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YEUNG RECEIVES HENRY KUNKEL YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD FROM AMERICAN COLLEGE OF RHEUMATOLOGY

ATLANTA – Rae S. M. Yeung, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, immunology, and medical science at the University of Toronto and senior scientist of the Cell Biology Program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, received the Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award from the American College of Rheumatology during the ACR Annual Scientific Meeting, October 16 – 21 in Philadelphia, Pa.

The Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award is given to a young physician scientist, age 45 or under, who has made outstanding independent contributions to basic or clinical research in the field of rheumatology. 

Dr. Rae S. M. Yeung attended the University of Toronto and obtained her medical degree there. Subsequently, she trained in pediatrics and was chief resident at the Hospital for Sick Children prior to completing her PhD in Immunology at the Ontario Cancer Institute under the supervision of Tak W. Mak, PhD. Dr. Yeung distinguished herself in her clinical training in pediatrics by winning both the Wyeth Award of Excellence and during her research training and being awarded the Richard Miller Award from the department of immunology at the University of Toronto. Following her PhD studies, Dr. Yeung returned to clinical training and trained in the pediatric rheumatology at the Hospital for Sick Children and subsequently came on staff in 1999. She is currently an associate professor of pediatrics, immunology and medical science at the University of Toronto, staff rheumatologist and senior scientist in cell biology research at the Hospital for Sick Children.

The goal of Dr. Yeung’s research is to understand the mechanisms governing autoimmunity – specifically the mechanisms involved in initiating and sustaining the immune response in childhood arthritis and rheumatic diseases. Dr. Yeung uses Kawasaki disease as an experimental model for studying autoimmunity. Kawasaki disease is the most common cause of multisystem vasculitis and acquired heart disease in children in the industrialized world. Dr. Yeung characterized a novel bacterial superantigen, which is responsible for causing coronary artery inflammation in an animal model of disease. Her research has challenged existing paradigms in disease pathogenesis by defining a novel mechanism for rescue of superantigen-activated T-cells from apoptosis, leading to persistent inflammation and organ specific damage in autoimmunity. Basic science findings have been translated into clinical correlates, which in turn are leading to new therapeutic interventions to improve the outcome in affected children. Lessons learned in immunobiology have been applied to studies in childhood arthritis, where Dr. Yeung is leading both national and international efforts to understand the biologic basis for heterogeneity in childhood arthritis.

Dr. Yeung is not only active in research but is an enthusiastic teacher. She has developed and taught a hugely successful course on the ‘Immunologic Basis of Rheumatic Disease’ that has been so successful that a national curriculum for all trainees in rheumatology, both pediatric and adult, is now being implemented based on this program. Dr. Yeung serves on the medical advisory board for the Kawasaki Disease Foundation of America and the scientific advisory committee of the Arthritis Society of Canada.

She is currently chair of the Canadian Alliance of Paediatric Rheumatology Investigators and chair of the scientific committee of the International Kawasaki Disease Genetics Consortium. Dr. Yeung was the recipient of the Canadian Rheumatology Association Young Investigator Award.

The ACR is an organization of and for physicians, health professionals, and scientists that advances rheumatology through programs of education, research, advocacy and practice support that foster excellence in the care of people with or at risk for arthritis and rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.

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