Lydia Lynch, immunologist, studies the effects of obesity and diet on immune cell functions. She was named a 2009 Fellow of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award, and she directs the Lynch Lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Biography

Lydia Lynch received her B.Sc. degree in Cell Biology and Genetics from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

, Ireland. She went on to earn her PhD in Immunology in 2008 from the same university after working in the lab of

Cliona O’Farrelly Cliona O’Farrelly is an Irish immunologist, with a background in comparative, liver and cancer immunology, focuses on the innate immune response to viruses to identify new or improved therapeutic strategies to control resistance to viral infectio ...

in St. Vincent’s University Hospital. She worked with Donal O’Shea at St. Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin for her post-doctoral studies and helped establish the Immunology and Obesity Lab, with the goal of coordinating international, collaborative, translational research in obesity and its complications. For that work, she received a Newman Fellowship, followed by a L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship in 2009, and she moved to

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

in Boston to study iNKT cells in

adipose tissue Adipose tissue (also known as body fat or simply fat) is a loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes. It also contains the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of cells including preadipocytes, fibroblasts, Blood vessel, vascular endothel ...

in the lab of Mark Exley. In 2009, Lydia received an International Marie Curie Fellowship to continue her postdoctoral studies in immunometabolism, in the labs of Michael Brenner and

Ulrich von Andrian Ulrich von Andrian is a German Immunologist and professor of Microbiology and Immunobiology at Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United Stat ...

at Harvard. In 2013, she became a member of the junior faculty at

Brigham and Women’s Hospital Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH or The Brigham) is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two ...

and Harvard Medical School and in 2014, Lydia started her own independent lab which was made possible by a joint appointment between the Division of

Endocrinology Endocrinology (from ''endocrine system, endocrine'' + ''wikt:-logy#Suffix, -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the ...

and the Division of

Rheumatology Rheumatology () is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatology covers more than 100 different complex diseases, c ...

Allergy Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, are various conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include Allergic rhinitis, hay fever, Food allergy, food al ...

and

Immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. In Lynch's lab, she directs researchers who study the role of the immune system in the regulation of metabolism and body weight. They pay particular attention to the local immune system in adipose tissue in both mice and humans. In 2022, Lynch was the recipient of the John R. Kettman Award for Excellence in Cytokine and Interferon Research, which was given by the International Cytokine and Interferon Society, saying "Lynch’s research has the potential to provide insight into the impact of obesity and diet on cancer immunotherapy, as well as the mechanisms underlying the increased risk of immune-related disorders associated with obesity."

Selected publications

* Lynch, Lydia, Donal O'Shea, Desmond C. Winter, Justin Geoghegan, Derek G. Doherty, and Cliona O'Farrelly. "Invariant NKT cells and CD1d+ cells amass in human omentum and are depleted in patients with cancer and obesity." ''European journal of immunology'' 39, no. 7 (2009): 1893-1901. * Lynch, Lydia, Xavier Michelet, Sai Zhang, Patrick J. Brennan, Ashley Moseman, Chantel Lester, Gurdyal Besra et al. "Regulatory i NKT cells lack expression of the transcription factor PLZF and control the homeostasis of Treg cells and macrophages in adipose tissue." ''Nature immunology'' 16, no. 1 (2015): 85-95. * Lynch, Lydia, Andrew E. Hogan, Danielle Duquette, Chantel Lester, Alexander Banks, Katherine LeClair, David E. Cohen et al. "iNKT cells induce FGF21 for thermogenesis and are required for maximal weight loss in GLP1 therapy." ''Cell metabolism'' 24, no. 3 (2016): 510-519.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Lydia Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Immunologists Women immunologists University College Dublin UNESCO Science Prize laureates