Susan Sweeney received her MD and her PhD in microbiology and immunology from Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, IL. Her previous research focused on identification of a novel Fc receptor complex in neutrophils. She is a member of the American College of Rheumatology and has published articles in the Journal of Immunology, Current Opinion in Rheumatology, and Annals of Rheumatic Disease.
Project title: Role of a Novel IKK-related Kinase in Inflammation
Dr Sweeney is studying the regulation of signal transduction pathways in rheumatoid arthritis. The novel IKK-related kinase IKKε is a signaling molecule originally identified as a potential alternative pathway to activate NFκB. Dr Sweeney has demonstrated a novel role for IKKε in the activation of c-Jun and MMP expression in cultured synoviocytes. IKKε also phosphorylates interferon regulatory factor after toll-like receptor ligation by virus or dsRNA. IKKε activates both innate and adaptive immunity in rheumatoid arthritis and therefore represents a novel approach to blocking pathogenic transcription factor activation implicated in synovial inflammation. The functional consequence of blockade of IKKε will be assessed with the goal of developing targeted small molecule inhibitors to be used in chronic inflammatory arthritis.
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