Editor in chief
Andras Perl received his MD and PhD from Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary. He was trained as a resident in Internal Medicine at Semmelweis and as a fellow in Rheumatology/Immunology at the University of Rochester. He held faculty positions at Semmelweis, the University of Rochester, Roswell Park Memorial Institute, and the State University of New York (SUNY). He has been Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology since 1997, Chief of Rheumatology since 2001, and co-director of the MD/PhD Program since 2003 at the State University of New York, UMU, College of Medicine in Syracuse, New York. His research has been focused on interactions of viruses and the host genome and signaling pathways that mediate abnormal T-cell activation in lupus. His laboratory identified the HRES-1 endogenous retrovirus, mapped it to chromosome 1q42, and identified Rab4a as its gene product that confers susceptibility to lupus via increased receptor recycling. His laboratory discovered mitochondrial dysfunction in lupus T cells, characterized by mitochondrial hyperpolarization (MHP) and ATP depletion that predispose to death by necrosis. The increased production of necrotic materials from T cells is an important activator of B cells and dendritic cells and inflammation in SLE. The activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), which serves as a sensor of MHP and regulator of receptor recycling, is a biomarker and the target for treatment in lupus. Another biomarker of T-cell dysfunction, the depletion of intracellular glutathione, is targeted through treatment with N-acetylcysteine. Both of these clinical studies have been approved by the FDA. The human transaldolase gene was originally identified and its role in cell type-specific regulation of the pentose phosphate pathway, MHP, and apoptosis has been characterized in this laboratory. The deficiency of transaldolase was recently revealed a genetic cause of male infertility, chronic progressive diseases of the liver, leading to steatosis, steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, cancer, as well as systemic autoimmunity, which may be preventable by treatment with N-acetylcysteine. His laboratory has published over 150 original peer-reviewed papers, authored chapters in rheumatology and immunology textbooks, trained over 30 PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Arthritis Foundation, the American Lupus Society and the Alliance for Lupus Research. He authors and edited textbooks, such Autoimmunity Methods and Protocols, 1st edition in 2004 and 2nd edition in 2012. He has been listed among the Best Doctors in Central New York and in America since 2007.