Return to Main Menu

Tomlinson complements MUSC research by Cindy Abole Public Relations Ask Stephen Tomlinson what he enjoys most about MUSC and relocating to coastal South Carolina and he'll tell you that it's time-related.  Dr. Stephen Tomlinson, left,  a specialist in complement research, is joined by graduate research student Chun He as they set up shop for his lab in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.  Tomlinson hopes to collaborate with many researchers at Hollings Cancer Center, College of Dental Medicine and other colleagues nationwide. “I'm enjoying the slower pace and the change of scenery,” said Tomlinson, a transplanted New Yorker whose workdays began and ended with long two-hour commutes from his family's home in the Hudson Highlands about 50 miles north of New York City.  Tomlinson is the newest member to join MUSC's Department of Microbiology and Immunology. His career as an immunologist has focused on important research to understand basic biology of the body's immune system. His efforts will hopefully lead to a better understanding of disease mechanisms that may lead to cures for specific types inflammatory disease and cancer.  As an associate professor, he has divided his workdays between setting up and establishing his research lab and meeting with key faculty, while quietly fitting in some peaceful Lowcountry moments with his family as they settle into newfound surroundings. A native of Britain, Tomlinson is an expert in understanding the body's complement system. Complement describes a group of blood proteins that form a part of the immune system and plays an important role in cancer and various autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Human cells contain proteins on their surface that protect them from damage by the body's own complement system, and these complement inhibitory proteins are the focus of his research. Tomlinson began his career at the University of Leeds in West Yorkshire and received his doctorate at the University of Cambridge. He completed post-doctoral work at Bayer A.G. Pharmaceuticals in Germany and the Department of Comparative and Experimental Pathology at the University of Florida. His most recent position before joining MUSC was as an associate professor of Pathology at New York University (NYU) School of Medicine. He is a member of the American Association of Immunologists, American Association for Cancer Research and the Kidney Council of the American Heart Association. Tomlinson's interests have allowed him to delve deeper into the study of complement inhibitors. Specifically, he is studying structure and functional relationships of complement inhibitors, strategies to target therapeutic complement inhibitors to sites of disease and the role of complement inhibitors expressed on tumor cells in promoting tumor growth.   In his cancer-related studies, he has developed new rodent models of human cancer and has demonstrated directly an important role for complement inhibitors in protecting tumor cells from the body's immune surveillance. Tomlinson is currently attempting to construct novel immunotherapeutic proteins that will direct the destructive capacity of the body's own complement system against tumor cells.  In his complement research, Tomlinson has collaborated with several national specialists at the University of Chicago, the University of Wales and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. On the local front, Tomlinson is eager to work closely with stomatologist and fellow complement researcher Bob Boackle, Ph.D., in the College of Dental Medicine. He also plans to extend his complement work and its connection with autoimmune diseases like lupus with Gary S. Gilkeson, M.D., Department of Rheumatology and Immunology. “I look forward to working with fellow complementologist Dr. Bob Boackle and others,” Tomlinson said. “I'm hoping that we can be able to develop a small nucleus of talent that could help us attract key post doctorate students and other complement researchers.” Whether he's fishing for answers to serious research questions or casting his line from ashore, Tomlinson loves a challenge. He also enjoys being on or nearby water. During his free time, he spends his time fishing, coaching soccer or biking with his two boys, Alexander, 9, and Liam, 6, and wife Holly.