Ilana Brito is one of 16 accomplished scientists named today in The Pew Charitable Trusts’ 2024 class of Innovation Fund investigators. These researchers with expertise in microbiology, immunology, bioengineering, and more, are teaming up to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing human health.
Brito will partner with Gabriel Victora, Ph.D., of The Rockefeller University to examine interactions between gut microbiota and intestinal immune cells. They’ll explore this by way of germinal centers—environments where specific immune cells, called B cells, produce powerful, infection-fighting antibodies. The pair will investigate antibody development and the specific bacterial antigens that generate these antibodies, which can successfully regulate the intestine’s microbial balance. Their work will help identify which bacteria are key players in gastrointestinal disorders when this balance is disrupted.
The digestive tract is home to a constellation of microbes known as the gut microbiome, and research has increasingly shown just how critical this array of organisms is to a person’s well-being. The gut microbiome is responsible for recognizing beneficial microbes and fighting off harmful ones, and it affects everything from mood and weight to energy and immune function.
Collaboration is essential to scientific innovation. Many of the vital treatments, therapies, and vaccines available today have resulted from researchers around the world combining their efforts in pursuit of discovery. In 2017, Pew launched the Innovation Fund to support this type of scientific collaboration among alumni of its biomedical programs in the United States and Latin America.
More at Pew website: As Partners in Cutting-Edge Biomedical Research, Pew-Supported Scientists Seek Answers
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