The following are just a few of the researchers who are or have been funded by Partnership for Cures.

Dr. Jeffrey A. Borgia

The primary focus for Dr. Borgia's research interests is the development of novel blood and histological assays to diagnose and/or monitor disease status, using high-throughput proteomic and genomic methodologies. Currently, Dr. Borgia is collaborating with other physicians to develop clinically-relevant diagnostic tests for osteoarthritis, non-small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and cardiovascular disease. He also functions as the Assistant Director of the Rush Proteomics Research Core Facility (RPRCF) where his primary responsibility is facilitating the execution of all mass spectrometry-related research projects at RUMC.

Dr. Denise Faustman

Dr. Faustman completed her internship, residency, and fellowships in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and became an independent investigator at the MGH and Harvard Medical School in 1987. Currently, she is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Immunobiology Laboratory at the MGH. Dr. Faustman has spent the last decade researching the nature of the molecular defect in T-cells that results in the development of autoimmunity. Her earlier research accomplishments include the first introduction of the concept of modifying the antigens on donor tissues to prevent their rejection, a scientific accomplishment that is now in human clinical trials for diverse human diseases treatable with cellular transplants. Currently Dr. Faustman is working on strategies for applying this method to treat human disease and to explore the applicability of this process in other autoimmune diseases.

Dr. Kurt Kaczmarek

Dr. Kaczmarek is an electrical and biomedical engineer and scientist with over 20 years experience in developing haptic displays and both vibro- and electro-tactile interfaces for sensory substitution. He is a recognized expert and NIH-funded researcher in electrotactile stimulation, and is the co-inventor (with Dr. Bach-y-Rita) of the core tongue display technology on which the CN-NINM and BrainPort systems are based. He designed, developed and tested the first version of both the tongue display and electrotactile stimulation system for vision applications. Dr. Kaczmarek received the B.S. degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1982, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1984 and 1991, all in electrical engineering.

Dr. Raghu Mirmira

Dr. Mirmira received his bachelor's, MD, and PhD degrees from the University of Chicago.  His interest in diabetes began in his PhD years, during which time he studied how insulin binds to cells to effect its actions.  After completion of his MD/PhD degrees, Dr. Mirmira subsequently completed his residency in Medicine and subspecialty training in Diabetes and Endocrinology at the University of California at San Francisco.  During his fellowship, Dr. Mirmira studied how insulin-producing beta cells form during development in the embryo. Dr. Mirmira joined the faculty at the University of Virginia in 2000 and in 2008 became the Eli Lilly & Co. Chair in Pediatric Diabetes and Director of the Pediatric Diabetes Research Group at Indiana University in Indianapolis.    Dr. Mirmira continues to study how other cells in the body could be "reprogrammed" to produce insulin, and thereby serve as surrogate beta cells for individuals with diabetes. 

Dr. Luis Poratta

Recently, Dr. Poratta discovered that early lymphocyte recovery after autologous stem cell transplantation predicts superior survival of patients suffering from acute myelogenous leukemia, metastatic breast cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and mulitple myeloma. This observation suggests that an immune mediated graft-versus-tumor mechanism, similar to that in allogeneic stem cell transplantation, operates in the autologous setting. Dr. Poratta's research interest is on unraveling the mechanism underlying the improved survival related to early lymphocyte recovery following autologous stem cell transplantation; thus, translating into clinical immunotherapeutic treatments to enhance survival after autologous stem cell transplantation.

Dr. Berish Rubin

Dr. Rubin’s research effort currently focuses on the molecular biology of Familial Dysautonomia (FD). FD, also known as Riley-Day Syndrome or hereditary sensory neuropathy type III, is an autosomal recessive disorder that affects the development and survival of sensory, sympathetic and some parasympathetic neurons. Individuals with FD are affected with a variety of symptoms which include decreased sensitivity to pain and temperature, cardiovascular instability, recurrent pneumonias, vomiting crises, blood pressure swings, an absence of overflow emotional tears and gastrointestinal dysfunction. This disorder is primarily confined to individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.