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Mary Jo Turk, PhD

Title(s)
Professor of Microbiology and Immunology

Additional Titles/Positions/Affiliations
O. Ross McIntyre, M.D. Endowed Professor
Co-Director, Immunology and Cancer Immunotherapy Program
Norris-Cotton Cancer Center

Department(s)
Microbiology and Immunology

Education
Dr. Turk received her B.S. from John Carroll University, and her Ph.D. from Purdue University. She conducted postdoctoral work at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Turk joined the faculty of Dartmouth in 2004.

Programs
Immunology Program
Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Programs
Dartmouth Cancer Center

Websites
https://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/microbio/
https://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/immuno/
https://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/turklab/

Contact Information

One Medical Center Drive
Rubin Building 732, HB 7937
Lebanon NH 03756

Office: Rubin 732
Phone: 603-653-3549
Email: mary.jo.turk@dartmouth.edu

Asst. Phone: 603-653-9952


Professional Interests

Tumor Immunology and T cell memory

Our laboratory's research focuses on generating durable memory T cell responses to cancer. What is known about generating immunological memory has historically derived from studies of infectious pathogens. Because tumors are an altered form of self-tissue, memory T cell responses to tumors have been characteristically difficult to generate, and mechanisms for their maintenance have not been well understood.

Our laboratory has established that autoimmune disease is a critical determinant for the maintenance of T cell memory to tumor antigens. We have also shown that the most functional tumor-specific memory T cells reside in peripheral tissues. Our research has established that tissue-resident memory T cells are a critical component of long-lived immunity to cancer.

Courses Taught

Bio 42
Micro/Immuno 136


Selected Publications

 

CD4 T cell depletion increases memory differentiation of endogenous and CAR T cells and enhances the efficacy of Super2 and IL-33-armored CAR T cells against solid tumors.
Mohamed AO, Boone DT, Ferry SL, Peck MC, Santos AM, Soderholm HE, Wittling MC, Paulos C, Turk MJ, Huang YH
J Immunother Cancer. 2025 Feb 11;13(2) doi: 10.1136/jitc-2024-009994. Epub 2025 Feb 11.
PMID: 39933839

Heterogeneity and plasticity of the naive CD4(+) T cell compartment.
Sajani A, Schaafsma E, Croteau W, ElTanbouly M, Nowak EC, Cheng C, Burns CM, Turk MJ, Noelle RJ, Lines JL
Res Sq. 2025 Jan 10; pii: rs.3.rs-5744327. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5744327/v1. Epub 2025 Jan 10.
PMID: 39866877

Depletion of conventional CD4(+) T cells is required for robust priming and dissemination of tumor antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells in the setting of anti-CD4 therapy.
Ramirez DE, Dragnev CPC, Searles TG, Spicer N, Chen T, Lines JL, Hawkes AR, Davis WL, Mohamed A, Shirai K, Phillips JD, Rosato PC, Huang YH, Turk MJ
J Immunother Cancer. 2024 Nov 9;12(11) doi: 10.1136/jitc-2024-010170. Epub 2024 Nov 9.
PMID: 39521617

Immune checkpoint blockade: timing is everything.
Sinicrope FA, Turk MJ
J Immunother Cancer. 2024 Aug 28;12(8) doi: 10.1136/jitc-2024-009722. Epub 2024 Aug 28.
PMID: 39209456

CD39 Is Expressed on Functional Effector and Tissue-resident Memory CD8+ T Cells.
Isaacs JF, Degefu HN, Chen T, Kleist SA, Musial SC, Ford MA, Searles TG, Lin CC, Skorput AGJ, Shirai K, Turk MJ, Zanazzi GJ, Rosato PC
J Immunol. 2024 Sep 1;213(5):588-599. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2400151.
PMID: 38975728

TimiGP: Inferring cell-cell interactions and prognostic associations in the tumor immune microenvironment through gene pairs.
Li C, Zhang B, Schaafsma E, Reuben A, Wang L, Turk MJ, Zhang J, Cheng C
Cell Rep Med. 2023 Jul 18;4(7):101121. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101121.
PMID: 37467716

Th1-like Treg cells are dressed to suppress anti-tumor immunity.
Ramirez DE, Turk MJ
Immunity. 2023 Jul 11;56(7):1437-1439. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2023.06.014.
PMID: 37437535

The Effect of Lung Resection for NSCLC on Circulating Immune Cells: A Pilot Study.
Phillips JD, Fay KA, Bergeron AJ, Zhang P, Mielcarz DW, Calkins AM, Searles TG, Christensen BC, Finley DJ, Turk MJ, Channon JY
Curr Oncol. 2023 May 17;30(5):5116-5134. doi: 10.3390/curroncol30050387. Epub 2023 May 17.
PMID: 37232845

In the right place at the right time: tissue-resident memory T cells in immunity to cancer.
Ramirez DE, Mohamed A, Huang YH, Turk MJ
Curr Opin Immunol. 2023 Aug;83:102338. doi: 10.1016/j.coi.2023.102338. Epub 2023 May 23.
PMID: 37229984

Resident memory CD8(+) T cells in regional lymph nodes mediate immunity to metastatic melanoma.
Molodtsov AK, Khatwani N, Vella JL, Lewis KA, Zhao Y, Han J, Sullivan DE, Searles TG, Preiss NK, Shabaneh TB, Zhang P, Hawkes AR, Malik BT, Kolling FW 4th, Usherwood EJ, Wong SL, Phillips JD, Shirai K, Angeles CV, Yan S, Curiel TJ, Huang YH, Cheng C, Turk MJ
Immunity. 2021 Sep 14;54(9):2117-2132.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2021.08.019.
PMID: 34525340

View more publications on PubMed