Welcome Dr. Stephanie Newman
The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine would like to welcome Dr. Stephanie Newman, a new postdoctoral fellow training under the direction of Dr. Tony Rupar in the Bethany’s Hope research lab.
Dr. Newman recently completed her PhD at the University of Oxford, UK and has established a specific research focus on inborn errors of metabolism with a particular focus on the rare lysosomal storage disorder Niemann Pick Disease Type C (NPC). Dr. Newman has uncovered a specific innate immune abnormality in NPC where results determined NPC macrophage cells display reduced phagocytosis of several targets. Phagocytosis is a physiologically ancient process by which cells engulf and degrade invading particles and microbes. Defective phagocytosis can initiate abnormal immunological and inflammatory responses that suggest ca ontribution to NPC phenotype. Abnormal phagocytosis also impacts the ability to fight off infection, therefore showing obvious clinical interest in NPC.
Dr. Newman will assist in developing a gene therapy for metachromatic leukodystrophy with a long-term goal of application to clinical trial. Her career goals are to remain in the field of rare disease research, continuing to focus on discovery of new therapeutics.
