Mast cells and IgE orchestrate defense against venoms and Staphylococcus aureus: insights into the “good side” of allergy.
Stephen J. Galli, MD, is the former Chair of Pathology (1999-2016) and current Mary Hewitt Loveless, MD Professor and Professor of Pathology and of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Stanford Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection. He received his BA and MD from Harvard Medical School, did a residency in Anatomic Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and served as Professor of Pathology on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center until 1999. His research focuses on the development and function of mast cells and basophils (major effector cells in allergic disorders) and the design of animal models for studying the roles of these cells in health and disease. He has particular interests in the roles of these cells in anaphylaxis, food allergies, and asthma, and in the importance of mast cells and IgE in innate and acquired host defense against venoms. He was President of the American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP, 2005-2006) and belongs to several honorary societies including the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum (President, 2010-2014), Pluto Club (American Association of University Pathologists; President, 2018-2019), the National Academy of Medicine (currently, Chair of Section 4), and the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome. Dr. Galli received a MERIT Award from the NIAID/NIH (1995-2006), Scientific Achievement Awards from the International Association of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (1997) and the World Allergy Organization (2011), the Rous-Whipple Award of the ASIP (2014), and the Karl Landsteiner Medal of the Austrian Society for Allergology and Immunology (2014).