A prominent immunologist, Estelle Bettelli, PhD, joined the faculty at Benaroya Research Institute in September, starting a new laboratory within BRI’s Immunology Program. The Bettelli Laboratory will explore fundamental immunobiology and autoimmunity mechanisms, extending her current work on the basic science aspects of multiple sclerosis (MS). Dr. Bettelli brings several current projects with her, and will also be contributing to BRI's new Program for Autoimmune Disease Intervention initiated with a grant from the Washington State Life Sciences Discovery Fund. Dr. Bettelli joins the faculty of BRI as an Assistant Member and will also receive an Affiliate appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Washington.

Dr. Bettelli has dedicated most of her career to understanding the immunological mechanisms leading to the development of MS and to developing better system models of MS to further define the different forms of the disease. She hopes to translate her basic research into safer and better therapies for MS.

Formerly, Dr. Bettelli was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston. She grew up in Paris and received her BS in Cellular Biology from the University Pierre et Marie Currie (Paris 6) in 1995 and her PhD in Immunology/Hematology from the University Denis Diderot (Paris 7) in 2001. Following a postdoctoral fellowship with Vijay Kuchroo, in the Department of Neurology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, she served as an instructor for the department.

Dr. Bettelli has made several significant advancements in MS research. "It is now generally accepted that MS is an autoimmune disease in which autoimmune T cells (and perhaps B cells) recognize and attack components of the central nervous system such as myelin (the fatty sheath that surrounds and insulates nerve fibers)," she explains. "For more than a decade only two types of Thelper (Th) lymphocytes were thought to exist, Th1 and Th2 cells. What I have discovered, together with my colleagues and simultaneously with other groups, is the pathways that lead to the development of a third subset of T cells, Th17 cells, which we believe are potent inducers of MS and other autoimmune diseases. It is important to know how and when these Th17 cells are formed in the body to determine how to inhibit their harmful function.

"Previously, I had also worked on developing new system models to study different forms of multiple sclerosis. It is becoming clear that MS is not a unique disease entity but can present itself in different clinical forms and variants. Several factors, including the cell types involved, are believed to dictate the clinical progression of MS. I have developed system models which can recapitulate different forms of MS in order to understand how the different arms of the immune system influence disease development and progression. The understanding of how and which cell populations of the immune system participate in the autoimmune attack is very important for the use of current treatments and the design of new therapeutics tailored to the different forms of MS. These models were made available to the whole scientific community, which uses them in different aspects of MS research."

Dr. Bettelli was attracted to BRI "because it is an institute with strong basic research in immunology combined with major translational research and clinical trials for autoimmune diseases. In my opinion, this combination is essential to finding cures for autoimmune diseases such as MS. My hope and desire is to be able to actively collaborate with scientists at BRI. I am particularly interested in expanding my basic research findings and discoveries into translational research to help improve the quality of life of MS patients. Therefore, I am looking forward to establishing collaborative work with BRI Clinical Investigator, Dr. Mariko Kita, and others, to determine whether some of our basic observations can rapidly lead to the development of new therapeutics for MS."