Martha B. Furie, PhD, Professor

Martha B. Furie, PhD
Professor of Pathology
Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
Director, Graduate Program in Genetics
Room 248, Centers for Molecular Medicine
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794-5120

Tel: (631) 632-4232
Fax:
(631) 632-4294
Email: 
Martha.Furie@stonybrook.edu

Research Summary:

The Furie Laboratory has a broad interest in how the body’s innate immune system interacts with bacterial pathogens, including Borrelia burgdorferi (the agent of Lyme disease) and Francisella tularensis (the cause of tularemia).  A particular focus is on recruitment of circulating leukocytes to infected tissues.  This recruitment is controlled by the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels.  When activated, endothelial cells express adhesion molecules and secrete attractants that direct the movement of the white cells from the blood into infected tissues.  These leukocytes play an essential role in host defense, but their anti-microbial weaponry can also injure healthy tissues if unleashed inappropriately or excessively.  Using in vitro and in vivo approaches, we have dissected the mechanisms whereby B. burgdorferi and F. tularensis regulate recruitment of leukocytes.  Another area of major interest is interactions of F. tularensis with hepatocytes, the main cells of the liver.  F. tularensis grows within hepatocytes, and we aim to understand how the bacteria and the host cells mutually adapt and respond to the intracellular infection.

Education:   

Institution and Location Degree Year(s) Field of Study
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY  
B.S.
1974 Genetics
The Rockefeller University, New York, NY Ph.D.
1980 Protein Chemistry

Positions and Employment:

1980-84 Postdoctoral Fellow, The Rockefeller University
1980-86 Associate Research Scientist, Columbia University
1986-92 Assistant Professor of Pathology, Stony Brook University
1992-00 Associate Professor of Pathology, Stony Brook University
1992-present Graduate Program Faculty in Molecular and Cellular Biology
2000-present Professor of Pathology, Stony Brook University
2000-present Graduate Program Faculty in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
2003-present Graduate Program Faculty in Genetics
2005-present Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Stony Brook University
2009-present School of Medicine Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure Committee
2013-present University Graduate Council
2014-present
Director, Graduate Program in Genetics

Other Experience and Professional Memberships (selected):

1992-present   
American Society for Investigative Pathology
1993-08 Editorial Board, The American Journal of Pathology
2004-06 Program Chair, Annual Meeting of the American Society for Investigative Pathology
2006-09 Chair, Education Committee, American Society for Investigative Pathology
2006-present Council Member, American Society for Investigative Pathology
2007-present American Society for Microbiology
2008-12 Associate Editor, The American Journal of Pathology
2011-12 President, American Society for Investigative Pathology
2013-present Senior Associate Editor, The American Journal of Pathology

Honors (selected):

1974                             
BS with honors and distinction
1974-77                 
National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship
1980-81   Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Fund Postdoctoral Fellowship
1981-84 National Cancer Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship
1985-86 Investigatorship, New York Heart Association
1987-90 Aaron Diamond Foundation Scholar
1988-91 Alexandrine and Alexander L. Sinsheimer Fund Scholar