
BRI’s Approach Inspires Mara’s Support
At age 14, Mara, who is now in her 30s, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. A few years ago, she also learned she had celiac disease and was recently confronted with a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis.

Exploring Alpha: Deep Dive into T Cells Unveils Possible Driver of T1D
A team led by Peter Linsley, PhD, and Karen Cerosaletti, PhD, recently uncovered a clue that could help solve the mystery of why and how T1D starts and maybe even open the door to new therapies that stop the disease.

One Pandemic, Three Autoimmune Diseases and 100 Half Marathons
Rain was pouring down on the morning of Gretchen Schoenstein’s 100th half marathon — a day she’d dreamt of but wasn’t sure would ever come. That morning, the event’s producer asked her to share a few words.

Research Fuels Change: One Family’s Motivation to Participate
Becky Ronan has seen firsthand how research has impacted life for people with Down syndrome. When her older brother Kevin was born with Down syndrome in 1967, her parents were advised not to bring him home. “Most people with Down syndrome were put in institutions,” Becky says.

Using Your Own Cells to Fight Autoimmune Disease
For nearly 20 years, Dr. Buckner has been working to find a more targeted approach with fewer side effects. And she’s among a handful of scientists pursuing an intriguing idea: Can we use gene editing to change cells that cause disease into cells that protect you from disease?

The Power of Tetramers: A Tool Developed by Bill Kwok, PhD
Bill Kwok, PhD, has made groundbreaking discoveries and built a tool that’s fueled countless advances. But he makes his work and his path to BRI sound simple: Why study the minute details of the immune system? Well, he’s curious — he was always at the library as a kid.

Understanding Omicron: Key questions about spread, variants and where we go from here
Just when you thought you were done being an armchair epidemiologist, the Omicron chapter of the COVID-19 pandemic brings more questions. Will the new variants ever end? Are there any new protections, especially for people at higher risk of complications?

Understanding Down Syndrome and Autoimmunity
You’ve probably heard of Down syndrome. You may even remember that it’s caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21. But fewer people know that almost half of those with Down syndrome have an autoimmune disease. Or that they are at lower risk of solid tumor cancers like breast cancer.

Could medicines for inflammatory bowel disease help fight type 1 diabetes?
Among the many mysteries of autoimmune diseases, we know one thing for sure: These diseases are connected. They often occur when immune cells called T cells mistakenly attack healthy tissue — say the pancreas in type 1 diabetes (T1D) or the gut in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Inside the Sound Life Project: How BRI is Studying Health to Understand Disease
BRI’s vision is to create a healthy immune system for everyone. But before we can do that, we need to answer a key question: What exactly does a healthy immune system look like?