Bernice Lo, PhD

Dr. Bernice Lo is a Principal Investigator in the Translational Medicine Division at Sidra Medicine and a Joint Assistant Professor at Hamad bin Khalifa University (Doha, Qatar). She has contributed to the discovery, diagnosis, and molecular understanding of inherited autoimmune disorders. Bernice performed her post-doctoral training under the leadership of Dr. Michael Lenardo in the Laboratory of Immunology at the National Institutes of Health in the US. She is trained in cell and molecular biology and genomic approaches for genetic diagnosis. During her fellowship, she helped discover and understand the etiology of two new diseases of immune dysregulation. She received her Ph.D. in Cell Biology at Duke University under the mentorship of Dr. Jo Rae Wright, where she began her appreciation for the immune system and the critical role of immune tolerance and regulation.

The research focus of Dr. Lo’s laboratory is on understanding the molecular mechanisms of immune regulation and tolerance. Her approach includes identifying the genetic basis of disease in patients with immune dysregulation and autoimmunity with the ultimate goal of elucidating the molecular pathways involved and, therefore, revealing new therapeutic targets for disease treatment or novel drugs for immunomodulation.

Rafah Mackeh, PhD