It is my pleasure to notify you that at Wednesday’s meeting of the Advisory Board of the Medical Faculty, Livia Casciola-Rosen was promoted to Professor of Medicine. Her pioneering biochemical and cell biological studies (many done in a highly effective team with her spouse Antony) have led to at least three major discoveries, widely recognized by many: (i) In highly original work, she showed that apoptosis and the concentration of autoantigens in apoptotic surface blebs plays a major role in autoimmune diseases, providing important insights into autoantigen presentation; (ii) she showed that cleavage of these autoantigens by granzyme B promotes their antigenicity, and 3) she led studies demonstrating that the target tissue plays a key role in sustaining autoimmune damage in myositis, a finding likely of general relevance in the rheumatic autoimmune diseases.
She is widely acknowledged for her critical contribution to changing the prevailing paradigms about the mechanisms of autoimmunity. The impact of her work for over 20 years and continuing to the present is enormous, with important applications to the understanding and treatment of the rheumatic diseases, and to the highly precise pursuit of translational discovery using human materials. In addition to her scholarship, she is a generous collaborator and mentor, and is an important resource for many colleagues in the Division and beyond.
I know that you will join me in warmly congratulating Livia on the well-deserved recognition. Wishing you and your families everything good this Holiday season.
Sincerely,
David B. Hellmann, MD, MACP
Aliki Perroti Professor of Medicine
Vice Dean, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center
Chairman, Department of Medicine
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
