Faculty Rank

Professor

Undergraduate Education

Harvard College, Boston, MA, A.B., 1965

Graduate Education

California Institute of Technology, Ph.D., 1970

Postdoctoral

Roswell Park Memorial Institute

Clinical Interests

Clinical Immunology, Laboratory Diagnosis of Allergy, Protein Electrophoresis

Research Interests

Allergy in man may present in a variety of forms.  Our laboratory has been primarily interested in causes of anaphylaxis and other allergic diseases.  We have been particularly interested in allergens the substances that induce and provoke allergic reactions.  The major group of allergens have studied are derived from insect venoms of bees, yellow jackets, hornets, wasps and fire ants.  We have also studied allergens from foods, fungi, latex and helminthes.  Among the techniques used extensively are various immunochemical assays, protein isolation, protein sequencing, molecular cloning and expression of recombinant allergens.  We are involved in collaborative studies with other laboratories in the United States, Italy, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Canada and Japan.

Selected Publications

1.  Moawad TI, Hoffman DR, Zalat S.  Isolation, cloning and characterization of Polistes dominulus phospholipase A1 and its isoforms.  Act Bilolgica Hungarica. 2005;56:261-274.

2.  Hoffman DR, Sakell RH, Schmidt M. Sol i 1, The phospholipase allergen of imported fire ant venom. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2005;115:611-616. 

3.  Peng Z, Beckett AN, Engler RJ, Hoffman DR, Ott NL, Simons FER. Immune responses to mosquito saliva in 14 individuals with systemic allergic reactions to mosquito bites. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2004;114:1189-94.

4.  Winningham KM, Fitch CD, Schmidt M, Hoffman DR.  Hymenoptera venom protease allergens. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2004;114:928-33.

5.  Hoffman DR. Biting Insect Allergens, Ch 19 in Lockey RF, Bukantz S and Bousquet J, eds. Allergens and Allergen Immunotherapy for Allergic Diseases, 3rd edition, New York, Marcel Dekker, Inc., 2004, pp 355-368.

6.  Hoffman DR. Hymenoptera venoms: composition, standardization, stability., Ch 4 in Levine MI and Lockey RF, eds. Monograph of Insect Allergy, 4th edition, American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology. Milwaukee, WI, 2003, pp 37-53.

7.  Pantera B, Hoffman DR, Carresi L, Cappugi G, Turillazzi S, Manao G, Severino M, Spadolini I, Orsomando G, Moneti G, Pazzagli L. Characterization of the major allergens purified from the venom of the paper wasp Polistes gallicus.  Biochem Biophys Acta. 1623:72-81, 2003.

8.  Golden DBK, Tracy JM, Greeman TM, Hoffman DR. Negative venom skin tests in patients with histories of systemic reaction to a sting. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2003;112:495-498.

9.  Schmidt M, McConnell TJ, Hoffman DR. Immunologic characterization of recombinant fire ant venom allergen Sol i 3. Allergy. 2003;58:342-349.

10. Hoffman DR. Fatal reactions to Hymenoptera stings. Allergy Asthma Proc. 2003;24:123-127.

11. Schmidt M, Hoffman DR. Expression systems for production of recombinant allergens. Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 2002;128:264-270.

12. Brestel E, Hoffman DR. Allergic Conditions, Ch 66 in McClatchey KD (ed.), Clinical Laboratory Medicine, 2nd edition, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, New York, 2001, pp 1471-85.