Alessandra B. Pernis, MD  Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS),
New York, NY  2006 Gender Matters  Alessandra B. Pernis, MDThere
has long been speculation as to why females are so much more
likely than males to get lupus, with nine women for every one
male being affected.  With her LRI grant, Dr. Pernis set out to
investigate the mechanisms by which the female sex steroid,
estrogen, controls the expression of a new molecule that her
laboratory was among the first to identify: IBP.  According to
preliminary findings, IBP is critical for the function of the T
cells that inappropriately regulate and activate the immune
system in lupus. Mice deficient in IBP develop a lupus-like
syndrome that, like lupus in humans, affects many more females
than males.  Discovery: A Key Mechanism in the Cause and
Development of Autoimmunity  In a key 2008 Immunity article, Dr.
Pernis and colleagues highlight just how critical the role of
the IBP protein is in preventing a sequence of reactions that
leads to inflammation and autoimm