecz, T.; Platt, K.; Rice, D.; Hansen, G.; Abuin, A.; Eberhart, D.; Godowski, P.; Holt, K.; Peterson, A.; Zambrowicz, B.; de Sauvage, F.

  • Interleukin (IL)-23 mediates Toxoplasma gondii-induced immunopathlology in the gut via matrixmetalloproteinase-2 and IL-22 but independent of IL-17.

    Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2009, ISSN: 0022-1007

    Munoz, M.; Heimesaat, M.M.; Danker, K.; Struck, D.; Lohmann, U.; Plickert, R.; Bereswill, S.; Fischer, A.; Dunay, I.R.; Wolk, K.; Loddenkemper, C.; Krell, H.W.; Libert, C.; Lund, L.R.; Frey, O.; Holscher, C.; Iwakura, Y.; Ghilardi, N.; Ouyang, W.J.; Kamradt, T.; Sabat, R.; Liesenfeld, O.

  • Negative regulation of autoimmune demyelination by the inhibitory receptor CLM-1.

    Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2010, ISSN: 1540-9538

    Xi, H.; Katschke, K.J. Jr.; Helmy, K.Y.; Wark, P.A.; Kljavin, N.; Clark, H.; Eastham-Anderson, J.; Shek, T.; Roose-Girma, M.; Ghilardi, N.; van Lookeren Campagne, M.

  • IL-23 Is required for protection against systemic infection with listeria monocytogenes.

    Journal of Immunology, 2009, ISSN: 0022-1767

    Meeks, K.D.; Sieve, A.N.; Kolls, J.K.; Ghilardi, N.; Berg, R.E.

  • Hedgehog signaling is dispensable for adult murine hematopoietic stem cell function and hematopoiesis.

    Cell Stem Cell, 2009, ISSN: 1934-5909

    Hofmann, I.; Stover, E.H.; Cullen, D.E.; Mao, J.; Morgan, K.J.; Lee, B.H.; Kharas, M.G.; Miller, P.G.; Cornejo, M.G.; Okabe, R.; Armstrong, S.A.; Ghilardi, N.; Gould, S.; de Sauvage, F.J.; McMahon, A.P.; Ghilliland, D.G.

  • Interleukin-22 mediates early host defense against attaching and effacing bacterial pathogens.

    Nature Medicine, 2008, ISSN: 1546-170X

    Zheng, Y.; Valdez, P.A.; Danilenko, D.M.; Hu, Y.; Sa, S.M.; Gong, Q.; Abbas, A.R.; Modrusan, Z.; Ghilardi, N.; de Sauvage, F.J.; Ouyang W.

• Education
  • Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Basel, Switzerland, Ph.D. – 1998
  • University of Basel, Switzerland Diploma in Biology II, – 1994
• Awards & Honors
  • Sigma Xi Research Grant – 1995
  • CUSBEA Scholar – 1989
  • Tianjin Intercollegiate Scholarship – 1988
  • Nankai College Scholarship – 1987