The Professorship Installation of Jennifer Philips, MD, PhD, as the Theodore and Bertha Bryan Professor of Medicine took place on September 16th. Dr. Philips presented: “Tackling TB: Lessons in Persistence”.
Dr. Philips is Co-Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases. Her laboratory studies the pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Mtb has afflicted humans for thousands of years and is second only to SARS-CoV-2 as an infectious disease killer. M. tuberculosis is well adapted to the human immune system. Dr. Philips’s laboratory is elucidating the mechanisms of immunity to M. tuberculosis and defining the host-pathogen interactions that contribute to immune evasion. The discoveries in her laboratory have delineated how M. tuberculosis blocks lysosomal trafficking, alters host metabolism, and impairs antigen presentation. Through these fundamental discoveries in M. tuberculosis pathogenesis, her work will enable better therapies, novel biomarkers, and effective vaccines for one of humankind’s greatest afflictions.
Dr. Philips received her MD/PhD from UCSF and did her Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases training at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. She has been honored to receive the Maxwell Finland Award for Excellence in Research, the Infectious Disease Society of America Astellas Young Investigator Award, membership in the American Society of Clinical Investigation, and Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology and Infectious Disease Society of America.
The event followed by a reception was held at the Eric P. Newman Education Center (EPNEC).