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L. Courtney Smith, Ph.D. |
Associate Professor,
Department of Biology, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences |
George Washington University
350 Lisner Hall, 2023 G Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20052
Email: csmith@gwu.edu
Office: 202-994-9211
Fax: 202-994-6100
Research
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| L. Courtney Smith joined the Department of Biology
in 1995, moving her research program on the evolution of the
immune system from Caltech. Over that last 10 years, the National
Science Foundation has funded her research to identify and characterize
the genes, proteins and cells that are involved in the ancestral,
innate immune system in the sea urchin, a marine animal that
is distantly related to mammals. The research has lead to a
beginning for understanding how host defense works in an invertebrate
and a beginning for reconstructing the evolution of the mammalian
immune system. Based on the position of the sea urchins in the
animal “tree of life” - between the insects and
the mammals - the sea urchin immune system appears to be an
interesting mixture of invertebrate immune responses that have
not been described previously. Dr. Smith has published over
20 papers and is known as the world authority on sea urchin
immunology. Since 1993, she has generated over $1,110,000 in
mostly external funding, averaging about $200,000/year in the
last three years. |
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