Autoimmune Life Blog

This research update is on a variety of studies that BRI is conducting or collaborating on with other institutions. They are tackling various scientific and immunologic questions that explore innovative ways to fight MS from the lab to clinical studies.

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) is relatively small compared to large research universities, but its impact goes well beyond its size and location, accelerating scientific discovery globally.

In the early 1980s, the leadership team at Virginia Mason made the important decision to establish a biomedical research center focused on immunology. Immunology at that time was an emerging field, anticipating a future era of medical applications.

Researchers at BRI have used cutting-edge tetramer technology developed at BRI to find the T cells that drive rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects more than a million people worldwide including 15,000 in the Northwest. It affects women twice as often as men. MS is the most common medical cause of neurological disability in young adults ages 20-40. Usually MS happens in multiple attacks.

The estate of Leonard and Majorie Wright of Mukilteo, Wash., recently bequeathed $2.5 million to Benaroya Research Institute for translational research. Marjorie Wright died in 2013 and Leonard Wright passed away in 2007. They were both patients at Virginia Mason Medical Center.

One of the nation’s greatest research treasures was developed at Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) and is being enhanced every day. The treasure is more than 100,000 blood and tissue samples contained within huge freezers.