Men are Less Likely to Develop Autoimmune Diseases: How Understanding Sex Differences Can Lead to New Therapies

Is it REALLY true that men are stronger than women? Check out this seminar for the facts! Guest Speaker: Melissa Brown- Northwestern University

Sex differences, defined by distinct chromosomes, unique reproductive organs and sex-determined steroid hormone levels, dictate many aspects of our being, including susceptibility to disease.  For example, autoimmune disease predominates in females, while males develop certain cancers more frequently. Yet, disease-related studies have historically ignored the contribution of sex.  However, in 2015, NIH announced a policy to ensure that all funded pre-clinical studies include both males and females. This lecture will provide a description of our recent work to understand the differences in immune responses that contribute to male protection and female susceptibility to multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. ​

Join the BIO295 course for this exciting seminar! Contact Erika Purcell-Williams (eap2@calvin.edu) for more information.