Yale School of Medicine receives $10 million grant to launch inflammation research initiative

Yale School of Medicine has received a $10 million grant from the Blavatnik Family Foundation to launch a new research initiative in inflammation science. The funding will support research into the role inflammation plays in human health and disease. It will also pay for graduate and postdoctoral fellowships.

Ruslan Medzhitov, Sterling Professor of Immunobiology, will serve as the initiative’s director. He will be joined in leadership by Noah Palm, professor of immunobiology; Liza Konnikova, associate professor of pediatrics and of immunobiology; and Akiko Iwasaki, Sterling Professor of Immunobiology. Their work covers the microbiome and immune health, early-life immunity, and how viruses, including the one that causes COVID-19, can permanently alter the immune system.

Inflammation is now understood to be a factor in nearly every major human illness, including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune disorders, and neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. An estimated 23.5 million people in the United States are affected. Inflammatory diseases occur when the immune system mistakenly damages healthy tissue, leading to chronic inflammation that can affect almost any organ or system in the body.

Rather than studying inflammation only as a byproduct of specific diseases, Yale researchers will examine it as a subject in its own right. The initiative will bring together experts in cell biology, physiology, neuroscience, and genetics. Their research will focus on how infection, environmental factors, and the microbiome influence the immune system and trigger inflammatory responses that affect everything from fetal development to brain health.

“This grant will fund our newest efforts to map the cellular and molecular conduits linking the gut and the brain, including studies focused on understanding how small molecules produced by our microbiome influence immune responses in distal tissues,” Palm said. Medzhitov said philanthropic support enables the kind of creative, high-risk research that is often constrained by the rigid structure of federal funding.

The grant also establishes the Blavatnik Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellows program, which will create a pipeline of talent dedicated to inflammation science. “This grant will not only allow us to explore bold new ideas in inflammation biology but will also be instrumental in attracting the next generation of research talent to Yale,” Medzhitov said.

The Blavatnik Family Foundation has supported biomedical innovation at Yale for more than a decade. Its ongoing support for inflammation science has already enabled advances, from uncovering the basic principles that control inflammation to understanding the interactions between the gut, the immune system, and the brain. “Yale School of Medicine’s exceptional scientists are uniquely positioned to break new ground in inflammation science,” said Len Blavatnik, founder of the foundation. “We are proud to support their efforts and promote new and integrated research for improved health.”

“We are grateful for the Blavatnik Family Foundation’s vision and generosity,” said Nancy J. Brown, the Jean and David W. Wallace Dean of Yale School of Medicine.

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Yale School of Medicine receives $10 million grant to launch inflammation research initiative