BREHM COALITION - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Chairman Emeritus
• Member of the Leadership Team

Bill is Chairman Emeritus of SRA, International, a company that he helped found in 1978. He is also trustee and former board chair of the CNA Corporation of Alexandria, Virginia: and trustee and former board chair of the Fuller Theological Seminary of Pasadena, California, an institution with 5,500 graduate students representing 80 countries and 120 denominations. Bill and Dee reside in McLean, Virginia. In 1964, following twelve years in advanced systems engineering in the California aerospace industry, Bill joined the staff of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara as director of Army and Marine Corps land forces programs. In 1968 President Johnson appointed him assistant secretary of the Army; he was reappointed by President Nixon in 1969 and served until December 1970. He then returned to industry as vice president for corporate development at Dart Industries, a consumer products company with headquarters in Los Angeles. Bill was recalled to public service in 1973 by President Nixon who appointed him assistant defense secretary to oversee the transition from the military draft to the volunteer force. He served to the conclusion of the Ford administration in 1977, the last year as assistant secretary for legislative affairs. During his ten years of government service Bill served five secretaries of defense and three presidents. He was presented with the distinguished public service award three times. Following his second government tour Bill joined the Computer Network Corporation in Washington DC as a director and executive vice president. During this time he also served as a Defense Department consultant, and directed policy-level evaluations of a series of DoD crisis-management exercises that began in 1978. In 1981-82, he led a team assigned by the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, to develop a plan for reforming the JCS organization and its military operations planning and execution process. His JCS reform recommendations were adopted by the Congress and codified in the legislation known as Goldwater-Nichols 1986. Bill is a 1947 graduate of the Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan. He studied at the University of Michigan, earning a B.S. with honors in 1950 and an M.S. in 1952, majoring in mathematics and physics. Bill has a deep interest in music and is a published composer and lyricist. In addition to their work with the University of Michigan and the Brehm Coalition, Bill and Dee devote time to the Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, & the Arts that they founded at Fuller Theological Seminary in 1999. They also support undergraduate and graduate students who have demonstrated outstanding scholarship and leadership with full-tuition scholarship programs at the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, and Fuller Seminary.

Job Titles:

• Leader
• VP of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disease

Dr. Christopher Rhodes, Ph.D., is the VP for Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disease Research at MedImmune(link is external). Chris is a renowned leader in the field of diabetes and obesity research, with a career spanning over three decades, more than 100 published manuscripts, industry and academic leadership roles at top institutions that include Harvard Medical School and the Joslin Diabetes Center. Chris is also Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, Kovler Diabetes Center. Chris' research journey began in 1984 when he received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of London. Soon after, he was quickly established as a pioneering force in the field of diabetes research-beginning with postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard Medical School, the Joslin Diabetes Center and the University of Cambridge and following with academic appointments and industry roles among some of the most venerated institutions in the US and the UK. Chris' diabetes research has centered on the molecular mechanisms of insulin production and secretion, as well as signal transduction pathways that control pancreatic beta-cells growth and death in relation to the pathogenesis of diabetes. His work has earned him numerous awards and honors, as well as research funding from esteemed organizations such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, American Diabetes Association and the National Institutes of Health. He also was a member of the National Institutes of Health Endocrinology and CADO Study Sections, an associate editor for Diabetes, the journal of the American Diabetes Association, a reviewer for multiple other peer-reviewed journals and is a frequent visiting professor and lecturer. In 2015, Christopher joined MedImmune as the VP of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disease (CVMD) Research. In this role, he's responsible for developing and growing the CVMD research base in the US and the UK, as well as contributing to the product development goals and vision across the CVMD therapeutic area. His research continues to focus on the molecular pathogenesis of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, as well as the regulation of biosynthesis and production of polypeptide hormones; signal transduction mechanisms for insulin sensitivity; and novel pharmacological biologic targets for the treatment of obesity and diabetes. Learn more about Dr. Rhodes at MedImmune(link is external)

Job Titles:

• Member of the Emeritus

Job Titles:

• Manager
• Member of the Leadership Team

Dorene Markel serves as the Brehm Coalition Manager as part of her role as Director of the Brehm Center at Michigan Medicine, which is focused on transforming the way research and collaborations are undertaken using a systems analysis approach and utilizing diabetes as a platform. She is the coordinator of the Brehm Coalition, a "dream team" of 12 senior scientists in type 1 diabetes research from 11 institutions. Ms. Markel holds a faculty appointment in the Medical School's Department of Learning Health Sciences and is playing a key role in initiating a Learning Health System approach to diabetes care at UMHS. Her interests include topics in ethics related to ethical issues in genetics, research and learning health systems. She also serves as a coordinator and mentor to the Brehm Scholarship programs for undergraduates and medical students at the university (about 32 students per year). Ms. Markel has been on staff at the University of Michigan Medical School since 1984 and has held leadership roles in growing the clinical and translational research enterprise at Michigan Medicine. She served as the Associate Director for Alliances and Collaborations for the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR) home of UM's NIH-CTSA grant, as the Director of Clinical and Translational Research at the University of Michigan Medical School and as the founding Managing Director of MICHR. She also played a key role in the development of the NIH Human Genome Center at the University of Michigan (Dr. Francis Collins, Center Director, who is now Director of NIH) where she served as the Director of Human and Family Studies. Ms. Markel was the first Genetic Counselor to be employed by Michigan Medicine, and among the first nationally to specialize in neurogenetic conditions. Ms. Markel received a Master's Degree in Human Genetics, specializing in genetic counseling, from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1983 and a Master's Degree is Health Services Administration from the University of Michigan School of Public Health in 1991.

Dr. Andrew Stewart's research focuses on understanding and developing novel means for inducing the replication and regeneration of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. As Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Dr. Stewart and his research team were the first to demonstrate that adult human beta cells could be induced to replicate at substantial rates. Three long-time colleagues from that group are joining him: Donald K. Scott, PhD; Adolfo García-Ocaña, PhD; and Rupangi Chhaya Vasavada, PhD, as Professors in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease, and as members of the Institute. Dr. Stewart, who has also been named Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology, Diabetes & Bone Diseases) will oversee the continued expansion of the Institute through the recruitment of additional researchers. Dr. Stewart has devoted more than 30 years to patient care and scientific research, and received numerous honors, including the prestigious Aurbach award of The Endocrine Society, and also served as Program Chair for the American Diabetes Association Annual Scientific Sessions in 2010 and 2012. He has published more than 230 clinical and scientific papers in journals including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, The New England Journal of Medicine, and Science. He received his bachelor's degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and his MD from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York. He served as a fellow in Endocrinology and Metabolism and faculty member at Yale University School of Medicine in Connecticut, and later as Chief of the Division of Endocrinology at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Stewart currently has strong funding support from the National Institutes of Health, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and other agencies. Read about Dr. Stewart's research on the Inside Mount Sinai blog(link is external). Stewart Laboratory(link is external)

Kevan Herold, M.D., is Professor of Immunology and Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Professor of Human and Translational Immunology at Yale University(link is external). Dr. Kevan Herold graduated from Pennsylvania State University and Jefferson Medical College. He completed his residency at Temple University. His extensive career includes a Fellowship at the University of Chicago, Staff Scientist at Hagedeforn Laboratory in Denmark, and Scientific Director of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In addition to several attending physician appointments specializing in diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism, Dr. Herold's faculty appointments include the University of Chicago, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Columbia University prior to coming to Yale University School of Medicine in 2006. Dr. Herold's laboratory and clinical studies are focused on identifying the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes and developing approaches to treat and prevent the disease in humans. His studies are based on preclinical studies of the mechanisms of beta cell destruction in animal models and studies that suggested that immunologic tolerance may be induced by treatment with monoclonal antibodies against T-cells, such as anti-CD3 antibody. Based on these studies and with the collaboration of Dr. Jeffrey Bluestone, Dr. Herold's lab carried out the initial clinical studies that showed that a short treatment of patients with new onset type 1 diabetes could attenuate the loss of insulin production during the first two years of the disease and perhaps for longer. They are studying the mechanisms whereby immune mediators can arrest autoimmunity with the hopes of targeting the key factors and molecules that are able to stop autoimmunity. Further studies are ongoing to build on this initial experience to develop additional immune therapeutic approaches that can improve response rates in patients and maintain immune remission for extended periods of time. Dr. Herold has experience in conducting clinical trials with mechanistic studies to test new therapies and hypotheses to understand the basis for success or failures of responses. In addition, Dr. Herold is interested in integrating approaches that would improve beta cell function or even regenerate beta cells that have been destroyed by the immune mechanisms that lead to the disease. He characterized the fate of functional and anatomic beta cell mass in humans with and animal models of type 1 diabetes. He identified proliferation of beta cells as a result of the inflammatory process that causes the disease, which suggests that factors may be identified that can stimulate replication of these cells. Dr. Herold is testing whether beta cell regeneration can be achieved after induction of immune tolerance and are identifying the factors that are responsible for this occurrence. He is in a position to translate findings from these studies to the treatment of patients. Finally, Dr. Herold is interested in combining immunologic approaches with cellular therapies that are able to completely restore normal beta cell mass and function. Dr. Herold is the recipient of numerous awards of recognition including from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the AOA Honor Medical Society and the NIH with over 50 peer-reviewed publications as well as many chapters, reviews and editorials, serving on the editorial boards of the benchmark publications related to his fields of expertise. Currently, he is also the principal investigator on over ten grants. Herold Lab(link is external)

Dr. Megan Levings has been in the UBC Department of Surgery since 2003 when she was recruited back to Canada as a Canada Research Chair in Transplantation. In 2011 she joined the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute where she now heads the Childhood Diseases Research Theme. Dr. Levings' scientific career started with summer research positions in a fruit fly genetics lab at Simon Fraser University. She then did her graduate training in the genetics program with Dr. John Schrader at UBC, during which time she attended her first of many Canadian Society for Immunology meetings and developed a passion for immunology. In 1999 she joined Dr. Maria Grazia Roncarolo's lab in Milan, Italy, undertaking postdoctoral training in the emerging area of immune regulation. She was among the first groups to show that a special kind of white blood cell, known as a T regulatory cell, could be used as a therapy to stop harmful immune responses. She continues this line of research at UBC, and is now internationally recognized in the field of human immunology, chairs the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies Centres' of Excellence and is a member of the NIH Immune Tolerance Network steering committee. Dr. Levings leads a vibrant group of trainees and staff who are researching how to use T regulatory cells to replace conventional immunosuppression in the context of transplantation and autoimmunity. Levings Lab(link is external)

Job Titles:

• Member of the Emeritus

We are sad to note the passing of our friend and colleague, George S. Eisenbarth, M.D., Ph.D., whose invaluable contributions to type 1 diabetes (T1D) research played a significant role in the Brehm Coalition's formation and leadership. George's work simply transformed our understanding of the disease. He passed away November 13, 2012, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Up until his death, Dr. Eisenbarth served as the executive director of the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes and as a professor of pediatrics, medicine, and immunology at the University of Colorado, Denver. He was a founding member of the Brehm Coalition, and we aim to carry on his legacy through our continued efforts to cure T1D.

Job Titles:

• Benaroya Research Institute
• President of the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason

Jane Buckner, M.D., is the President of the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI), the Director of Translational Research at BRI, and affiliate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Buckner received her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Carleton College and medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She completed her residency at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Buckner went on to complete a rheumatology fellowship at the University of Washington. After completing her medical training, Dr. Buckner continued her research training as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Gerald Nepom. Since 1999, Dr. Buckner has been an investigator at the Benaroya Research Institute (BRI). She became the Director of the Translational Research Program at BRI in 2005, was named Associate Director of BRI in January 2012, and was appointed President of BRI in January 2016. Dr. Buckner's research is focused on identifying the underlying the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for the dysregulation of the adaptive immune response in the setting of human autoimmune diseases. Her laboratory is currently addressing the question of how autoreactive T and B cells escape regulation in autoimmune diseases, and the closely related question of whether the development or function of regulatory T cells is impaired in autoimmunity. Her ongoing studies investigating the autoimmune response in type 1 diabetes aim to advance our understanding of the role of T and B cell signaling in the pathogenesis of diabetes, and are influenced by her studies of other autoimmune diseases. Specifically, Dr. Buckner is determining whether islet specific T cells from patients with diabetes are refractory to normal regulatory signals. She is also defining the mechanisms by which cytokine signaling pathways are altered in diabetes, and how this altered signaling affects T cell function. She is also determining the functional and synergistic impact of genetic variants associated with type 1 diabetes on the adaptive immune response. The goal of all of Dr. Buckner's research is to improve the medical care of people with type 1 diabetes by translating findings in her laboratory into the clinic. An example of her translational focus is her work, in collaboration with Jeffrey Bluestone and Kevan Herold, developing islet specific regulatory T cells as a therapeutic approach for type 1 diabetes. In addition, Dr. Buckner was instrumental in establishing the Translational Research Program at the Benaroya Research Institute. As the Director of this program, Dr. Buckner oversees a large repository of biological samples from both healthy individuals and individuals with autoimmune diseases. This biorepository is an invaluable resource for scientists and accelerates their understanding of human autoimmune diseases. Dr. Buckner has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and is funded by the US National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense and JDRF. She serves as chair of the Cooperative Study Group for Autoimmune Disease Prevention of the National Institutes of Health and an active member of the Type 1 TrialNet Biomarker and Mechanisms Panel. Dr. Buckner is also director of the Seattle Centers of Excellence for the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies. Buckner Laboratory(link is external)

Job Titles:

• Member of the Emeritus

Jeffrey Bluestone, M.S., Ph.D., is the Director of the University of California, San Francisco Diabetes Center and the Immune Tolerance Network(link is external) and is AW and Mary Clausen Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. Dr. Bluestone received his undergraduate degree in biology from Rutgers University and a doctorate in immunology from Cornell University. From there he held positions at the National Institute of Health (NIH) and served as the Director of the Ben May Institute for Cancer Research. His research over the past 25 years has focused on understanding the basic processes that control T-cell activation and immune tolerance in autoimmune diabetes and islet transplantation. Specifically, Dr. Bluestone's work has centered on understanding and altering the positive signals delivered by the autoantigen-specific T-cells and secondary, so-called co-stimulatory, signals, or engaging the negative regulatory events that control T-cell activation. He has developed soluble receptor antagonists, monoclonal antibodies and animals deficient in individual members of these pathways to define their individual roles in transplant rejection and autoimmunity. Finally, he studies a specialized subset of T-cells termed "regulatory T-cells" (Treg) that control fundamental aspect of immune homeostasis. The insights gained from these studies help in the development of a new generation of tolerogenic drugs that will "turn off" selected parts of the immune system, leaving the disease-fighting capabilities intact. One specific example has his development, in collaboration with Dr. Kevan Herold, of a novel drug termed anti-CD3 for use in humans in the treatment of autoimmune type 1 diabetes. We have shown that this drug, a monoclonal antibody, can induce T-cells into a state of unresponsiveness that leads to long term T-cell tolerance to pancreatic self-proteins. In human studies, Dr. Bluestone has spearheaded clinical trials with the drug, called teplizumab, in multiple clinical settings including new-onset type 1 diabetes, psoriatic arthritis, and islet and kidney transplantation. In addition, he has created comprehensive research and clinical programs aimed at producing rapid clinical advances in the use of Tregs to block and reverse immunologic diseases. In addition to his fundamental research efforts, Dr. Bluestone has established the UCSF/JDRF Center for Islet Transplantation, a comprehensive research and clinical program aimed at producing rapid clinical advances in islet transplantation. The center combines cutting-edge programs in both immunobiology and transplant biology with established clinical expertise in islet transplantation and monitoring technology. He works closely with Dr. Hebrok and other members of the stem cell community to marry cutting-edge islet cell-specific stem cell biology with novel immunotherapies as a treatment for type 1 diabetes. Finally, Dr. Bluestone directs the Immune Tolerance Network, a program created in 1999 to accelerate the clinical development of immune tolerance therapies. The ITN is a group of basic science and clinical researchers studying ways to induce immune system tolerance in immune diseases including: allergy and asthma, organ transplantation, and autoimmune diseases. Currently, the ITN is supporting over 20 clinical trials to test tolerogenic therapies in organ transplantation, autoimmune diseases and allergy & asthma. It is a key goal of the ITN to further define the mechanisms of immune tolerance in the human clinical setting. Dr. Bluestone is a past recipient of the JDRF Gerold & Kayla Grodsky Distinguished Basic Scientist Award in 2004. In 2005, he was the recipient of the JDRF Mary Tyler Moore & Robert Levine Excellence in Clinical Research Award. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006, and in 2008 Dr. Bluestone received the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Scholar Award.

Mark Atkinson, Ph.D. is the American Diabetes Association Eminent Scholar for Diabetes Research and the Co-Director for the Diabetes Center of Excellence at the University of Florida(link is external). He received his undergraduate degree in Microbiology from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and his doctorate in Pathology from the University of Florida. Since that time, Dr. Atkinson has held several positions in the Pathology Department at the University of Florida. He also is the Associate Editor of the Journal Diabetes, and Chairs two National Expert Panels seeking renewal of the congressionally awarded, special funding for type 1 diabetes. The author of over 200 publications, Dr. Atkinson is beginning his 26th year of investigation into the field of type 1 diabetes. He is a internationally recognized authority on multiple aspects pertaining to type 1 diabetes, with particular interests in disease prediction and prevention, the role for environment in the initiation of the disease, stem cells and pancreatic regeneration, identifying markers of tolerance and immunoregulation, and the use of gene therapy as a means to cure the disease and prevent its complications. Dr. Atkinson's research is remarkably diverse in terms of its research scope, but near singular in purpose - to identify the cause(s) of and a cure for type 1 diabetes. Over the past 26 years, his research activities have involved studies of both animal models of the disease, as well as humans with, or at varying levels of risk for, type 1 diabetes. Dr. Atkinson's research lab can be considered as "translational" in its design, since many of his "bench-based" discoveries have seen movement towards "bedside" application. His goal is to generate functional insulin-producing beta-cells from stem cells by replicating the signaling events during pancreas organogenesis in cell culture. Recent studies have shown that human ES-cells (hESCs) can give rise to pancreatic endocrine cells. However, the endocrine cells formed in vitro are immature and express more than just one hormone. Dr. Atkinson is testing and optimizing conditions to generate fully differentiated endocrine cells, including insulin-producing beta-cells, by supplying additional mesenchymal factors that are present during embryonic development but missing in current cell culture conditions. In addition, he is collaborating with others at UCSF to test the ability of induced pluripotent cells (iPS), generated from human fibroblasts, for their potential to form pancreatic endocrine cells. Successful generation of insulin-producing cells from iPS would open up the opportunity to generate patient-specific cells for cell replacement strategies. Dr. Atkinson has been the recipient of multiple scientific and humanitarian based awards for these efforts. These include three awards from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and the prestigious Eli Lilly Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement from the American Diabetes Association (2004). Atkinson Lab(link is external)

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team

Dr. Arvan received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University followed by a medical degree as well as a doctorate in cell biology from the Yale University School of Medicine. He then pursued his residency and fellowship in endocrinology at Yale. He spent eight years on the faculty at Harvard University working at what is now the Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center, followed by seven years on the faculty of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. In 2003, he moved to his current position as Chief of the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology, and Diabetes at the University of Michigan. In 2006, after two years as interim director, he became director of the Comprehensive Diabetes Center at the University of Michigan. Dr. Arvan's goal is to identify cellular factors and exogenous compounds that allow for beta cell survival and even expansion in the face of secretory pathway stress. This is accomplished by a combination of molecular biological and cell biological approaches that concentrate in animal models of diabetes, isolated pancreatic islets, and pancreatic beta cell lines. Dr. Arvan and his team intend to develop new molecular biological therapies, and small-molecule drug therapies, to allow sufficient insulin production to prevent, or at least limit the severity, of both type 1A and type 1B diabetes. The areas that they are focusing on include: Dr. Arvan is a past recipient of a PEW Foundation scholarship in the biomedical sciences, a Wellcome Visiting Professorship in the basic medical sciences and the winner of the R.R. Bensley award from the American Association of Anatomists. He has served as a reviewer for 15 specialty journals and is a former editorial board member of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and the American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism. His is currently associate editor of the American Journal of Pathology. In 2003, Dr. Arvan established clinical practice in Michigan and was named one of Hour Detroit magazine's "2006 and 2007 Top Docs".