School Notes: School of Medicine
January/February 2010

Yale scientists reveal how the body mobilizes to fight infection

In a study that sheds light on the inner workings of the immune system, a Yale-led team of researchers has revealed hidden details of how CD4+ T helper cells mobilize the body’s immune system to fight infection. T helper cells are needed in order to generate the white blood cells that kill virus-infected cells. But the Yale scientists showed that, even at their strongest, those white blood cells need assistance to actually enter the infected tissue. Studying mice infected with Herpes Simplex Virus 2, the scientists found that CD4+ T helper cells secreted a cell-signaling protein that accelerated the recruitment of killer cells to the site of the infection and allowed them to enter the infected tissue to launch their battle. According to lead author Akiko Iwasaki, associate professor of immunobiology, “Our research could help design new cancer treatment methods that enable killer cells to enter the tumor mass and destroy it.” The research, which appears in Nature, may also help prevent the unwanted migration of killer cells that harm healthy organs in cases of autoimmune disease.

Symposium celebrates interdisciplinary science

The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Institute for Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences held its inaugural symposium on October 16 at West Campus. The day-long event honored both the gift by the Sacklers that helped establish the institute, and the arrival of the first class of graduate students in the Integrated Graduate Program in Physical and Engineering Biology. The institute is dedicated to promoting research that bridges the gaps between traditional scientific fields. The symposium featured talks by internationally renowned scientists from diverse fields, including Columbia University’s Martin Chalfie, who shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the green fluorescent protein (GFP).

Professor honored for her influence on women’s health research

Sex and gender are among the most important variables in understanding biology and behavior, and yet women were generally not included in clinical research trials until recent years, notes Carolyn M. Mazure, professor of psychiatry and associate dean for faculty affairs. On October 29, Mazure was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, in honor of both her vision in creating the Women’s Health Research at Yale (WHRY) program and her influence on biomedical research and health care. Mazure founded WHRY in 1998 on the premise that understanding gender differences is vitally important to the health of both women and men. The program is dedicated to exploring the wide range of conditions that are more prevalent in women or for which the causes, treatment, and prevention have gender-specific differences.