Daniel Hanson

Daniel Hanson

​Biology Lecturer
B.A. The University of Virginia-Charlottesville
M.S. The University of Connecticut
Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

contact info:

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mailing address:

  • Washington University
    CB 1137
    One Brookings Drive
    St. Louis, MO 63130-4899

​Daniel Hanson teaches courses in immunology and microbiology.

Research

Fever is the most commonly encountered clinical diagnostic indicator of infectious disease.  My research is concerned with why evolution has broadly selected for a vertebrate to subtly modulate its body temperature while it fights an infection.  What aspects of immune host defense are enhanced by this small but consistent, reversible and highly regulated change in our physiology?  What is “fever” for?  (Whether you have thought about it or not, you harbor an opinion on this question).

Courses

Bio 424 – Introductory Immunology – a course that surveys the discipline of Immunology from its beginnings in the 18th century to its modern applications to human medicine a course that incorporates a significant writing component in its structure.

Bio 4241 – Immunology Laboratory – an introduction to a variety of immunological techniques with a focus on quantitative analysis in association with current research questions in my laboratory.

Educational Background

1968-72     B.A., The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia; Major: English, specializing in modern, American poetry and creative writing; Minor: Biological Sciences

1972-74     M.S., The University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut; Major: Biochemistry

1974-82     Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Baltimore, Maryland; Major: Immunology

1982-83     Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Infectious Disease Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

1983-84     Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Berkeley, California

1984-88     Postdoctoral Fellow, G. W. Hooper Foundation, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, California

1989-00     Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

2000-19     Lecturer, Researcher, Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

recent courses

Immunology

Basic molecular and cellular aspects of the vertebrate Immune System with emphasis upon the interrelationships of non-specific and specific host defense against disease, the nature of immunological specificity and its underlying molecular biology. Includes complement systems, immunochemistry and immunoassay, the nature of cellular activation and effector generation, immunodeficiency, tolerance, tissue transplantation, hypersensitivity, immune regulation and specific diseases illustrative of the successes and failures of the Immune System.

    Immunology Laboratory

    The Immunology Laboratory introduces students to a variety of common, broadly useful immunological techniques and then allows each student to employ most of the learned techniques in addressing a current research question. Experiments employ mouse cells in vitro and emphasize quantitative analysis of the data.