The people behind
the research: For
Dr. Lebson, it’s
personal
Lori Lebson, PhD, needs no motivational speeches from
her mentors in her new post-
doctoral fellowship from the
National MS Society. Her career
as an MS researcher was forged
when her mom was diagnosed.
“My mother and I are best
friends,” said Dr. Lebson. “It was
a very difficult time in our lives
during her diagnosis. I always
wanted to go into scientific
research, and after watching the
challenges my mother faced and
how she chose to live her life, I
decided to focus on finding new
MS treatments, for her and for
all people with the disease.”
Dr. Lebson completed her
PhD in neuropharmacology at
the University of South Florida,
Tampa. Her research was key to
developing a
new method
for delivering
gene therapy in
a mouse model
of Alzheimer’s
disease. Dr. Lebson single-
handedly took this project from
a concept to a therapeutic trial in
mice, applying technologies that
were new to the lab.
This training introduced
Dr. Lebson to the challenges of
laboratory research, although she
faces different ones in MS-related
research. “Developing
mouse models for MS is
challenging because each
person experiences MS
differently. We work hard
at this process; it takes
almost a year to develop
just one new model. But
it’s necessary for identify-
ing new drug targets.”
The search for drug
targets— molecules that
can form the basis of novel
therapeutic strategies—is
personal to Dr. Lebson.
“My mom did not respond
to interferons—she got
worse—so finding new
drug targets is very impor-
tant for me.”
In her National MS
Society-supported post-
doctoral fellowship Dr.
Lebson is studying the
role of an immune signal-
ing molecule known as
KLF4 in mice with the MS-like
disease EAE. This signaling mol-
ecule stimulates an immune cell
that appears to
be unrespon-
sive to inter-
feron beta. Dr.
Lebson is using
genetically
modified mice to see how KLF4
activates these immune cells and
to look for ways to prevent their
activation. “We recently showed
that mice lacking KLF4 do not
develop disease and these mice
do not make IL- 17, a cytokine
that drives inflammation in
human MS,” she said.
Recruiting new researchers
is a key goal of the Society’s
fellowship programs.
Dr. Lebson’s mentors at Johns
Hopkins University are Peter
Calabresi, MD, and Katharine
Whartenby, PhD. “They’re both
incredible researchers,” she said.
“Dr. Calabresi is the director of
the MS center, so he brings a
strong clinical vision to the lab to
keep us focused on our end goal.
Dr. Whartenby is a PhD, so she
keeps us passionate about the sci-
ence. It’s a beautiful mix.”
With these mentors, Dr. Lebson
is on track for a career in neuro-
immunology. “I am extremely
grateful for the opportunity to be
an MS fellow, to continue towards
my goal of one day finding a cure
for MS,” she concluded.
