ASCI / Emerging-Generation Awards, 2023
The Emerging Generation Awards (E-Gen Awards) recognize post-MD, pre-faculty appointment physician-scientists who are meaningfully engaged in immersive research.
About the awardee
When Elise Liu, MD was in medical school, her child was diagnosed with a peanut allergy, which sparked her interest in food allergy. She was surprised to learn that despite the prevalence and impact of food allergy, the pathogenesis is not completely understood, treatment options are limited, and there is no cure. During her internal medicine residency, clinical and lab rotations cemented her desire to apply to allergy and immunology fellowships.
During second year of fellowship in 2018, Dr. Liu joined Dr. Stephanie Eisenbarth’s lab to study the role of immunoglobulin A (IgA) in food allergy. She quickly realized that to maximize my potential to make an impact, she needed more rigorous training in laboratory research and immunology. Therefore, she enrolled in the Yale Investigative Medicine PhD program, which involved classes and continued work in lab. Dr. Liu just published a first-author manuscript on the patterns of human gut peanut IgA in food allergy. She has defended and submitted her dissertation, and is slated to graduate from her PhD program in December 2022.
In July of this year, Dr. Liu was appointed as an Instructor and Associate Research Scientist. She continues to spend 80% of her time in the lab under the mentorship of Dr. Eisenbarth, working on finding the signals that trigger food-specific IgA to be made in mice. Dr. Liu's goal is to become an independently funded physician-scientist studying the mechanisms of food allergy and tolerance.