Geoffrey W. Hoffmann, Biophysics

My career in biophysics has been devoted mainly to the development of the symmetrical network theory of immune system regulation. The development of this theory has involved the integration of a large volume of experimental data from many laboratories into a single theoretical framework. A powerful tool in the development of the theory has been mathematical modelling using nonlinear differential equations. An important feature of the system is that it exhibits both a large memory and stability.

A great diversity of antibodies exists within any given individual, so that an individual has antibodies that can recognize (bind to) any one of the virtually infinite number of microbes that can invade the human body. This high variability is a property of the V (variable) regions of the antibody molecules.

The symmetrical network theory has been developed since the 1970s in a series of papers. I have also recently published a book on Immune Network Theory. 

I am currently associated with a biotechnology company, Network Immunology Inc., a UBC spinoff company that is developing a vaccine for the prevention of HIV infection. UBC is a shareholder of Network Immunology. 

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Page last revised: August 27, 2008