Autoimmune Life Blog

Naive T cells are like the rookies of your immune system. They’re young and inexperienced. They grow up to do different jobs, most of which help protect your body from viruses and bacteria. But a few stray down the wrong path — growing up to become cells that cause autoimmune disease.

Each summer, BRI hosts undergraduate interns from universities across the country. They join various BRI labs and departments to take on research projects with mentorship from our scientists. Meet this year's interns and learn about the exciting projects they worked on.

The FDA recently approved teplizumab, a groundbreaking therapy that signals a paradigm shift in treating not only T1D but all autoimmune diseases.

BRI was formed with a clear plan: First, answer key fundamental questions about the immune system. Then, build on those answers to change lives. This is a very exciting time because we’re reaching that second stage of the plan.

To understand what causes type 1 diabetes (T1D), imagine a spy novel. It starts with a hero, the T-cell, that roams your body like James Bond. The T-cell hunts down enemies — bacteria and viruses — and snuffs them out. Then something goes terribly wrong: The hero becomes a villain.

One goal is to find markers that identify why some people with the virus don’t have symptoms while others get fatally ill. The sickest patients tend to have multiple health issues, which makes it hard to pinpoint the factors related to COVID-19.

When some people are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D), the disease progresses so quickly that their pancreas stops making insulin within a year.  For others, the process is slower and this can make their T1D easier to manage.  But what if we could identify these fast progressors early, and ma

BRI’s Matt Dufort, PhD, and Peter Linsley, PhD, led two new studies that could help doctors predict how quickly type 1 diabetes (T1D) will progress in some people, and match them with treatments that could slow it down. Dr.

What is the difference between an individual whose pancreas will continue producing insulin for 50 years, versus someone whose body may suddenly stop generating it within the next 18 months?

In clinical trials, not all individuals respond in the same way to particular immunological therapies.