Grant Allows UCLA to Launch Autoimmunity Center to Find Cures

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $3.4 million grant to help establish a new Autoimmunity Center of Excellence at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The center will study the mechanisms that cause autoimmunity, which occurs when the body’s defense system turns against tissues in its own body, and identify potential cures. Specifically, it will focus on hormone-related (endocrine) autoimmune disorders such as type 1 diabetes.

“We have medicines for these types of autoimmune conditions, but they fail to address the root of the problem,” said microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics professor Maureen Su, MD, who is also a practicing pediatric endocrinologist at UCLA. “For example, we treat type 1 diabetes with insulin in the clinic, but the primary problem is the immune system. Right now, we replace the insulin that is missing, but we don’t fix the immune system’s constant damage to the insulin-producing tissues. Without these insulin-producing tissues, blood sugars can be very difficult to keep in control, despite treatment with insulin as a medicine. Rather than just BandAiding the problem, we aim to fix the actual autoimmune problem.”

Seeking targets for cures, the new center will house three main projects, each focused on a particular research question:

1) How is long-term autoimmune disease established? While some autoimmune conditions resolve over time, others establish themselves more firmly. This project will be led by Manish Butte, MD, a UCLA professor of pediatrics and chief in the division of immunology, allergy and rheumatology.

2) How do cancer immunotherapies cause autoimmune disorders? Some immunotherapies used to fight cancer seem to cause autoimmune disorders. How does this happen? Melissa Lechner, MD, a UCLA assistant professor of medicine in the division of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism, will be leading this project.

3) What are the mechanisms that create sex differences in endocrine autoimmune disorders? This project, funded by the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health, will be led by Su Willy Hugo, PhD, an adjunct assistant professor in the UCLA Department of Medicine, who will lead data analysis for the center.