Faculty & Scientific Staff
Gerald Nepom, MD, PhD
Background Information
Dr. Nepom received his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Harvard University in 1972 and earned both a Ph.D. in biochemistry (1977) and an M.D. (1978) from the University of Washington. After completing postdoctoral work in immunogenetics in the Department of Pathology at Harvard Medical School, he returned to Seattle in 1982, joining the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington School of Medicine faculty. He became a Member of the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) in 1985 and served as its director from 1985 to 2015. Dr. Nepom also served as Director of the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN), sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from 2010 to 2022. He is currently an Emeritus Faculty Member of BRI and a senior advisor to ITN.
Area Of Research
Dr. Nepom's interests are focused on identifying and understanding molecular and genetic mechanisms contributing to pathogenesis of autoimmune disorders and using this information to evaluate autoreactive T cell lineage and fate determination. Translational and clinical applications include development and use of immunological monitoring tools for predicting disease susceptibility and response to therapy in clinical trials, with special emphasis on type 1 diabetes.
Featured Publications
Evolving Concepts in Pathophysiology, Screening, and Prevention of Type 1 Diabetes: Report of Diabetes Mellitus Interagency Coordinating Committee Workshop.
Diabetes
Breakdown and Repair of Peripheral Immune Tolerance in Type 1 Diabetes.
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med
Regulatory T cells use heparanase to access IL-2 bound to extracellular matrix in inflamed tissue.
Nat Commun
A first-in-human, open-label Phase 1b and a randomised, double-blind Phase 2a clinical trial in recent-onset type 1 diabetes with AG019 as monotherapy and in combination with teplizumab.
Diabetologia
Proinflammatory islet antigen reactive CD4 T cells are linked with response to alefacept in type 1 diabetes.
JCI Insight
Progress Against Peanut Allergies
One question inspired Erik Wambre, PhD, to dedicate his career to allergy research. “Why can most people eat peanuts without a problem, but some people have a serious reaction to just a small amount?” he says. “What makes one person allergic and not another?”
Hope for MS Powers Support for BRI
Debra Smith first learned about BRI when a friend invited her to the Boeing Classic Golf Tournament in the early 2010s. BRI’s work became personal when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2013.
Volunteering in a COVID-19 Vaccine Trial: BRI Team Members Share Their Experience
Without clinical research participants, we might not have groundbreaking cancer treatments like immunotherapy or vaccines for polio, rubella and other life-threatening diseases.
News
Science in Seattle: A first-in-human, open-label Phase 1b and a randomised, double-blind Phase 2a clinical trial in recent-onset type 1 diabetes with AG019 as monotherapy and in combination with teplizumab
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Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason Receives Second 7-Year Award from the National Institutes of Health to Lead the Immune Tolerance Network
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