all Laurie Glimcher stories

Hundred million dollar gift to launch innovative search for AIDS vaccine

404132862 — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:22:57 -0500

Harvard Medical School professor Bruce Walker, M.D. has been selected as the founding director of a unique new $100 million effort to finally develop a vaccine that can halt the global HIV/AIDS pandemic which, if it continues unchecked, is predicted to claim an additional 70 million lives by 2020.

Previously unknown regulator of fat and cholesterol production discovered in mice

404132862 — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:13:03 -0400

Researchers have discovered an unknown regulator of fat and cholesterol production in the liver of mice, a significant finding that could eventually lead to new therapies for lowering unhealthy blood levels of cholesterol and fats.

The team led by scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) showed how this might work in an animal model, demonstrating that turning off the regulatory molecule — known as XBP1 — dramatically reduced blood levels of cholesterol and triglyceride fats. Importantly, there were no apparent adverse effects on the liver.

Cancer drug activates adult stem cells

404132862 — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:35:29 -0500

The use of a drug used in cancer treatment activates stem cells that differentiate into bone appears to cause regeneration of bone tissue and be may be a potential treatment strategy for osteoporosis, according to a report in the February 2008 Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Mouse model devised that develops asthma

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:18:44 -0400

A Harvard research team led by Laurie Glimcher, Irene Heinz Given professor of immunology at the Harvard School of Public Health and a Harvard Medical School professor of medicine, two years ago discovered a molecule that they named T-bet. T-bet seemed to help control the immune system response by determining the actions of helper T cells, which are orchestrators of the immune response to disease. Glimcher's team studied mice that were engineered to lack T-bet. The mice, they found, had an uneven immune system response. Furthermore, the mice spontaneously developed the symptoms of asthma. The finding by Glimcher and her team helps to prove the case for T-bet as an important therapeutic target in several diseases, and also provides a new model for studying asthma.