Autoimmune Life Blog

Some people go the extra mile for their favorite cause.

Dr. Gerald (Jerry) Nepom, who founded BRI’s Diabetes Research Program in the 1980’s, and who led BRI’s growth as a world-class research institute for 3 decades, now devotes his time to a laser-focused effort on getting experimental therapies to patients.

While on a family vacation in Thailand, eight-year-old Ryan was helping his mother crush peanuts - a key Thai cuisine ingredient – when he started to feel itchy and his throat began to swell. Soon, he was having trouble breathing, and his mother rushed off in search of an epi pen.

BRI has made game-changing discoveries and significantly expanded our research and funding in recent years.

When her son was born with Down syndrome (DS) in 2002, Rebecca Partridge, MD, couldn’t find a pediatrician to provide specialized care. So she did what any pediatrician mother would do: She started the Seattle area’s first DS clinic.

In 2017, Eric Wambre, PhD, announced he had identified a cell, called TH2A, that appears to cause all allergies – and dozens of media outlets hailed the discovery’s potential to transform diagnosis and treatment.

When type 1 diabetes (T1D) strikes, it impacts the whole family in every way imaginable, day and night, forever. For siblings, the changes that come when a sister or brother is diagnosed with T1D hit like an earthquake, sudden and seismic.

Winter is coming, brace yourself. While for many this means singing carols and enjoying the holiday lights, for those living with autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and lupus, it can mean a flurry of concerns.

Between accommodating visiting relatives, mountains of tempting food, and hours of time spent cooking and shopping, the holidays can be overwhelming for those living with an autoimmune disease.

In the past few years, Elisa Boden, MD, has seen more and more patients with celiac disease. The disease strikes when the immune system mistakes gluten—a mixture of proteins found in wheat and other grains—as an enemy and attacks the small intestine.