Research Program: Transplant Biology & Therapy
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Blood and Marrow Transplantation

tolar003@umn.edu
612-626-5501 — office
Preferred method of contact: through assistant-Aandra Erikson at 612-626-5501

Dr. Tolar's clinical profile
(University of Minnesota Physicians Web site)

Dr. Tolar is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota in the Division of Hematology-Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, and attends on both the Pediatric Hematology Oncology and the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation service. He received his M.D. from Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, and his Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology and Genetics from the University of Minnesota. He completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in hematology/oncology and bone marrow transplantation at the University of Minnesota. He is board certified in pediatrics and hematology/oncology. Dr. Tolar serves on the program committee and Non-Immune Cytopenias Committee of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology since May 2004.

Dr Tolar has been interested in the use of hematopoietic transplantation for bone marrow failure (e.g., aplastic anemia and dyskeratosis congenita) and metabolic disorders (e.g., mucopolysaccharidosis type I and adrenoleukodystrophy). Dr. Tolar's research focuses on the use of bone marrow derived stem cells and Sleeping Beauty transposon gene therapy for correction of genetic diseases and improving outcome of blood and marrow transplantation.

Research Interests

Sleeping Beauty transposons — Gene therapy. Transposons are gene elements that can move from one location in genome to another. Our goal is to establish whether gene transfer mediated by transposons is safe and efficient.

Multipotent Adult Progenitor Cells (MAPC) and Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) — Cellular therapy. MAPC and MSC are cells derived from adult bone marrow. In contrast to blood forming cells in bone marrow, MAPC and MSC can significantly contribute to multiple organs, such as liver, lung, heart, intestine, and brain. We aim to determine if MAPC and MSC facilitate tissue repair and improve overall survival of patients after chemoradiotherapy regimen in the setting of bone marrow transplantation.

Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (Hurler syndrome) — Novel therapies. Gene therapy (transposons) and cellular therapy (MAPC/MSC) for organs, such as heart, brain and bone, that are resistant to correction with bone marrow transplantation

Selected Publications

Tolar J, Wang X, Braunlin E, McElmurry RT, Nakamura Y, Bell S, Xia L, Zhang J, Hu Q, Panoskaltsis-Mortari A, Zhang J, Blazar BR: The host immune response is essential for the beneficial effect of adult stem cells after myocardial ischemia. Exp Hem 35(4):682-90 (2007).

Tolar J, Nauta AJ, Osborn MJ, Panoskaltsis-Mortari A, McElmurry RT, Bell S, Xia L, Zhou N, Riddle M, Schroeder TM, Westendorf JJ, McIvor RS, Hogendoom PCW, Szuhai K, Oseth L, Hirsch B, Yant SR, Kay MA, Peister A, Prockop DJ, Fibbe WE, Blazar BR: Sarcoma derived from cultured mesenchymal stem cells. Stem Cells 25(2):371-9 (2006).

Tolar J, O'shaughnessy MJ, Panoskaltsis-Mortari A, McElmurry RT, Bell S, Riddle M, McIvor RS, Yant SR, Kay MA, Krause D, Verfaillie CM, Blazar BR. Host factors that impact the biodistribution and persistence of multipotent adult progenitor cells. Blood. 2006; 107:4182-8.

Tolar J, Osborn M, Bell S, McElmurry R, Xia L, Riddle M, Panoskaltsis-Mortari A, Jiang Y, McIvor R, Contag C, Yant S, Kay M, Verfaillie C, Blazar B. Real time in vivo imaging of stem cells following transgenesis by transposition. Mol Ther. 2005;12:42-8.

Tolar J, Teitelbaum SL, Orchard P. Molecular etiology of human osteopetrosis. N Eng J Med. 2004;351:2839-49.