Loyola University Chicago Professor Katherine L. Knight, PhD, one of the nation's leading immune system researchers, has received the prestigious 2015 Marion Spencer Fay Award.
The national award is given annually to an outstanding woman physician or scientist who has made an exceptionally significant contribution to health care.
Dr. Knight is professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology of the Loyola Stritch School of Medicine.
Dr. Knight is being honored for her seminal contributions and pioneering research in immunology, which have broad implications for human health and disease. Dr. Knight also has demonstrated an outstanding lifelong commitment to teaching and mentoring, especially of women.
Dr. Knight's primary research interest focuses on two critical components of the immune system, antibodies and B lymphocytes. She also has expanded her research to include studies on how microbes regulate the immune system and how certain bacteria protect us from infectious diseases. She also is working to develop a vaccine for Clostridium difficile (C. diff.), the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections.
Dr. Knight is passionate about mentoring students and faculty, and has written and spoken widely on the topic.
The Marion Spencer Fay Award honors achievement and excellence in medicine and science and is presented to a woman of distinction, innovation and leadership.
The late Marion Spencer Fay, PhD, was dean and president of Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania from 1946 to 1963. The National Board for Women in Medicine established an award in her name in 1963.
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