Discovery Attracts New Funding for Pediatric Rheumatologist

Adapted from the Fall 2011 issue of Discovery to Recovery

Research Means Hope/AAMC—July 2, 2013

Research Means Hope is a campaign of the Association of American Medical Colleges and its member-medical schools and teaching hospitals to raise public awareness of the critical need for sustained federal investment in medical research conducted through the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The research described at this link features Theresa Lu, MD, PhD, associate scientist in the Autoimmunity and Inflammation Program at HSS.

Dr. Lu is working to reduce immune cell activation and abnormal antibody generation in people with autoimmune disease by manipulating the blood vessels that feed the lymph node in these patients. In people with healthy immune systems, the immune cells in lymph nodes generate protective antibodies in response to infection. In people with autoimmune disease, immune cells become activated in response to their own body, generating abnormal antibodies directed at the body's own tissues and causing damage to internal organs.

This research originally appeared at medresearch.tumblr.com.