The Department of Neurology is pleased to announce that Kevin O’Connor, PhD has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure. Since moving to Yale ten years ago, he has established a translational research program aimed at investigating the pathogenic mechanisms of neurologic autoimmune diseases. His laboratory is specifically engaged in understanding how B cells and the autoantibodies they produce both initiate and sustain autoimmunity and affect tissue damage. Dr. O’Connor’s work focuses on inflammatory neurologic diseases, including myositis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, and neuromyelitis optica, and places a particular emphasis on studying myasthenia gravis. These efforts and his recent investigative findings have led to national and international recognition as an authority on the immunobiology underlying myasthenia gravis.