Autoimmune Life Blog

As a young man, Frank Dvorak had set his sights on a career in aviation. He was in his senior year at the Royal Military College of Canada when he received the life-changing diagnosis: type 1 diabetes. Because of his disease, he was grounded from flying.

Adam’s grandfather was diagnosed at age 12, his father, Reid, at age 29, and his older brother, Isaiah, at age 9. When Isaiah was diagnosed, his mother, Jenifer, began investigating if there was a way to keep Adam and his little sister, Rosie, from developing diabetes.

Celiac disease can be difficult to diagnose and has no cure. Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) recently launched a new biorepository for the disease to collect blood samples, tissue samples and medical histories of people with the disease.

The estate of Leonard and Majorie Wright of Mukilteo, Wash., recently bequeathed $2.5 million to Benaroya Research Institute for translational research. Marjorie Wright died in 2013 and Leonard Wright passed away in 2007. They were both patients at Virginia Mason Medical Center.

On July 5, 2013, Chris Wood became extremely ill from food poisoning he contracted at a Fourth of July picnic. But in addition to the normal, highly unpleasant symptoms, Chris’s joints were so swollen he could hardly stand, walk or write.

Last December, Sonja Coomes began feeling pain and numbness in her left side. She visited her physician who couldn’t determine her illness and told her to call if it got worse. When her symptoms continued, she was sent to the emergency room at Harborview Medical Center.

Robert Vernon, PhD, a research associate member at BRI, and his team are pioneers in the development of engineered replacements for tissues and organs lost through disease or trauma.

The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is growing, affecting greater numbers of people in more countries worldwide. Inflammatory bowel disease includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Benaroya Research Institute sincerely thanks the Rasmuson Foundation of Anchorage, Alaska, for providing a $1 million grant to bring education and access to clinical trials to Alaskans suffering from autoimmune diseases, cancer and many other conditions.

One of the nation’s greatest research treasures was developed at Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) and is being enhanced every day. The treasure is more than 100,000 blood and tissue samples contained within huge freezers.