The focus of research in Dr. Ward's laboratory is to delineate the relationships between genetic polymorphism and immunologic function in the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Our studies are directed at understanding the relevance of MHC polymorphism in the evolution of this complex genetic system and in the presentation of antigen (endogenous and exogenous) to the immune system. Genes and alleles within the MHC complex are identified and characterized using molecular, serologic and cellular methods. Other studies assess distribution of MHC alleles in different ethnic populations and investigate the ability of genetically variant alleles to present alloantigens to the immune system during organ transplantation or tumor rejection.
