Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 20, 2006|Volume 35, Number 7

Immunologist elected to Institute of Medicine

Richard Flavell, Sterling Professor and chair of immunobiology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the School of Medicine, has been named to the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

The IOM was established by the National Academy of Sciences and serves as a national resource for independent, scientifically informed analysis and recommendations on issues related to human health.

"Members are elected through a highly selective process that recognizes people who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care and public health," noted Harvey Fineberg, president of IOM. "Election is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health."

Dr. Robert Alpern, dean of the School of Medicine, said: "Richard's research is outstanding, clearly placing him among the best immunologists in the world. This is combined with a talent for leadership that has allowed him to cultivate an immunology program that is unsurpassed anywhere. His wisdom and experience should prove valuable to the Institute of Medicine."

Flavell's research primarily concerns the molecular basis of T cell differentiation in the immune system. His research team has used genomic approaches to identify the genes that are selectively expressed in T cell lineages, and has used gene targeting, transgenic mice and retroviral technology to elucidate the function of these genes and their target sequences.

His lab showed that the transcription factor GATA-3 is necessary and sufficient for Th2 cytokine expression and identified the epigenetic mechanisms through which it works. They also elucidated the role of these enzymes in T cell differentiation and apoptosis.

Flavell studies effector mechanisms of programmed cell death using mice lacking the death-effector molecules known as caspases and investigates the molecular and cellular basis for autoimmune disease.

Flavell's election brings the number of Yale scientists who have been appointed to IOM to 39. Yale has one of the largest concentrations of members of any institution.

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Campus Notes