Rheumatology: Current Research
Open Access

Andras Perl

Biography

Andras Perl received his MD and PhD from Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary. He was trained as a resident in Internal Medicine at Semmelweis and as a fellow in Rheumatology/Immunology at the University of Rochester. He held faculty positions at Semmelweis, the University of Rochester, Roswell Park Memorial Institute, and the State University of New York (SUNY). He has been Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology since 1997, Chief of Rheumatology since 2001, and co-director of the MD/PhD Program since 2003 at SUNY In Syracuse, New York. He was listed among the Best Doctors in Central New York and in America since 2007.

Research Interest

His research has been focused on interactions of viruses and the host genome and signaling pathways that mediate abnormal T-cell activation in lupus. His laboratory identified the HRES-1 endogenous retrovirus, mapped it to chromosome 1q42, and recently identified Rab4 as its gene product that confers susceptibility to lupus via increased receptor recycling. His laboratory identified mitochondrial dysfunction, characterized by mitochondrial hyperpolarization (MHP) and ATP depletion, that predisposes lupus T cells to death by necrosis. Activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) serves as a sensor of MHP, regulator of receptor recycling, and target of rapamycin treatment.