Return to Main Menu

Student nets fellowship for lupus research by Cindy Abole Public Relations Medical Scientist Training Program student Michelle B. Crosby was honored by receiving an American Dissertation Fellowship for her research on lupus nephritis from the American Association for University Women. The year-long award begins on July 1 and carries a stipend of $20,000. Crosby, who is in her sixth year in the M.D./Ph.D. program and just completed her third-year towards her doctorate in the College of Graduate Studies, was one of 51 national dissertation fellowship recipients named during the 2002-2003 academic year. “Michelle is an outstanding student and hard-working researcher,” said Gary S. Gilkeson, M.D., professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology and Immunology and research advisor. “Her hard work, creativeness and dedication is a testament to the lab’s progress especially in the area of signal transduction pathways for lupus.” Gilkeson’s laboratory research effort is multifaceted and focuses on the body’s inflammatory process and understanding the prognostic indicators associated with the treatment of severe lupus. Lupus affects women, especially in their child-bearing years. Crosby’s research involves the study of a specific protein involved in the inflammatory process and the effectiveness of drugs that target that protein in the care and treatment of this autoimmune disease.  A 1996 honor graduate of Duke University, Crosby holds almost a decade of research experience under her belt. The daughter of medical and industrial chemists, Crosby has conducted pharmaceutical research in private industry and anthropological research before studying the effects of cell signaling pathways and autoimmune diseases.  The dissertation fellowship provides support to women who will complete their dissertation writing between July 1, 2002 and June 30, 2003. Applicants must have completed all course work, exams and won approval for their research proposals. Fellowship recipients were awarded based on their academic excellence, teaching experience and commitment to helping women and girls in various issues. Crosby met the requirements as a science fair advisor for elementary through high school students and tutor supporting the campus' Center for Academic Excellence.  She has already garnered an array of other achievements and honors while at MUSC including the Chrysalis Project Award and 2001 Summer Fellowship Award from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology; National Science Foundation’s 2000 Monbusho Summer Research Fellowship with Kyoto University in Japan; Keystone Symposia Scholarship, NIH Predoctoral Fellowship and has won top honors at MUSC Student Research Day competitions since 1999. Despite her research accomplishments and honors, she has managed to top it all this year in the role of new mother to a three-month-old girl, Katherine. She and her husband, fellow MSTP student Christopher Crosby, have proved that it is possible to balance a scientific career and parenthood successfully. Both are delighted with the recognition and support of this fellowship award. “Michelle is an outstanding student,” said Dean Perry V. Halushka, M.D., Ph.D., College of Graduate Studies. “She has been very productive in the laboratory, making some very important observations about a receptor that may be involved in inflammatory processes. Her research may lead to new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases.”