Howard Crawford, PhD
Immune responses in patients with chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer
Dr. Crawford’s lab investigates immune responses in patients with chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer to identify early-detection biomarkers that can distinguish between the two conditions using a simple blood test. The work focuses on how risk factors such as chronic pancreatitis promote tumor initiation, using two advanced technologies: CyTOF, which measures up to 30 cell-surface markers simultaneously to build an immune-cell signature from circulating blood, and single-cell sequencing, which analyzes gene expression of individual immune and tumor cells to reveal their communication networks.
Pancreatic cancer patients show a distinct immune-cell profile compared with normal and chronic pancreatitis patients. Longitudinal blood testing of at-risk patients aims to detect emerging immune signatures that signal tumor formation before symptoms occur, and single-cell data have revealed novel immune-suppressive crosstalk between tumor and immune cells — potential targets for immune reactivation.
Dr. Howard Crawford is Scientific Director of the Henry Ford Pancreatic Cancer Center in Detroit and Chief Scientific Officer of Sky Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Committee. His research focuses on how tumor cells and immune cells communicate to drive pancreatic cancer progression, and on developing early-detection biomarkers for at-risk patients.
Serves as Chief Scientific Officer on Sky's Scientific Advisory Committee — recused from any discussion of their own proposal.
Read the committee bio →Seed grants start at $50,000 — awarded by scientists, reported on annually.
Donate →Howard Crawford, PhD
Immune responses in patients with chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer
Dr. Crawford’s lab investigates immune responses in patients with chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer to identify early-detection biomarkers that can distinguish between the two conditions using a simple blood test. The work focuses on how risk factors such as chronic pancreatitis promote tumor initiation, using two advanced technologies: CyTOF, which measures up to 30 cell-surface markers simultaneously to build an immune-cell signature from circulating blood, and single-cell sequencing, which analyzes gene expression of individual immune and tumor cells to reveal their communication networks.
Pancreatic cancer patients show a distinct immune-cell profile compared with normal and chronic pancreatitis patients. Longitudinal blood testing of at-risk patients aims to detect emerging immune signatures that signal tumor formation before symptoms occur, and single-cell data have revealed novel immune-suppressive crosstalk between tumor and immune cells — potential targets for immune reactivation.
Dr. Howard Crawford is Scientific Director of the Henry Ford Pancreatic Cancer Center in Detroit and Chief Scientific Officer of Sky Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Committee. His research focuses on how tumor cells and immune cells communicate to drive pancreatic cancer progression, and on developing early-detection biomarkers for at-risk patients.
Serves as Chief Scientific Officer on Sky's Scientific Advisory Committee — recused from any discussion of their own proposal.
Read the committee bio →Seed grants start at $50,000 — awarded by scientists, reported on annually.
Donate →