Associate Director
ClinImmune Center for Clinical Immunology
Christina Roark is the Associate Director of ClinImmune Center for Clinical Immunology. Tina received her PhD in Immunology in 1995 and became an ASHI certified lab director in 2021. Her academic research is currently focused on developing HLA edited CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells as a novel therapy for autoimmunity. Her most recent publication has yielded paradigm shifting insights. In it her group describes HLA gene-editing of HLA DRB1 alleles to modify antigen presentation and suppress autoimmunity. They demonstrate that a single amino acid substitution can block rheumatoid arthritis (RA) without triggering graft rejection using allogeneic skin transplants. Related to this work, Dr. Roark is a co-inventor on foundational patents, including “HLA Engineering Methods and Compositions for Treatment of Autoimmunity” (e.g., US 11,932,867) granted March 2024.
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
10:00 AM - 10:15 AM US EDT