Bryan W. Tillman, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Division of Vascular Surgery
Department of Surgery and
The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Ph.D. University of Alabama at Birmingham 2000
M.D. University of Alabama at Birmingham 2001
Email: bwt5@pitt.edu
Research Interest:
Dr. Tillman is Assistant Professor in the Division of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery. His translational laboratory focuses in two primary research areas. His principal research direction is to develop novel therapies for vascular graft failure resulting from graft stenosis, which is a major cause of limb loss and mortality among vascular and dialysis patients, respectively. To date, local therapies have not been effective in control of this disease process. Several lines of evidence suggest involvement of circulating bone marrow derived progenitors in the formation of the hallmark intimal lesions of vascular graft failure. A novel progenitor depletion approach is being applied to examine and prevent the role of progenitor cells in vascular graft failure. As an extension of this potential new systemic paradigm of graft failure, the laboratory also applies neutralizing immunotherapy approaches to prevent recruitment of these cells to sites of vascular interventions.
A second and continued focus of the laboratory includes the development of bioreactor conditioned, tissue engineered grafts for vascular reconstruction. The goal is that these may one day be used to help patients who do not have other options for vascular reconstruction.
Selected Publications
View Dr. Tillman's publications on PubMed.
Tillman BW, de Gruijl TD, Luykx-de Bakker SA, Scheper RJ, Pinedo HM, Curiel TJ, Gerritsen WR and Curiel DT Maturation of dendritic cells accompanies high efficiency gene transfer by a CD40-targeted adenoviral vector. Journal of Immunology 162: 6378-6383. 1999.
Tillman BW, Hayes TL, DeGruijl TD, Douglas JT and Curiel DT. Adenoviral vectors targeted to CD40 enhance the efficacy of dendritic cell-based vaccination against human papillomavirus 16-induced tumor cells in a murine model. Cancer Research 60: 5456-5463. 2000.
De Gruijl TD, Luykx-De Bakker SA, Tillman BW, Van Den Eertwegh AJ, Buter J, Lougheed SM, Van Der Bij GJ, Safer AM, Haisma HJ, Curiel DT, Scheper RJ, Pinedo HM, Gerritsen WR. Prolonged maturation and enhanced transduction of dendritic cells migrated from human skin explants after in situ delivery of CD40-targeted adenoviral vectors. Journal of Immunology. 169: 5322-5331, 2002.
Brandão JG, Scheper RJ, Lougheed SM, Curiel DT, Tillman BW, Gerritsen WR, van den Eertwegh, AJM, Pinedo HM, Haisma HJ and de Gruijl TD. CD40-targeted adenoviral gene transfer to dendritic cells through the use of a novel bispecific single-chain Fv antibody enhances cytotoxic T cell activation Vaccine. 21: 2268-2272. 2003.
Tillman BW, Vaccaro PS, Starr JE., and Das MB. Use of an endovascular occlusion balloon for control of unremitting venous hemorrhage. Journal of Vasc Surgery. 43: 399-400. 2006.
Agnese DM, Maupin R, Tillman B, Pozderac RD, Magro C, Walker MJ. Head and Neck Melanoma in the Sentinel Node Era. Archives of Otololaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery. 133(11):1121-1124. 2007.
Tillman, BW, Yazdani, SK, Geary, RL, Corriere, MA, Atala, AA, and Yoo, JJ. Efficient Recovery of Endothelial Progenitors for Clinical Translation. Tissue Engineering. Tissue Eng Part C Methods. 2009.
Tillman, BW, Yazdani, SK, Lee, SJ, Geary, RL, Atala, AA, and Yoo, JJ. The in vivo Stability of Electrospun Polycaprolactone-Collagen Scaffolds in Vascular Reconstruction. Biomaterials. 30(4):583-8. 2009.
Yazdani, SK, Tillman BW, Soker S, Berry JL, Geary RL. The fate of an endothelium layer after preconditioning: An in vitro and in vivo analysis. Journal of Vasc Surgery. 51(1):174-83. 2010
