Profile picture for user hoffmann
First Name
Geoffrey
Middle Name
W.
Last Name
Hoffmann
Position
Professor Emeritus
Office Room
3311 Quesnel Drive
Tel (Office)
(604) 734-7521
Email
hoffmannvancouver@gmail.com
Research Groups
Biophysics
Students Wanted
N/A
Additional Links
Research Website
Bachelor's Degree
University of Melbourne
Master's Degree
University of Melbourne
Doctoral Degree
Technische Universitaet Braunschweig, Research at the Max Planck Institut fuer Biophysikalische Chemie, Goettingen
Employment History

1972-1973 IBM Research Laboratory, San Jose California.
1973-1974 Max Planck Institut fuer Biophysikalische Chemie, Goettingen
1974-1979 Basel Institute for Immunology
1979-present University of British Columbia
1985-1986 Los Alamos National Laboratory

Additional Information

BirthPlace: Hamilton, Vic. Australia
Marital Status: Married
Children: 2
Home Phone: 604-734-7521

Research Area
Biophysics
Research Topics
Theoretical Biology, Immune Network Theory, Neural Networks
Research Title
Theoretical Biology
Abstract

I have developed a theory of the regulation of the immune system called the symmetrical network theory. From 1979 to 1996 I had a laboratory in the Microbiology Department of UBC that did experiments related to that theory. The theoretical work involves mathematical modelling, including simulation of the highly dimensioned system using nonlinear differential equations. An important constraint is that the system exhibits both a large memory and stability. One aspect of this work has been the recent discovery of a novel preventive HIV vaccine concept. The immune system is similar to the brain in many respects, and I have made contributions to neural network theory.

Selected Publications

Articles

  1. Gorczynski RM, Hoffmann G (2020). Combined IMIG and immune Ig attenuates inflammatory colitis in mice. International Immunopharmacology 83:106464. DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2020.106464.
  2. Gorczynski RM, Maqbool T, Hoffmann G (2020). Combined IMIG and Immune Ig Attenuate Allergic Responses in Beagle Dogs. Journal of Immunology Research 2020:2061609. DOI: 10.1155/2020/2061609.
  3. Gorczynski RM, Hoffmann G (2019). A novel mechanism for induction of Tregs to control allergic disease. Internal Medicine Review 5(8):1–16. DOI: 10.18103/imr.v5i8.839.
  4. Gorczynski RM, Maqbool T, Hoffmann G (2019). Mechanism(s) of prolonged attenuation of allergic responses after modulation of idiotypic regulatory network. Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology 15:79. DOI: 10.1186/s13223-019-0393-7.
  5. Gorczynski R, Hoffmann G (2017). Toward a New Kind of Vaccine: A Logical Extension of the Symmetrical Immune Network Theory. Interactive Journal of Medical Research 6(2):e8. DOI: 10.2196/ijmr.7612.
  6. Hoffmann GW, Muller S, Kohler H (2012). Towards an HIV vaccine based on immune network theory. Current Topics in Immunology 13:69–79.
  7. Bourinbaiar AS, Jirathitikal V, Hoffmann GW, Lu NQ (2005). AIDS vaccines and immunotherapy of infertility. Zhonghua Nan Ke Xue (National Journal of Andrology) 11:163–169.
  8. Hoffmann GW (2004). Proteomic analyser with applications to diagnostics and vaccines. Journal of Theoretical Biology 228:459–465.
  9. Al-Fahim A, Hoffmann GW (1998). Second symmetry in the BALB/c–C57BL/6 (B6) system, and anti-antiself antibodies in ageing B6 mice. Immunology and Cell Biology 76:27–33.
  10. Grant MD, Whaley MD, Mayne A, Hoffmann GW, Ansari AA (1996). Similar abnormalities of idiotype and immunoglobulin light chain expression and of cell-mediated cytotoxicity in HIV-infected humans and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected rhesus macaques. Immunology and Cell Biology 74:38–44.
  11. Hoffmann GW (1995). The T cell receptor and AIDS pathogenesis. Scandinavian Journal of Immunology 41:331–337.
  12. Royer ST, Mathewson DJ, Hoffmann GW (1995). On network distance coefficients and network dynamics. Journal of Biological Systems 3:415–427.
  13. Hoffmann GW (1994). Co-selection in immune network theory and in AIDS pathogenesis. Immunology and Cell Biology 72:338–346.
  14. Süsal C, Hoffmann GW, Daniel V, Grant MD, Opelz G (1993). Complementarities and network interactions in AIDS. Journal of Autoimmunity 6:601–610.
  15. Kion TA, Hoffmann GW (1991). Anti-HIV and anti-anti-MHC antibodies in alloimmune and autoimmune mice. Science 253:1138–1140.
  16. Hoffmann GW, Kion TA, Grant MD (1991). An idiotypic network model of AIDS immunopathogenesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 88:3060–3064.
  17. Hoffmann GW (1991). On specific T-cell factors. Immunology Today 12:465–466.
  18. Hoffmann GW (1990). A response to Duesberg with reference to an idiotypic network model of AIDS immunopathogenesis. Research in Immunology 141:701–709.
  19. Grant MD, Weaver MS, Tsoukas C, Hoffmann GW (1990). Distribution of antibodies against denatured collagen in AIDS risk groups and homosexual AIDS patients suggests a link between autoimmunity and the immunopathogenesis of AIDS. Journal of Immunology 144:1241–1250.
  20. Forsyth RB, Hoffmann GW (1990). A study of auto-anti-idiotypes to BSA. Journal of Immunology 145:215–223.
  21. Hoffmann GW, Tufaro F (1989). Serological distance coefficients. Immunology Letters 22:83–90.
  22. Davenport MR, Hoffmann GW (1989). A recurrent neural network using tri-state hidden neurons to orthogonalize the memory space. International Journal of Neural Systems 1:133–141.
  23. Hoffmann GW, Grant MD, Kion TA (1988). Is AIDS provoked autoimmunity? Canadian Research 21(6):16–23.
  24. Hoffmann GW (1987). A critique of the Kaufman-Urbain-Thomas immune system network theory. Journal of Theoretical Biology 129:355–357.
  25. Hoffmann GW (1987). A theory of war and a strategy for peace: selective societal processes and communication between nations. Bulletin of Peace Proposals 18:93–98.
  26. Hoffmann GW (1986). A neural network model based on the analogy with the immune system. Journal of Theoretical Biology 122:33–67.
  27. Hoffmann GW, Benson MW, Bree GM, Kinahan PE (1986). A teachable neural network based on an unorthodox neuron. Physica D 22:233–246.
  28. Hoffmann GW, Cooper-Willis A, Chow M (1986). A new symmetry: A anti-B is anti-(B anti-A), and reverse enhancement. Journal of Immunology 137:61–68.
  29. Hoffmann GW (1986). A response to Cohn's criticism of network theory. Annales de l'Institut Pasteur / Immunologie 137D:443–448.
  30. Singhai R, Hoffmann GW, Levy JG (1985). Abrogation and reconstitution of nonresponsiveness: a correlation with high network connectivity. European Journal of Immunology 15:526–529.
  31. Buican TN, Hoffmann GW (1985). Immunofluorescent flow cytometry in N dimensions: the multiplex labeling approach. Cell Biophysics 7:129–156.
  32. Buican TN, Hoffmann GW (1985). An automated device for the preparation of complex reagent mixtures: the immunofluorescence tomograph. Cell Biophysics 7:157–175.
  33. Cooper-Willis A, Hoffmann GW (1983). Symmetry of effector function in the immune system network. Molecular Immunology 20:865–870.
  34. Gunther N, Hoffmann GW (1982). Qualitative dynamics of a network model of regulation of the immune system: a rationale for the IgM to IgG switch. Journal of Theoretical Biology 94:815–855.
  35. Hoffmann GW (1979). Das Immunsystem. Chemie in unserer Zeit 13:1–10.
  36. Hoffmann GW (1975). A theory of regulation and self-nonself discrimination in an immune network. European Journal of Immunology 5:638–647.
  37. Hoffmann GW (1975). The stochastic theory of the origin of the genetic code. Annual Review of Physical Chemistry 26:123–144.
  38. Hoffmann GW (1974). On the origin of the genetic code and the stability of the translation apparatus. Journal of Molecular Biology 86:349–362.
  39. Chuang TJ, Hoffmann GW, Eisenthal KB (1974). Picosecond studies of the cage effect and collision-induced predissociation of iodine in liquids. Chemical Physics Letters 25:201–205.
  40. Pörschke D, Hoffmann GW, Senear A (1973). Double helical complex formed from a polynucleotide and a complementary monomer. Nature New Biology 242:45–46.
  41. Hoffmann GW, Pörschke D (1973). Cooperative nonenzymic base recognition: thermodynamics of the helix-coil transition of monomer-polymer double helix. Biopolymers 12:1611–1623.
  42. Hoffmann GW, Pörschke D (1973). Cooperative nonenzymic base recognition: kinetics of the binding of a base monomer to a complementary polynucleotide template. Biopolymers 12:1625–1633.
  43. Hoffmann GW (1973). Chemical relaxation of cooperative binding to linear polymers. Biopolymers 12:1633–1638.
  44. Hoffmann GW (1971). A nanosecond temperature jump apparatus. Review of Scientific Instruments 42:1643–1647.

Book chapters and conference papers 

  1. Hoffmann GW, Kion TA (1993). On allogeneic lymphocytes as cofactors in AIDS pathogenesis and the concept of co-selection. In: Montagnier L, Gougeon M-L (eds), New Concepts in AIDS Pathogenesis. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp. 273–290.
  2. Hoffmann GW, Kion TA (1992). On second symmetry and AIDS. In: Perelson AS, Weisbuch G (eds), Theoretical and Experimental Insights into Immunology. Springer, Heidelberg, pp. 353–364.
  3. Davenport MR, Hoffmann GW (1991). Using hidden neurons with Hebbian learning in a bi-state Hopfield neural network. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Advances in Communication and Control Systems (Comcon 3), Victoria,           BC.
  4. Hoffmann GW, Davenport MR (1990). A network that uses the outer product rule, hidden neurons, and peaks in the energy landscape. Proceedings of the 1990 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, New Orleans, vol. 1, pp. 196–           199.
  5. Hoffmann GW, Grant MD (1990). On AIDS, alloimmunity and autoimmunity. In: Osterhaus ADME, UytdeHaag FGCM (eds), Idiotype Networks in Biology and Medicine. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 295–299.
  6. Hoffmann GW (1989). The immune system: a neglected challenge for network theorists. Proceedings of the 1989 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Portland, pp. 1620–1623.
  7. Hoffmann GW, Grant MD (1989). When HIV meets the immune system: network theory, alloimmunity, autoimmunity, and AIDS. In: Castillo-Chavez C (ed), Mathematical and Statistical Approaches to AIDS Epidemiology. Lecture Notes in                              Biomathematics 83, Springer, pp. 386–405.
  8. Grant MD, Kion TA, Forsyth RB, Hoffmann GW (1989). IDS, aIDS and AIDS. In: Kaplan JG, Green DR (eds), Cellular Basis of Immune Modulation. A. R. Liss, New York, pp. 481–484.
  9. Hoffmann GW, Kion TA, Forsyth RB, Soga KG, Cooper-Willis A (1988). The N-dimensional network. In: Perelson AS (ed), Theoretical Immunology, Part Two. Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of Complexity, Addison-Wesley, pp. 291–319.
  10. Hoffmann GW (1988). Neurons with hysteresis? In: Cotterill R (ed), Computer Simulation in Brain Science. Cambridge University Press, pp. 74–87.
  11. Hoffmann GW (1988). On I-J, a network centre pole and AIDS. In: Sercarz E, Celada F, Mitchison NA, Tada T (eds), The Semiotics of Cellular Communication in the Immune System. Springer, New York, pp. 257–271.
  12. Stolorz P, Hoffmann GW (1988). Learning by selection using energy functions. In: Delacour J, Levy JCS (eds), Systems with Learning and Memory Abilities. Elsevier/North-Holland, pp. 437–452.
  13. Hoffmann GW, Benson MW (1986). Neurons with hysteresis form a network that can learn without any changes in synaptic connection strengths. In: Denker J (ed), Neural Networks for Computing. AIP Conference Proceedings 151, pp. 219–226.
  14. Hoffmann GW, Cooper-Willis A, Chow M (1986). On paradoxes and progress in theoretical immunology, and evidence for a new symmetry. In: Hoffmann GW, Hraba T (eds), Immunology and Epidemiology. Lecture Notes in Biomathematics 65,                     Springer.
  15. Hoffmann GW, Hraba T (1986). The structure of mathematical immunology. In: Hoffmann GW, Hraba T (eds), Immunology and Epidemiology. Lecture Notes in Biomathematics 65, Springer, pp. 2–6.
  16. Hoffmann GW, Levy JG, Nepom GT (1986). On paradoxes and progress in science (preface). In: Hoffmann GW, Levy JG, Nepom GT (eds), Paradoxes in Immunology. CRC Press, Boca Raton.
  17. Hoffmann GW (1986). The smell of H-2. In: Hoffmann GW, Levy JG, Nepom GT (eds), Paradoxes in Immunology. CRC Press, Boca Raton, ch. 9, pp. 111–114.
  18. Hoffmann GW (1986). Another paradox (commentary on Melchers and Eichmann). In: Hoffmann GW, Levy JG, Nepom GT (eds), Paradoxes in Immunology. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 149–150.
  19. Hoffmann GW, Kilburn DG (1986). Does network theory tell us what to expect? (commentary on Nepom and Nelson). In: Hoffmann GW, Levy JG, Nepom GT (eds), Paradoxes in Immunology. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 184–185.
  20. Hoffmann GW, Cooper-Willis A (1983). Symmetry, complexity and stability in immune system network theory. In: Marchuk GI, Belykh LN (eds), Mathematical Modelling in Immunology and Medicine. North-Holland, Amsterdam, pp. 31–42.
  21. Hoffmann GW (1982). The application of stability criteria in evaluating network regulation models. In: DeLisi C, Hiernaux JRJ (eds), Regulation of Immune Response Dynamics, vol. 1. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 137–162.
  22. Hoffmann GW (1981). On network theory, Ly phenotypes and connectivity. In: Lefkovits I, Steinberg C (eds), The Immune System: Festschrift in Honour of Niels Kaj Jerne. Karger, Basel, vol. I, pp. 28–34.
  23. Hoffmann GW (1981). Error propagation in translation and its relevance to the nucleation of life. In: Nonlinear Phenomena in Physics and Biology. Springer.
  24. Hoffmann GW (1980). On network theory and H-2 restriction. In: Warner N (ed), Contemporary Topics in Immunobiology, vol. 11, pp. 185–226.
  25. Hoffmann GW (1980). On the ‘intelligence’ of antigen-specific receptors from a network point of view. In: Sercarz E, Cunningham AJ (eds), Strategies of Immune Regulation. Academic Press, New York, pp. 401–403.
  26. Hoffmann GW (1979). A mathematical model of the stable states of a network theory of self-regulation. In: Bruni C et al. (eds), Systems Theory in Immunology. Lecture Notes in Biomathematics 32, Springer, pp. 239–257.
  27. Hoffmann GW (1978). Mathematical modelling of a network theory of self-regulation in the immune system. Proceedings of the 1978 IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, pp. 740–745.
  28. Hoffmann GW (1978). Incorporation of a non-specific T cell dependent helper factor into a network theory of the regulation of the immune response. In: Bell GI, Perelson AS, Pimbley GH (eds), Theoretical Immunology. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp.           571–602.

Edited books

  1. Hoffmann GW, Levy JG, Nepom GT (eds) (1986). Paradoxes in Immunology. CRC Press, Boca Raton.
  2. Hoffmann GW, Hraba T (eds) (1986). Immunology and Epidemiology: Proceedings of a Workshop on Mathematical Immunology, Mogilany, Poland, February 1985. Lecture Notes in Biomathematics 65, Springer.

Doctoral thesis 

  1. Hoffmann GW (1972). Entwicklung einer schnellen Temperatur-Sprung-Anlage und ihre Anwendung auf kooperative Basenpaarung. Dr. rer. nat. dissertation, Technische Universität Braunschweig.

Preprints and online works

  1. Hoffmann GW, Gorczynski RM (2017). Specific T cell factors exist. bioRxiv.
  2. Gorczynski RM, Hoffmann GW (2017). Towards a new kind of vaccine. bioRxiv.
  3. Hoffmann GW (2016). A network theory of the origin of life. bioRxiv.
  4. Leung E, Hoffmann GW (2014). MHC restriction of V-V interactions in serum IgG. arXiv:1403.1551.
  5. Hoffmann GW (2010). An improved version of the symmetrical immune network theory. arXiv:1004.5107.
  6. Hoffmann GW (2010). The symmetrical immune network theory and a new HIV vaccine concept. Nature Proceedings.
  7. Hoffmann GW (2008). Recent developments in immune network theory including a concept for an HIV vaccine. arXiv:0812.4467.
  8. Hoffmann GW (2008). Immune network theory. Online monograph, www.phas.ubc.ca/~hoffmann.
  9. Hoffmann GW (2007). Perception and recognition in a neural network theory in which neurons exhibit hysteresis. arXiv:0712.2854.

Letters and short pieces

  1. Hoffmann GW (1994). Niels Jerne, immunologist, 1911–1994. Vaccine Research 3:173–174.
  2. Hoffmann GW (1992). Questions about AIDS. Nature (correspondence).
  3. Hoffmann GW (1991). An immune reaction. Scientific American (letter).
  4. Hoffmann GW (1985). Jerne still influential. Nature (correspondence).