Richard Coico, PhD

Richard Coico, MS, PhD is Professor of Cell Biology and Medicine, Vice Dean for Scientific Affairs, and Director of the Clinical and Translational Science Center at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Dr. Coico earned his Ph.D. in immunology from New York University. His research has focused on the study of the role of immunoglobulin D (IgD) in lymphocyte regulation. His lab was the first to identify IgD-receptors on helper T cells and to show that interactions between such cells and IgD-expressing B cells causes bi-directional regulatory consequences that significantly enhance immune responses. In other studies, he has used computational and bioinformatics approaches to identify candidate peptide vaccines for hemorrhagic viruses such as Ebola and Lassa. His group was the first to identify immunogenic Lassa virus peptides capable of stimulating cytotoxic T cell responses in humanized mice. More recently, in pre-clinical studies he and his co-workers investigated the development and application of immunotherapeutic approaches to treat or prevent Alzheimer's disease using beta-amyloid peptides.

• Ravinarayanan, H., Coico, R. and Sundar, K. 2015. Identification of Putative Therapeutic Targets in Candida tropicalis: An in silico Approach. Trends in Bioinformatics, 8: 52-62.
• Lycke, N. and Coico, R. 2015. ELISPOT Assay for Measurement of Antigen-Specific and Polyclonal Antibody Responses. Curr. Protoc. Immunol.108:7.14.1-7.14.10.
• Chen X, Andersson R, Cho WC, Christiani D, Coico R, Drazen J, Ege M, Fehniger T, Gao H, Jin K, Liebman MN, Lopez E, Marraro G, Marko-Varga G, Marincola FM, Popescu LM, Spada C, Shahzad A, Wang E, Wang W, Wang X, Wang YX, Xia J, Qu J. 2012. The international effort: building the bridge for Translational Medicine: Report of the 1st International Conference of Translational Medicine (ICTM). Clin Transl Med. 14;1(1):15. 
• Woodruff-Pak, D. S., Shriver, C., Agelan, A, Manns, J. M., & Coico, R. Immunotherapy in a rabbit model of Alzheimer’s disease. Drug Delivery Letters, 2, 14-21. 2012
• Burnett, LC, Lunn, G, and Coico, RF. Biosafety Guidelines for working with Pathogenic and Infectious Microorganisms. Curr. Protocols Microbiol. 1A.1.-1A.14; 2009.
• Andrew SM, Titus JS, Amin A, and Coico RF Isolation of Murine and Human immunoglobulin M and Murine Immunoglobulin D Current Protocols in Immunology 2:2.9.1–2.9.8; 2009
• Burnett LC, Lunn G, and Coico, RF. Biosafety Guidelines for Working with Pathogens and Infectious Microorganisms. Current Protocols in Microbiology 1:1A.1.1–1A.1.14 ; 2009
• Coico, RF and Woodruff-Pak, J. Immunotherapy for Alzheimer’s Disease: Harnessing our Knowledge of T Cell Biology Using a Cholesterol-Fed Rabbit Model. J. Alzheimer’s Disease 15: 657-671; 2008.
• Sundar K, Boesen A, and Coico RF. Computational Prediction and Identification of HLA-A2.1-specific Ebola Virus CTL Epitopes. Virology, 360: 257-263; 2007.
• Coico RF, Yang Y, Lima V, and Wu Y. Facilitated Antigen Presentation by B Cells Interacting with T Cells Expressing IgD-Receptors. J. Allergy Clinical Immunology; 99:S470; 1997.
• Tamma S, Sundaram S, Lev M, and Coico RF. Inhibition of Sphingolipid Synthesis Down Modulates CD4 Expression by Peripheral Blood T Lymphocytes and T Lymphoma Cells. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm.; 220:916-921; 1996.
• Yang Y and Coico RF. In Vitro analysis of IgD-Receptor-Positive Tδ Cell Augmentation of Antibody Responses. Cellular Immunology 168:107-116; 1996. 
• Tamma SL and Coico RF. IgD-Receptor+ Human T Lymphocytes. II. Identification and Partial Characterization of Human IgD-Binding Factor. J. Immunol.; 148:2045-2052; 1992. 
• Amin A, Tamma SL, Finkelman F, Coico RF, and Thorbecke GJ. The Specificity of the Murine IgD-Receptor on T cells is for N-linked Glycans. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA); 88:9238-9243; 1991.
• Tamma SL, Amin A, Finkelman F, Chen Y, Oppenheim JD, Thorbecke JG, and Coico RF. IgD-Receptors on T Cells bind to both the Fd and Fc region of IgD. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA); 88:9233-9240; 1991.
• Coico RF, Tamma SL, Bessler M, Wei C, and Thorbecke GJ. Human IgD-Receptor-Positive T Lymphocytes. I. Modulation of Receptor Expression by Oligomeric IgD and Lymphokines. J. Immunol.; 145:3556-3565; 1990.
• Amin A, Coico RF, Finkelman F, Siskind GW, and Thorbecke GJ. Release of IgD-binding factor by T cells under the influence of IL-2, IL-4 or cross-linked IgD. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA); 85: 9179-9187; 1988.
• Coico RF, Finkelman F, Swenson CD, Siskind GW and Thorbecke GJ. Exposure to cross-linked IgD induces receptors for IgD on T cells in vivo and in vitro. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA); 85: 559-564; 1988.
• Coico RF, Gottesman SRS, Siskind GW and Thorbecke GJ. Physiology of IgD. VIII. Age related decline in the capacity to generate T cells with receptors for IgD and partial reversal of the defect with IL-2. J. Immunol.; 138: 2776-2784; 1987.
• Coico RF, Berzofsky JA, Siskind GW and Thorbecke GJ. Physiology of IgD. VII. Induction of IgD-R on cloned T cells by IgD and interleukin-2. J. Immunol.; 138:4-10; 1987.
• Coico RF, Xue B, Wallace D, Pernis B, Siskind GW and Thorbecke GJ. T cells with receptors for IgD. Nature; 316:744-748; 1985.

List of Publications (PubMed)