Dr. Buckner: One of my lab’s core focuses is engineering regulatory T cells as a new treatment for type 1 diabetes. So far, our partners at Seattle Children’s Research Institute have done the genome editing for the project. Once we have this tool up and running at BRI, we believe we can use it to adapt the approach we developed for T1D to study rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and maybe even allergies — and do that fairly quickly.
We’re also interested in using genome editing to see if we can modify cells to do certain jobs — such as improving their ability to kill cancer cells or slow down their attack in autoimmune disease.
How might this technology benefit other scientists at BRI?
Dr. Harrison: My hope is that this technology becomes another “workhorse” tool like flow cytometry or imaging. Scientists across BRI will be able to use it every day to answer a wide range of questions.
Another way it can be widely applied is through “reverse translational” research. This is a type of research where we take data from a study in people and bring it back to the lab to learn more about something we don’t understand — like why a treatment worked well for one patient but not another, or why certain side effects happen. We’ll be able to create models that allow us to look at certain genes or T cell receptors to better understand what’s happening in people with autoimmunity.
Why is philanthropy to support new research avenues and technologies important?
Dr. Buckner: BRI’s mission is to predict, prevent, reverse and cure immune system diseases — and we want to do that as fast as we can. Philanthropy to support new tools and innovative approaches accelerates the pace of discovery and moves us closer to prevention and cures.
In terms of BRI’s Innovation Fund, philanthropy helps provide opportunities for our scientists to work together in ways that they otherwise might not be able to. The grants fund a project for two investigators, but they ultimately lift up all scientists at BRI. This collaboration includes junior investigators, and provides a great opportunity to develop their skills and become the next leaders at BRI. One of the junior scientists in my lab, Arpit Mishra, PhD, is playing a crucial role in this study by working with both myself and Dr. Harrison. He’s the link between our two labs and plays a very important role in making this work happen.
