Ellen F Foxman, MD, PhD
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Biography
Dr. Ellen Foxman, M.D., PhD. is an Associate Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Immunobiology at the Yale School of Medicine. Her laboratory studies antiviral defense in the human respiratory tract, focusing on innate immunity, an inborn system of protective mechanisms that guards against harmful viruses or bacteria, even when the body has never encountered the infection before. The overarching goal of this research is to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of illnesses caused by respiratory viruses.
Background. Dr. Foxman trained in medicine and immunology at Stanford University. She became interested in respiratory viruses during her residency training in clinical pathology at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital, due to the advances in testing that were beginning to reveal a previously unappreciated very high prevalence of these viruses. She later joined Dr. Akiko Iwasaki’s group at Yale as a postdoctoral associate, where she demonstrated suppression of innate immune responses in the airway epithelium by cool ambient temperature. In 2016, she established her independent research group at Yale. Contributions of the Foxman Lab include defining biomarkers to track innate immune responses in the human respiratory tract and uncovering evidence for viral interference, in which general antiviral defenses triggered by common cold viruses protect against unrelated viruses such as influenza and COVID-19. Dr. Foxman’s recognitions include the 2018 Hartwell Foundation Individual Biomedical Research Award, the 2021 ASCI Young Physician-Scientist Award, and the 2021 Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Award.
Education & Training
- Resident in Clinical PathologyBrigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School (2004)
- MDStanford University School of Medicine, Medicine (2001)
- PhDStanford University School of Medicine, Immunology (1999)
- BSYale University, Biology (1993)
Honors & Recognition
Award | Awarding Organization | Date |
---|---|---|
Yale Public Voices Fellow | The OpEd Project | 2021 |
2021 Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Award | Rita Allen Foundation | 2021 |
2021 ASCI Council Young Physician-Scientist Award | The American Society of Clinical Investigation | 2021 |
2019 Levine Lab Laureate Award | Rosalind Franklin Society | 2019 |
2018 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award | The Hartwell Foundation | 2019 |
2017 Prize Recipient, National Antimicrobial Resistance Diagnostic Challenge, Phase I | NIH | 2017 |
2011 Invited lecturer, 9th International Student Seminar | Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan | |
2010 Recipient of Research Supplement to Promote Reentry into Biomedical and Behavioral Research Careers | National Institutes of Health | |
2013 Invited Young Investigator oral presentation, ASM General Meeting | American Society for Microbiology | |
2013 Paul E. Strandjord Young Investigator Award with Distinction | Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists |
Professional Service
Organization | Role | Date |
---|---|---|
Yale Post-Doctoral Association Mentoring Group | Mentor | 2021 - 2022 |
IBIO Diversity and Inclusion Working Group | Member | 2021 - 2022 |
Laboratory Medicine Faculty Retreat Planning Committee | Co-Chair | 2021 |
YCEEH Summer Program for Undergraduate Students Underrepresented in Science | Lecturer | 2021 |
Swiss National Science Foundation | External Reviewer | 2021 - Present |
Human Translational Immunology Steering Committee | Member | 2020 - 2022 |
IBIO First Year Student Mentoring Committee | Mentor | 2020 - 2022 |
Human Translational Immunology Seminar Series | Co-Chair | 2020 - 2022 |
IMPACT Biorepository Board of Governors | Board Member | 2020 - 2021 |
COVID-19 Lab Working Group | Convener of COVID-19 Yale Lab Working group, met three times per week for two months (March-April 2020) | 2020 |
NIH | U54 Serological Sciences Emergency Awards Study Section | 2020 |
International Congress of Mucosal Immunology, Society of Mucosal Immunology | Committee Member | 2020 |
Department of Laboratory Medicine Grand Rounds | Co-Chair | 2019 - 2022 |
Association of Clinical Pathology Physicians and Scientists | ACLPS Young Investigator Grants | 2019 - 2021 |
IBIO Diversity and Climate Committee | Member | 2019 |
YCEEH Summer Program for Undergraduate Students Underrepresented in Science | Lecturer | 2019 |
Science Talks@ Tilde Cafe, a community scientific education initiative | Lecturer | 2019 |
Search Committee, Clinical Chemistry Faculty | Member | 2018 - 2019 |
New PI Leadership Cohort Monthly Meetings | Convener of new PI leadership cohort monthly meetings from Yale HFP leadership course | 2018 - 2019 |
Search Committee, Physician-Scientist Faculty | Member | 2017 - 2022 |
Yale Medical Scientist Training Program (MD PhD) Recruitment Committee | Member | 2017 - 2020 |
Education Committee, Association of Clinical Pathology Physicians and Scientists (ACLPS) | Committee Member | 2017 - 2020 |
Laboratory Medicine Research Retreat Planning Committee | Member | 2017 |
Medical Research Council, U.K. | Reviewer for Clinician-Scientist FEC Fellowship | 2017 |
Women in Science at Yale (WISAY) Mentoring Group | Mentor | 2016 - 2017 |
Interviews on scientific topics for international media organizations including BBC NewsHour, Der Spiegel, Arirang TV S Korea | Participant | 2015 - 2021 |
Interviews on scientific topics for national media organizations including NPR, Huffington Post Video, NOVA/PBS, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Good Morning America, Scientific American, PBS NewsHour | See links in Yale Profile | 2015 - 2021 |
Nature, Cell Host Microbe, Cell Stem Cell, Nature Microbiology, Thorax, Trends in Microbiology, Science Immunology, Science Advances, PLoS Biology, PLoS Pathogens, Virology, European Respiratory Journal, Journal of Infectious Diseases, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Journal of Immunology, Lancet Microbe | Reviewer | 2015 - Present |
Departments & Organizations
- Cancer Signaling Networks
- Center for Infection and Immunity
- CPIRT - Center for Pulmonary Injury, Inflammation, Repair and Therapeutics
- Foxman Lab
- Human and Translational Immunology Program
- Immunobiology
- Immunology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Microbiology
- Virology Laboratories
- Yale Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS)
- Yale Medicine
- YCCEH