Robert Karl Gieseler, Ph.D., M.S. - Scientific Advisor

Robert Gieseler, Ph.D., Scientific Advisor with Let There Be Hope, has twenty years of research experience in immunology and, concomitantly, four years in endocrinology, four years in clinical chemistry, and three years in allergology. He has worked in applied clinical research for thirteen years. His main expertise lies in the area of adaptive immunity, with a focus on antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and T lymphocytes. Dr. Gieseler has investigated the most potent APC class, dendritic cells (DCs), as to their ontogeny, phenotype, function, and morphology, as well as to their therapeutic employment in transplantation, chronic inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, autoimmunity, and allergy. He did extensive research on monocyte-derived and kidney-resident DCs, developed an in-vitro protocol for mucosal DCs, and investigated the roles of APCs in various diseases. While working with Let There Be Hope, Dr. Gieseler’s research chiefly focused on the role of APCs/DCs in HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Gieseler obtained an M.S. (1987) in immunology, biochemistry, physiology, organic chemistry, and physical chemistry, and earned a Ph.D. (1991) in immunology from Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany.
After serving on the Faculties of Biology and Medicine at Georg-August University, Dr. Gieseler worked as a commissioned scientist at the Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research in Quebec, Canada. He returned to Georg-August University as an Associate Professor of Immunology. In his next positions as Scientific Director in the Department of Endocrinology and Scientific Collaborator in the Department of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics at the University Hospital of Essen, Germany, Dr. Gieseler established the local Thyroid Research Group.

In 1995, The German Crohn’s/Colitis Association honored Dr. Gieseler with their Annual Research Prize. In 2001, his works on the immunopathologies of Graves’ disease and thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy gained him and his collaborators two Annual Research Prizes by the German Society for Endocrinology and the German Society of Ophthalmology.

After making a significant contribution as a post-doctoral scientist on the molecular-biological inhibition of HIV-1 propagation at St. Vincent Medical Center and the University of Southern California Medical School in Los Angeles, Dr. Gieseler was invited by Dr. Scolaro to join the team as a permanent member of Let There Be Hope in 2000 as a Consultant with the Scientific Advisory Board, and in 2001 as Chief Scientist. Also in 2001, he was appointed Adjunct Professor at the College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville.

Dr. Gieseler is a member of the American Association of Immunologists, the German Society of Immunology and its Study Group on Neuroendocrinoimmunology, the Federation of American Societies on Experimental Biology, the European Macrophage and Dendritic Cell Society, the German Crohn’s/Colitis Association, and the Robert Koch Foundation. To date, he has authored/co-authored 118 biomedical articles and abstracts, and refereed for the British Journal of Nutrition, Immunobiology, Gastrotelex, and Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery.

Meanwhile full-time employed elsewhere, Dr. Gieseler remains closely affiliated with LTBH as a Scientific Advisor in establishing our current and future relationships with academic institutions, and the pharmaceutical biotechnology industries in Europe, Africa, and Asia.