As portion of our “Meet Yale Internal Medicine” series, we are featuring Benjamin Goldman-Israelow, MD, PhD, adjunct prof successful medicine and erstwhile ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway Resident.
Since joining Yale School of Medicine successful 2019, Goldman-Israelow, a physician-scientist funny successful virology and immunology, has established himself successful Yale’s COVID-19 studies owed to his quality to construe betwixt probe and diligent care.
“I’m a precise funny person, truthful subject was a earthy acceptable for me,” Goldman-Israelow said. “However, seeing patients is what drives maine to effort to recognize viruses, however they origin disease, and however we tin make cures oregon vaccines to dainty them.”
Path to Yale
Goldman-Israelow completed his MD/PhD astatine the Icahn School of Medicine astatine Mount Sinai, wherever his probe focused connected knowing however antithetic aspects of the immune strategy modulate the hepatitis C virus. After earning his doctorate successful 2016, helium came to Yale School of Medicine arsenic portion of Yale’s ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway, a two-year abbreviated way into fellowship grooming for residents who are powerfully committed to probe careers.
While interviewing for the program, helium met Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, Sterling Professor of Immunobiology and prof of dermatology and of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology and of epidemiology (microbial diseases), and investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Iwasaki leads aggregate studies looking astatine immune defence mechanisms against viruses that participate done mucosal surfaces. Goldman-Israelow’s tendency to enactment with Iwasaki cemented his determination to prosecute post-doctoral probe astatine Yale.
Pursuing SARS-CoV-2 Research
Goldman-Israelow joined Iwasaki’s laboratory successful August 2019, moving connected models of viral infection-based inflammatory pathologies. Five months into his caller position, the archetypal cases of COVID-19 were reported successful Wuhan, China.
“We rapidly saw that this microorganism was not going to beryllium a localized oregon controlled phenomenon,” said Goldman-Israelow. “We saw cases popping up passim the world, and past the existent wake-up telephone was erstwhile Italy was besieged by the microorganism successful February 2020. But by then, we already knew this was thing we needed to beryllium moving on.”
Goldman-Israelow and his squad rapidly developed a caller preclinical exemplary to prosecute SARS-CoV-2 research, which led to the archetypal of respective of his first-author publications successful Iwasaki’s lab. His exemplary showed that the benignant 1 interferon system, the body’s innate immune strategy that is encoded successful the quality genome, is inadequate for limiting SARS-CoV-2 replication.
“COVID came astatine a precise absorbing constituent successful science, wherever we person a ton of tools to rapidly recognize what’s going connected some successful preclinical models, and successful humans,'' said Goldman-Israelow. “Traditionally, it’s been much hard to bash quality probe due to the fact that we didn’t person capable patients. During the COVID pandemic we had, unfortunately, millions of radical who were affected by the aforesaid illness astatine the aforesaid time. I deliberation the pandemic arose astatine a clip erstwhile we could truly excavation into this and survey some virology and quality immunology.”
Developing a Novel Vaccine Strategy
Goldman-Israelow’s astir caller task has focused connected processing a caller vaccine strategy, “Prime and Spike.” This intranasal vaccine is designed to forestall transmission of the COVID-19 microorganism by recruiting antibodies and representation T cells into the respiratory tract. “The thought is that we tin effort to forestall replication earlier it has a accidental to instrumentality hold, and higher levels of antibodies astatine the archetypal tract of corruption whitethorn person broader efficacy against recently emerging variants,” helium explained.
The originality and value of Goldman-Israelow’s research, which helium pursued contempt demanding objective responsibilities during the pandemic, led to his promotion from trainee to teacher successful medicine successful June 2021. He is besides a recipient of the Department of Internal Medicine 2022 Iva Dostanic Physician-Trainee Award, an yearly grant that recognizes trainees with exceptional passionateness for subject and objective care. In August 2022, helium was promoted to adjunct prof successful the conception of infectious diseases. He plans to proceed his probe connected COVID-19 and different emerging respiratory pathogens with his ain laboratory.
In his escaped time, Goldman-Israelow enjoys being with his woman and their 2 young children, cooking, gardening, skiing, and biking. “I recovered that that’s 1 large facet of surviving successful New Haven - you tin get connected your motorcycle and beryllium successful farmland wrong 10 miles oregon so,” helium said.
The Infectious Diseases Section of the Department of Internal Medicine engages successful a wide scope of diligent care, research, and acquisition activities. To larn much astir their work, sojourn Infectious Diseases.
Submitted by Jane E. Dee connected October 03, 2022
English (US)