Dennis A. Ausiello, M.D.
Physician-in-Chief, Massachusetts General Hospital
Dennis A. Ausiello, MD is the Jackson Professor of Clinical Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Physician-in-Chief of the Medical Service at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College and his
medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He has made a substantial contribution to knowledge of epithelial biology in the areas of membrane protein trafficking, ion channel regulation and signal transduction. He has published more than one hundred
papers, book chapters, and textbooks and currently serves as the co-editor of Cecil's Textbook of Medicine (Elsevier), now in its 22nd edition.
A nationally recognized leader in academic medicine, Dr. Ausiello was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science in 1999 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003. He has written for the New York Times, the
Wall Street Journal, and the Boston Globe.
Dr. Ausiello served as Chief of the MGH Renal Unit for 13 years and oversaw its development into one of the most sought after research and training programs in the world. As Physician-in-Chief of the Medical Service at Massachusetts General
Hospital, a position he has held since 1996, he leads one of the strongest Departments
of Medicine in the country. He is closely involved with the Partners HealthCare
System, linking the resources of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and
Women’s Hospital, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to provide comprehensive health
care. He oversees the training of more than 150 house officers, 500 graduate students
and post-doctoral fellows, and dozens of students at Harvard Medical School, many
of whom have gone on to careers as physician-scientists. Dr. Ausiello was also Director
of the MD/PhD Program at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology until 1999. He served for three years as Chairman of the Executive
Committee on Research of the Massachusetts General Hospital where he oversaw a research
budget of 300 million dollars annually.
David A. Brenner, M.D.
Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences, Dean - UCSD School of Medicine
David Brenner, M.D. a distinguished physician-scientist, is Vice Chancellor for
Health Sciences and Dean of the school of Medicine at the University of California,
San Diego, since February 1, 2007. In this role, Dr. Brenner leads the UC
San Diego School of Medicine, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences,
UCSD Medical Center and UCSD Medical Group.
He was recruited to UC San Diego from the Columbia University Medical Center College
of Physicians and Surgeons, where from 2003-2007 he was Samuel Bard Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine, a Member of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive
Cancer Center, a Member of the Columbia University Institute of Nutrition, and Physician-in-Chief
of New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia.
He earned his M.D. from the Yale University School of Medicine. After completing
his residency at Yale-New Haven Medical Center, he served as a research associate
in the Genetics and Biochemistry Branch of the National Institute of Arthritis,
Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. Dr.
Brenner first joined UC San Diego in 1985 as a Gastroenterology Fellow, later joining
the medical school faculty, and serving as a physician at the Veterans Affairs San
Diego Healthcare System. In 1993 he became Professor
and Chief of the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dr. Brenner is a leader in the field of gastroenterolocial research, specializing in diseases of the liver.
For five years he was Editor-in-Chief of Gastroenterology,
the premier journal in the field. The overall theme of his research has been the translation of basic molecular biological principles to the molecular pathophysiology of liver diseases. Over his 15 years as an independent investigator, Dr. Brenner's research has developed into three general areas: the molecular defect in protoporphyria, intracellular signaling in hepatic proliferation and apoptosis, and hepatic fibrosis.
Richard Bucala, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine, Pathology, Epidemiology and Public Health - Yale University School of Medicine
Richard Bucala, M.D., Ph.D., received his B.S. and M.S. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University. He then pursued a combined M.D./Ph.D. program at Rockefeller University and Cornell Medical College. After additional post-doctoral work in Molecular Biology at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, Dr. Bucala trained in Internal Medicine at the Brigham and Women's and Harvard Medical School. In 1986, he returned to the Rockefeller University as a Research Associate and underwent sub-specialty training in Rheumatology at the Hospital for Special Surgery. He is presently Professor of Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine where he directs an international research laboratory, teaches, and practices rheumatology. Dr. Bucala discovered the fibrocyte and defined the properties of these cells in the host response. Current research interests include the role of innate immunity in infection and autoimmunity, the mechanism of action and immunogenetics of the cytokine MIF, and the pathogensis of idiopathic fibrosing disorders.
Jeremy S. Duffield, M.D., PH.d.
Assistant Professor of Medicine - Harvard Medical School, Associate Physician - Brigham & Women's Hospital
Jeremy Duffield MD, PhD, joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School and the Renal Division of Brigham & Women’s Hospital in 2006, and became a member of the Harvard University Committee of Immunology in 2007. Jeremy received his undergraduate degree, majoring in Developmental Biology, in 1989 and his MD from Oxford University in 1992. He trained in Internal Medicine at Edinburgh University and completed his PhD in Macrophage Biology in 2000. He completed subspecialty training in Nephrology in the UK then worked at Harvard Medical School until 2006, studying the role of macrophages in inflammation and fibrosis. He directs an international research laboratory focused on functions of macrophages and mechanisms of action, teaches, and practices nephrology. Dr. Duffield has established a key role for macrophages in both the development of fibrosis and normal resolution of fibrosis. Current research interests include defining functional subpopulations of macrophages in kidney inflammation and repair, WNT signaling in inflammation and fibrosis, molecular mechanisms of phagocytosis in tissue repair.
Jack A. Elias, M.D.
Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Medicine, Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine - Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine
Jack Elias, M.D., currently the Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, was named Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, effective October 1, 2006. Dr. Elias received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and was an intern and resident at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston. He returned to Penn as a senior resident and completed fellowships there in both Allergy and Immunology and in Pulmonary Medicine. Dr. Elias came to Yale in 1990 as Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, Allergy and Immunology and Critical Care Medicine. He has established an international reputation for pioneering work on asthma, COPD and pulmonary fibrosis.
Richard H. Gomer, Ph.D.
Professor - Rice University, Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Richard Gomer, Ph.D., received a B.A. degree in Physics from Pomona College and a Ph.D. in Biology from the California Institute of Technology. He did postdoctoral work at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Gomer joined the Rice University faculty in 1988 and was a HHMI investigator there for 15 years. Currently, he is a Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Rice University. His research accomplishments include finding that a cell-cycle dependent musical chairs mechanism regulates initial cell-type choice in Dictyostelium development, identifying and purifying several eukaryotic cell-density (quorum) sensing factors, developing shotgun antisense as a genetic tool, and elucidating the physics and biochemistry of a morphogenetic rearrangement in Dictyostelium. He also has designed and built detector and data systems for astrophysics research. A chance meeting with Darrell Pilling led to the discovery of the regulatory mechanisms of fibrocyte differentiation and their role in fibrotic pathology.
Victor Kotelianski, M.D., Ph.D.
Vice President of Research - Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
Victor Kotelianski, M.D., Ph.D., joined Alnylam in April 2003. Dr. Kotelianski was formerly Distinguished Investigator, Director of Biological Research at Biogen, Inc., where he worked since 1994. At Biogen, he played a leadership role in the development of the pre-clinical pipeline. In his prior experience, he served as Director of Research, Institut National de la Sante et de la Reserche Medicale (INSERM) in Paris, France, and was a leading research scientist at the Academy of Medical Sciences in Moscow. Dr. Kotelianski is an author on over 150 publications. He received his Ph.D. in molecular biology from National Academy of Sciences in Moscow and his M.D. from Uzhgorod University Medical School.
Darrell Pilling, Ph.D.
Faculty Fellow - Rice University, Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Darrell Pilling, Ph.D., received his Ph.D. from the Department of Rheumatology at the University of Birmingham in England. His thesis focused on immunological memory and surface markers expressed on T cells that were able to distinguish naive T cells, T cells that were recently activated, and long-term memory T cells. During his post-doctoral training as an ARC Research Fellow at Birmingham University, Dr. Pilling was able to identify that type I interferon secreted by fibroblasts prevents leukocytes from dying in the joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. His research interests are focused on the basis of leukocyte accumulation and retention at sites of inflammation and fibrosis, and in particular the role of fibrocytes. In collaboration with Richard Gomer, Ph.D., (Rice U) they identified proteins that inhibit fibrocyte differentiation in vitro, and fibrosis in vivo.
Marshall R. Posner, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine - Harvard Medical School, Medical Director of Head & Neck Oncology Program - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Director of Human Monoclonal Antibody Lab - Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Marshall Posner, M.D., received his M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine, and completed
his internship and residency in internal medicine at Boston City Hospital followed by an oncology fellowship at DFCI. In 1991 he joined Harvard Medical School and New England Deaconess Hospital. Later, he became Medical Director of the Head and Neck Oncology Program at DFCI, where he conducts clinical and basic research in head and neck cancer and in immunology. He also serves on the active staff of
the Division of Adult Oncology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and
the Department of Adult Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Dr. Posner is a current or past member of the editorial boards of several journals, including
the Journal of Clinical Oncology, American Journal of Clinical Oncology,
Oral Oncology, The Oncologist, and
Head and Neck. Dr. Posner is a member of the National Institutes of Health
Review Committees for the NIH Inter-Institute Program and the Specialized Programs
of Research Excellence in Human Cancer, Head & Neck Cancer, and of the National
Cancer Institute's Special Emphasis Panel for phase II contracts. He has published
over 165 peer-reviewed basic laboratory and clinical studies, as well as multiple
reviews and abstracts. He holds patents for Human Monoclonal Antibodies to
viral and bacterial antigens.
Dr. Posner has been Principal Investigator on numerous clinical and translational
research trials as well as multiple Phase I and II trials. He has been Principal
Investigator on International Phase III trials in head and neck cancer and has reported
on antibody based immunotherapy in pemphigus and HIV.