Yale University announced that Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, the Sterling Professor of Immunobiology and Professor of Dermatology and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at the Yale School of Medicine as well as Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases) at the Yale School of Public Health, has received the 2023 Dr. William E. Paul Distinguished Innovator Award from the Lupus Research Alliance. The 4-year grant will provide up to $1 million in funding to research the potential causes of lupus. Dr. Iwasaki explained that although the nature of lupus as an autoimmune disease is understood, what the immune system may be targeting in patients with the condition is still unknown. She proposed that the immune system may be attacking endogenous retroviruses living inside the cells—which comprise about 8% of the human genome—thereby triggering an autoimmune response. With support from the award, Dr. Iwasaki and her colleagues will examine how increased levels of endogenous retroviruses may drive the production of inflammation-inducing type I interferons; determine how the immune system may promote autoimmunity through autoantibody-generating B cells in response; and identify and characterize autoreactive T cells using samples from patients with cutaneous lupus and mouse models. Dr. Iwasaki hopes her team’s findings can lead to novel targeted therapies for patients with lupus.
February 22, 2024