Skip to Main Content Go to Sitemap
SickKids

Jayne Danska

Title: Senior Scientist, Genetics and Genome Biology
Designations: PhD
Email: jayne.danska@sickkids.ca
Alternate Contact Name: Celeste Alora
Alternate Phone: 416-813-7654 ext. 308810
Alternate Email: celeste.alora@sickkids.ca
U of T Positions: Professor, Departments of Immunology and Medical Biophysics
Chair Positions: The Anne and Max Tanenbaum Chair in Molecular Medicine

Research Positions

Associate Chief, Faculty Development and Diversity
SickKids Research Institute

Biography

Dr. Danska was raised in New York City, and educated in the United States at Kenyon College, Cornell University, Cold Spring Harbor Labs and Stanford University. Her research is focused on defining the mechanisms underlying immune system diseases and application of this knowledge to improve their diagnosis, prevention and treatment. Her lab works on the genetic and environmental causes of autoimmune disease, particularly Type 1 diabetes (T1D), the molecular mechanisms of acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL), and innate immune surveillance of leukemia and leukemia stem cells.  
 
She has led multi-disciplinary projects applying genetic, genomic and immunological analysis to identify T1D-risk genes and to determine how these variants control autoimmune pathogenesis. An evolving focus is the roles of environmental factors in the rising rates of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, specifically the role of the intestinal microbiome in modifying inherited risk of autoimmunity in rodent models and in longitudinal studies in children with high genetic risk for type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This work is also investigating the impact of sex as a key determinant of autoimmune diseases, many of which are far more prevalent in females. 

Research

Dr. Danska’s research is focused on defining the mechanisms underlying immune system diseases and application of this knowledge to improve their diagnosis, prevention and treatment. Her lab works on the genetic and environmental causes of autoimmune disease, particularly Type 1 diabetes (T1D), the molecular mechanisms of acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL), and innate immune surveillance of leukemia and leukemia stem cells. 

She has led multi-disciplinary projects applying genetic, genomic and immunological analysis to identify T1D-risk genes and to determine how these variants control autoimmune pathogenesis. An evolving focus is the roles of environmental factors in the rising rates of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, specifically the role of the intestinal microbiome in modifying inherited risk of autoimmunity in rodent models and in longitudinal studies in children with high genetic risk for type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This work is also investigating the impact of sex as a key determinant of autoimmune diseases, many of which are far more prevalent in females.

In addition, Dr. Danska and her collaborators discovered a signaling pathway in macrophages pivotal to the survival of human normal hematopoietic stem cells and acute leukemia stem cells that sustain leukemic growth. They have developed a biologic therapy to manipulate this immune checkpoint to impair the survival of leukemia and other blood cell cancers that is now in clinical trials. 

Education and experience

  • 2018–Present: Associate Chief of Research, Faculty Development and Diversity, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • 2003–Present: Professor, Department of Immunology and Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • 1997–2003: Associate Professor, Department of Immunology and Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • 1997–Present: Senior Scientist, Program in Genetics & Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • 1991–1997: Assistant Professor, Department of Immunology and Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • 1991–1997: Scientist, Program in Genetics & Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • 1991: Post-doctoral Fellow, Immunology Stanford University School of Medicine, California, USA. (Supervisors: Drs. Hugh McDevitt and C. Garrison Fathman)
  • 1985: PhD Genetics and Molecular Biology Cornell University, School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
    (Graduate research performed at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY, USA. Supervisors: Drs. Lee M. Silver and Dorothea Bennett)
  • 1977: B.Sc. Magna cum Laude in Biology, Magna cum Laude in Genetics Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, USA

Achievements

  • 2019–Present: Executive Lead, Council of College Chairs, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • 2018–Present: Associate Chief, Faculty Development and Diversity, SickKids Research Institute
  • 2016–2021: The Anne and Max Tanenbaum Chair in Molecular Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto
  • 2016–Present: Chair of College of Reviewers, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • 2016–Present: Scientific Advisor, McGill University Research Centre on Complex Traits, Montreal PQ
  • 2003–Present: Council Member, National Institute of Health (NIAID/NIDDK) Type 1 diabetes TrialNet Consortium
  • 2001–Present: Canadian Society of Immunology Council

  • 2016–2019: College Chair, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • 2014–2017: Scientific Advisor, Gilead Therapeutics, Inc. Foster City, CA
  • 2005–2010: Scientific Advisor, Mass spectrophotometer-based Flow Cytometer (CyTOF), DVS Sciences
  • 2005–2010: Associate Scientific Director, Canadian Genetic Diseases Network
  • 2004–2009: Scientific Advisor, Emerillon Therpeutics, Inc., Montreal, PQ
  • 2004: Becton-Dickenson Health Sciences Award, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
  • 2001–2005: Canadian Genetic Disease Network Priorities and Planning Council
  • 2001: Principal Investigator Research Award, Canadian Genetic Disease Network, National Centres of Excellence
  • 1999–2003: Premier’s Research Excellence Award, Government of Ontario
  • 1995–2001: Research Scientist Award, National Cancer Institute of Canada

Publications

  1. Markle, J.M, Frank, D.N., Robertson, C.E., Mortin-Toth, S.M., MacPherson, A.J., McCoy, K.D., & J.S. Danska. (2013) Sex differences in the gut microbiome drive hormone-dependent regulation of autoimmunity. Science. 339 (6123):1084-1088.
  2. Rajakumar SA, Papp E, Lee KK, Grandal I, Merico D, Liu CC, Allo B, Zhang L, Grynpas MD, Minden MD, Hitzler JK, Guidos CJ, Danska JS. (2020) B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells mediate RANK-RANKL-dependent bone destruction. Sci Transl Med. 12(561):eaba5942.
  3. Rajakumar SA, Grandal I, Minden MD, Hitzler JK, Guidos CJ, Danska JS. (2021).  Targeted blockade of immune mechanisms inhibit B precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell invasion of the central nervous system (2021). Cell Reports Medicine, 2: 100470.
  4. Paun A, Yau C, Meshkibaf S, Daigneault MC, Marandi L, Mortin-Toth S, Bar-Or A, Allen-Vercoe E, Poussier P, Danska JS.  Association of HLA-dependent islet autoimmunity with systemic antibody responses to intestinal commensal bacteria in children. Science Immunology. 2019 4(32).
  5. Xie, Q, Oh, S., Herold, K. and Danska, J.S. Immune responses to gut bacteria associated with time to diagnosis and clinical response to T cell-directed therapy for type 1 diabetes prevention. (2023). Science Translational Medicine, 15: eadh0353.

See a full list of Dr. Jayne Danska's publications on PubMed or Google Scholar.

2023–2026: Immune responses to gut microbes associated with T1D risk and progression, Co-Principal Investigator, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, $1,400,000 CAD

2023–2026: The KQ1 serum study: soluble biomarkers for T1D, Co-Principal Investigator, National Institutes of Health, NIDDK, U.S.A, $399,000 CAD

2022–2025: Mechanisms and novel therapies for pediatric Acute Leukemia, Principal Investigator, RDV Foundation –through the SickKids Foundation, $180,000 CAD

2022–2024: Targeting CNS Leukemia, Principal Investigator, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada, $200,000 CAD

2020–2025: Microbiome Regulation of Beta-Cell Autoimmunity and Type 1 Diabetes, Principal Investigator, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Canadian Microbiome Team Program), $2,000,000.00 CAD

2018–ongoing: Associate Chief, Research Institute Operating funds, ~$80,000/year

2016–2026: Anne and Max Tanenbaum Chair in Molecular Medicine, The Anne and Max Tanenbaum Chair Program, $1,250,000 CAD

2016–2023: Mechanisms of Inflammation, Immunity and Islet Dysfunction in Diabetes (MI3D), Principal Investigator, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, $500,000 CAD

2016–2023: Elucidating the Gene-Environment Interactions that drive Autoimmune Disease among South Asian Canadians, Co-Principal Investigator, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, $250,000 CAD

Back to Top