Autoimmune Life Blog

Learn the backstory of a discovery that changed our understanding of the immune system and earned a Nobel Prize from Steven Ziegler, PhD.

Learn how research led by Jane Buckner, MD, is bringing regulatory T cell-based therapies closer to clinical trials.

Learn more about how his time at BRI helped shape 2025 Rhodes Scholar Shubham Bansal.

Learn how CRISPR-Cas9-based genome engineering using adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors is helping BRI scientists make breakthroughs to study human T cells and explore new treatments for type 1 diabetes, as well as  develop preclinical models to study T cells and B cell

For more than 20 years, Steven Ziegler, PhD, has wondered if an altered version of a protein might play a key role in autoimmune diseases. Now, he finally has the tools to investigate further – and his work could lead to key insights about how and why lupus happens.

BRI’s Buckner Lab has been pioneering an innovative approach that turns cells that cause T1D into cells that protect you from T1D. Now, new research from Soo Jung Yang, PhD, and Ritika Tewari, PhD, shows this strategy may help treat other autoimmune diseases too.

Learn how lab-grown human beta cells are helping Eddie James, PhD, and other BRI researchers answer important questions in type 1 diabetes. 

Read exciting updates and learn what’s on the horizon for 2025 from BRI President Jane Buckner, MD.

Dr. Smithmyer is a staff scientist at Benaroya Research Institute (BRI) in the Center for Interventional Immunology. She has kindly agreed to speak with us about what the BRIDge Biorepository is and its importance to the work that scientists like her do in the realm of type 1 diabetes.

Read about BRI’s effort, led by Cate Speake, PhD, and Jane Buckner, MD, to better understand the role environmental factors play in autoimmune disease.