Stephanie Eisenbarth, MD, PhD, the associate chair of research in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and assistant director of the Clinical Pathology Residency Program at Yale University, has been named chief of Feinberg’s Division of Allergy and Immunology in the Department of Medicine and director of the newly formed Center for Human Immunobiology, effective January 2022.
“I am thrilled to be joining the allergy and immunology community at Northwestern and looking forward to building a new center focused on advancing our understanding of the immune system,” Eisenbarth said.
Eisenbarth is an internationally renowned immunologist whose research focuses on how dendritic cells, B-cells and T-cells interact to induce antibody responses. She is supported by grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and numerous foundations for her work studying genetic factors in allergy and translational immunology. She is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and numerous other professional associations, serves as the associate scientific advisor for the journal Science Immunology, and has published many peer-reviewed papers, editorials and review articles in journals including Science, Nature, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Immunity, Journal of Experimental Medicine and more.
“The Department undertook a rigorous and comprehensive national search to find the next leader for the Division of Allergy and Immunology. Dr. Eisenbarth’s scientific accomplishments, her passion for education and training, and her clinical focus in food allergy made her an exceptionally strong candidate. We are thrilled that the opportunity offered here resonated with her. Her energy, her vision, and her brilliance will have a huge impact on the division, in the department, and across the entire university,” said Douglas Vaughan, MD, chair and Irving S. Cutter Professor of Medicine.
Eisenbarth received her medical degree and PhD from Yale University in 2003 and 2005, and completed a residency and fellowship in clinical pathology in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital. She is board certified in clinical pathology and has been honored for her research by the Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists, the National Blood Foundation, the Hartwell Foundation and numerous other prestigious organizations.
In addition to her considerable research output, Eisenbarth has been honored widely for her education and mentoring activities, including delivering dozens of invited lectures and teaching in several prominent national courses. Her academic service work includes editorial committees, faculty committees, national educational committees, and honorary societies, as well as study section membership with the National Blood Foundation, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, among others.
Work from Eisenbarth’s laboratory has advanced understanding of what induces anaphylactic reactions in those with food allergy, findings that may have important implications for altering and tracking the inappropriate immune response to food allergens. Other research from the Eisenbarth laboratory has led to the identification of how antibody responses to transfused red blood cells, pathogens and vaccination occur.
Eisenbarth’s husband, Adam Williams, PhD, a distinguished scientist in the field of RNA biology and immunology who is currently an assistant professor at the Jackson Laboratory, will be also be joining Northwestern as an associate professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy and Immunology.
Eisenbarth will succeed Robert Schleimer, PhD, the current chief of Allergy and Immunology and the Roy and Elaine Patterson Professor of Medicine, who will be stepping down to rejoin the faculty.
“We are the beneficiaries of the remarkable leadership of the Division provided by Dr. Schleimer over the last two decades. Bob has done a masterful job in building the division, and it is recognized as one of the premier units in the country. His success and his visionary stewardship made it possible for us to recruit a new chief of the caliber of Dr. Eisenbarth,” Vaughan said.
