Dumler, J. Stephen

J. Stephen Dumler, MD
Chair, Department of Pathology Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine
Bethesda, Maryland

Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis-Emerging Faster than Lyme

John Stephen Dumler is Professor and Chairperson of the Conjoined Departments of Pathology at the
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and the Joint Pathology Center. He has a long-standing interest in tick-borne infections, especially focused on tick-borne rickettsial infections. He received his MD from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and trained in Anatomic Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed a research-oriented postdoctoral fellowship in infectious diseases pathology and rickettsial diseases at the University of Texas Medical Branch. He has been on the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and practiced in their affiliated hospitals. He is a co-discover of human granulocytic anaplasmosis, was in the group that first isolated the agent in cell culture, for which he holds a patent, developed and implemented many of the existing diagnostic methods, and works closely with other experts to provide the best practices for diagnosis and management of HGA. He has published over 270 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and authored more than 110 chapters in textbooks of medicine, infectious diseases, and microbiology. The majority of his research is conducted centering on pathogenesis and molecular mechanisms by which Anaplasma phagocytophilum causes disease. Other specific research interests include: vector- and tick-borne diseases and pathogenic agents, especially obligate intracellular bacteria in the order Rickettsiales; epigenetic eukaryotic gene regulation by the obligate intracellular tick-transmitted Anaplasma phagocytophilum; microbial infections and induction of immunopathology mediated by NKT and cytotoxic T cells; bacterial coinfections and their synergistic mechanisms in pathology (Lyme disease and human granulocytic anaplasmosis); microbe-induced vascular permeability and mechanisms to counteract it; clinical investigation of febrile disease etiology in under-resourced regions, focusing on studies and trials to test new diagnostic tests (including high-throughput molecular diagnostics), new therapies and vaccines.

Conference Lecture Summary

Human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), sometimes called simply human anaplasmosis, is an established, yet increasing cause of disease in the U.S. and worldwide. Among domestic tick-borne infections, reports of HGA have increased to a greater proportion between 2004 and 2016 than any other – 10-fold. This presentation will provide the biological basis for disease and disease severity in humans infected by the causative agent, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, through scientific experimental approaches to evidence-based collection and analysis of data related to its ecology, epidemiology, clinical and laboratory manifestations and complications, old and new diagnostic approaches, and effective as well as ineffective approaches to its treatment and prevention. Additional discussion will also use an evidence-based approach to focus on issues of persistence and contributions to morbidity with co-infections. Additional information regarding potential approaches for novel treatments and
vaccine prevention will also be addressed.