Tracy McGaha, PhD

Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA

2007 Signaling

At some point in lupus, messages are sent among cells that lead the immune system to malfunction.

For example, in normal circumstances, specialized “scavenger” cells in the spleen called macrophages recognize and remove dead cells from the blood.

With her Novel Research Grant, Dr. McGaha will investigate what happens when the macrophages don’t work properly and the cellular debris is allowed to build up—a scenario known to lead to lupus in mice.

She will examine not only how macrophages prevent disease, but how the interaction of macrophages with debris from blood influences their behavior.

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