RESEARCHERS AND THEIR LABS
Anjana Rao, Ph.D.
Don Newmeyer, Ph.D. and his laboratory are examining how mitochondria--the "energy factory"
in the cell-- play a critical role in the apoptotic cell death program.
The importance of this research is in understanding how these cells can
be turned on and off, suggesting new approaches for the treatment of
diseases that involve the inappropriate death or survival of certain
types of cells.
Stephen Schoenberger, Ph.D,
and his team are focusing their efforts on understanding the way in
which the immune system organizes an effective attack in the body.
There are two types of killer T cells that the immune system employs in
the course of its defense of the body, CD8 and CD4. Schoenberger's
laboratory has shown that it is necessary for the body to engage both
of these cells types in order to properly attack a bodily invasion and
to ensure a proper immune memory response. Immune memory is the way in
which the body "remembers" previous infections so that on future
occurrences of an illness it can mount a fast, efficient response. This
discovery could be a key to understanding why the body sometimes fails
to destroy a tumor with an immune attack.
Carl Ware, Ph.D. is working to solve the puzzle of autoimmune disease
and is internationally recognized for his work on tumor necrosis factor
(TNF). Ware's trailblazing work in the discovery of additional TNF
family members, and his illumination of their modes of action, may also
have application for righting infectious diseases and cancer.
