Autoimmune Life Blog

This research update is on a variety of studies that BRI is conducting or collaborating on with other institutions. They are tackling various scientific and immunologic questions that explore innovative ways to fight MS from the lab to clinical studies.

“You can’t lay tracks until you know where the train is going,” says BRI Director Gerald Nepom, MD, PhD. “In immunology research, that translates into discovering what the immune system cells are doing and identifying their different roles.

At Benaroya Research Institute, philanthropic investments have been absolutely critical to the success of scientific endeavors, innovative ideas and medical breakthroughs.

Forty-year-old Cheryl Hile runs marathons, bicycles and holds a demanding full-time job—impressive accomplishments but, on the surface, not especially remarkable in this day and age.

If you’re searching for a story of human triumph in the face of living with autoimmune diseases, look no further than the Biesold family.

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) is relatively small compared to large research universities, but its impact goes well beyond its size and location, accelerating scientific discovery globally.

Benaroya Research Institute (BRI) has been awarded another leadership role in type 1 diabetes research. Carla Greenbaum, MD, BRI’s director of the Diabetes Research Program and Clinical Research Center, has been named chair of Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet.

There are approximately 50,000 immune cells in every single drop of blood. In a person with an autoimmune disease, only one or two of those cells cause the disease, while the others are busy protecting the body from unrelated infections and toxins.

As a young, enthusiastic scientist, Jessica Hamerman, PhD, joined Benaroya Research Institute in 2006 ready to delve further into understanding the inflammatory response of a certain type of cell that is an early responder to infections.

For nearly 45 years, Marcia Wollam has cared for people at Virginia Mason Hospital. Initially she served as an LPN and then she became a patient flow coordinator on the Rehabilitation Unit. But she always wanted to do more to help people.