Department / Division:
Pediatrics / Blood and Marrow Transplantation

Address:
DUMC 3350
Durham, NC 27710

Appointment Telephone:
919-668-1100

Office Telephone:
919-668-1122

Fax Telephone:
919-668-1180

• MD, Semmelweis University School of Medicine (Hungary), 1985

• Pediatrics, New York University, Bellevue Hospital Medical Center, 1987-1990
• Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York Hospital Cornell University Medical Center, 1990-1993
• Department of Cellular Physiology and Immunology, Rockefeller University (New York), 1993-1997

Clinical Interests:
Bone marrow and cord blood transplantation, immune reconstitution, immunotherapy, graft engineering, graft-versus-host disease, immunodeficiency, MPS syndromes, autoimmunity, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease

Research Interests:
My research interests are focused on understanding the biology of donor-derived cellular immunity in recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) that can be translated into new immunotherapy strategies. Our overall goal is to develop novel approaches to accurately diagnose, predict, and therapeutically accelerate post transplant immune reconstitution without increasing graft versus host disease (GVHD). Our work has focused on unrelated cord blood transplantation (UCBT) as the dominant clinical scenario and laboratory model. Our overarching goal is to minimize transplant related mortality and morbidity and render cord blood transplant a widely accepted safe cellular therapy. This work has  impact on other modalities of transplantation.

Current and future clinical projects

1)  Clinical studies of immune reconstitution after UCBT; Through detailed characterization of the earliest cellular events in immune reconstitution, we are developing predictive algorithms that identify patients at risk for opportunistic infection and/or GVHD.  
2)  Clinical and ancillary immune studies to test the safety and efficacy of new imunostimulatory agents such as rhu-Growth Hormone in transplant recipients.
3)  Develop and test novel reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) regimens for patients with primary immunodeficiency diseases (PID) and inborn errors of metabolism (MPS syndromes (Hurler, Hunter, and Sanfilippo syndromes) , leukodystrophies, and transfusion dependent anemias).
4)  Develop a clinical program in autologous HCT for treatment of autoimmune diseases with our initial focus on Crohn’s disease.
5)  Develop a clinical program of combined hematopoietic and organ transplantation

Our laboratory research efforts are conducted along two parallel avenues that have synergistic interactions.

1) Elucidate the biology of attaining antigen-specific protective immunity after UCBT.  
2) Develop, validate, and test in clinical trials novel graft engineering methods focusing on improving post-transplant lymphopenia both as a global and antigen-specific precursor deficit.  While modifying the alloreactive potential of cord blood T cells we are developing strategies for ex vivo generation of anti-viral and anti-tumor donor lymphocytes available for adoptive transfer into transplant recipients. These donor leukocye infusions (DLI) could benefit not only those patients with poor cellular immunity but also those with mixed or declining donor cell chimerism.
3) Elucidate the biological requirements and biological correlates of transplant tolerance as it pertains to blood and organ transplantation from a coomon source.

Representative Publications:
Parikh SH, Mendizabal A, Martin PL, Prasad VK, Szabolcs P, Driscoll TA, Kurtzberg J. Unrelated donor umbilical cord blood transplantation in pediatric myelodysplastic syndrome: a single-center experience.  Biol Blood Marrow Transplant.  2009 Aug;15(8):948-55. (2009) Abstract

Martin PJ, Bachier CR, Klingemann HG, McCarthy PL, Szabolcs P, Uberti JP, Schuster MW, Weisdorf D, Chao NJ, Kebriaei P, Shpall EJ, Macmillan ML, Soiffer RJ. Endpoints for clinical trials testing treatment of acute graft-versus-host disease: a joint statement.  Biol Blood Marrow Transplant.  2009 Jul;15(7):777-84. (2009) Abstract

Boelens JJ, Rocha V, Aldenhoven M, Wynn R, O'Meara A, Michel G, Ionescu I, Parikh S, Prasad VK, Szabolcs P, Escolar M, Gluckman E, Cavazzana-Calvo M, Kurtzberg J,  . Risk factor analysis of outcomes after unrelated cord blood transplantation in patients with hurler syndrome.  Biol Blood Marrow Transplant.  2009 May;15(5):618-25. (2009) Abstract

Szabolcs P, Niedzwiecki D. Immune reconstitution in children after unrelated cord blood transplantation.  Biol Blood Marrow Transplant.  2008 Jan;14(1 Suppl 1):66-72. (2008) Abstract

Prasad VK, Mendizabal A, Parikh SH, Szabolcs P, Driscoll TA, Page K, Lakshminarayanan S, Allison J, Wood S, Semmel D, Escolar ML, Martin PL, Carter S, Kurtzberg J. Unrelated donor umbilical cord blood transplantation for inherited metabolic disorders in 159 pediatric patients from a single center: influence of cellular composition of the graft on transplantation outcomes.  Blood.  2008 Oct 1;112(7):2979-89. (2008) Abstract

Page KM, Mendizabal AM, Prasad VK, Martin PL, Parikh S, Wood S, Sempowski GD, Szabolcs P, Kurtzberg J. Posttransplant autoimmune hemolytic anemia and other autoimmune cytopenias are increased in very young infants undergoing unrelated donor umbilical cord blood transplantation.  Biol Blood Marrow Transplant.  2008 Oct;14(10):1108-17. (2008) Abstract

Mazur MA, Davis CC, Szabolcs P. Ex vivo expansion and Th1/Tc1 maturation of umbilical cord blood T cells by CD3/CD28 costimulation.  Biol Blood Marrow Transplant.  2008 Oct;14(10):1190-6. (2008) Abstract

Szabolcs P, Niedzwiecki D. Immune reconstitution after unrelated cord blood transplantation.  Cytotherapy.  2007;9(2):111-22. (2007) Abstract

Parikh SH, Szabolcs P, Prasad VK, Lakshminarayanan S, Martin PL, Driscoll TA, Kurtzberg J. Correction of chronic granulomatous disease after second unrelated-donor umbilical cord blood transplantation.  Pediatr Blood Cancer.  2007 Dec;49(7):982-4. (2007) Abstract

Beam D, Poe MD, Provenzale JM, Szabolcs P, Martin PL, Prasad V, Parikh S, Driscoll T, Mukundan S, Kurtzberg J, Escolar ML. Outcomes of unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation for X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy.  Biol Blood Marrow Transplant.  2007 Jun;13(6):665-74. (2007) Abstract

Adamkiewicz TV, Szabolcs P, Haight A, Baker KS, Staba S, Kedar A, Chiang KY, Krishnamurti L, Boyer MW, Kurtzberg J, Wagner JE, Wingard JR, Yeager AM. Unrelated cord blood transplantation in children with sickle cell disease: review of four-center experience.  Pediatr Transplant.  2007 Sep;11(6):641-4. (2007) Abstract

Park KD, Marti L, Kurtzberg J, Szabolcs P. In vitro priming and expansion of cytomegalovirus-specific Th1 and Tc1 T cells from naive cord blood lymphocytes.  Blood.  2006 Sep 1;108(5):1770-3. (2006) Abstract

Mazur M, Kurtzberg J, Halperin E, Ciocci G, Szabolcs P. Transplantation of a child with sickle cell anemia with an unrelated cord blood unit after reduced intensity conditioning.  J Pediatr Hematol Oncol.  2006 Dec;28(12):840-4. (2006) Abstract

Gong JZ, Bayerl MG, Sandhaus LM, Sebastian S, Rehder CW, Routbort M, Lagoo AS, Szabolcs P, Chiu J, Comito M, Buckley PJ. Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder after umbilical cord blood transplantation in children.  Am J Surg Pathol.  2006 Mar;30(3):328-36. (2006) Abstract

Hall JG, Kurtzberg J, Szabolcs P, Skinner MA, Rice HE. Partial splenectomy before a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children.  J Pediatr Surg.  2005 Jan;40(1):221-7. (2005) Abstract

Szabolcs P, Park KD, Marti L, Deoliveria D, Lee YA, Colvin MO, Kurzberg J. Superior depletion of alloreactive T cells from peripheral blood stem cell and umbilical cord blood grafts by the combined use of trimetrexate and interleukin-2 immunotoxin. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2004 Nov;10(11):772-83. (2004) Abstract

Staba SL, Escolar ML, Poe M, Kim Y, Martin PL, Szabolcs P, Allison-Thacker J, Wood S, Wenger DA, Rubinstein P, Hopwood JJ, Krivit W, Kurtzberg J. Cord-blood transplants from unrelated donors in patients with Hurler's syndrome.  N Engl J Med.  2004 May 6;350(19):1960-9. (2004) Abstract

Markert ML, Alexieff MJ, Li J, Sarzotti M, Ozaki DA, Devlin BH, Sempowski GD, Rhein ME, Szabolcs P, Hale LP, Buckley RH, Coyne KE, Rice HE, Mahaffey SM, Skinner MA. Complete DiGeorge syndrome: development of rash, lymphadenopathy, and oligoclonal T cells in 5 cases.  J Allergy Clin Immunol.  2004 Apr;113(4):734-41. (2004) Abstract

Szabolcs P, Park KD, Reese M, Marti L, Broadwater G, Kurtzberg J. Absolute values of dendritic cell subsets in bone marrow, cord blood, and peripheral blood enumerated by a novel method. Stem Cells. 2003;21(3):296-303. (2003) Abstract

Szabolcs P, Reese M, Yancey KB, Hall RP, Kurtzberg J. Combination treatment of bullous pemphigoid with anti-CD20 and anti-CD25 antibodies in a patient with chronic graft-versus-host disease. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2002 Sep;30(5):327-9. (2002) Abstract

Papadopoulos EB, Carabasi MH, Castro-Malaspina H, Childs BH, Mackinnon S, Boulad F, Gillio AP, Kernan NA, Small TN, Szabolcs P, Taylor J, Yahalom J, Collins NH, Bleau SA, Black PM, Heller G, O'Reilly RJ, Young JW. T-cell-depleted allogeneic bone marrow transplantation as postremission therapy for acute myelogenous leukemia: freedom from relapse in the absence of graft-versus-host disease. Blood. 1998 Feb 1;91(3):1083-90. (1998) Abstract