Dr. Huttenlocher Receives WARF Named Professorship

Anna Huttenlocher, MD
Above, Dr. Anna Huttenlocher (Professor, Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology) in her laboratory. (Photo by UW Health)

Anna Huttenlocher, MD (Professor, Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology) was selected for the prestigious WARF Named Professorship award and has chosen the name “Anna Ruth Brummett Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Microbiology and Immunology” for the chair. The award, which carries a $100,000 flexible research fund, honors faculty who have made major contributions to the advancement of knowledge and is one of the highest honors the University of Wisconsin–Madison bestows. The award is provided by the University of Wisconsin­–Madison Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education with funding from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF).

Dr. Huttenlocher’s research at the University of Wisconsin Department of Pediatrics is at the interface of cell biology and immunology. Much of her recent work has centered on understanding innate immune inflammation. Her research group is dissecting how external cues and cell signaling networks regulate cell migration during tissue damage and repair, and how this is altered in human disease. Her laboratory has pioneered approaches to visualize and manipulate cell motility within live organisms and has discovered previously unknown mechanisms that regulate resolution of inflammation.
 
Dr. Huttenlocher received her BA from Oberlin College and MD from Harvard Medical School.  She is a physician-scientist who treats pediatric patients with autoimmune diseases. She is also director of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, which provides integrated graduate training in scientific research and clinical medicine.  She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a Fellow of the American Society of Cell Biology for Lifetime Achievement. She has served on the Council of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and is currently serving on the Council for the American Society of Cell Biology and the Association of American Physicians.
 
About Dr. Anna Ruth Brummett
Anna Ruth Brummett, PhD, was a Professor of Biology at Oberlin College. She grew up and attended college in Arkansas and then obtained her PhD at Bryn Mawr College. As an Oberlin professor, she performed research at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, MA, and focused much of her scholarship on developmental cell biology. Dr. Brummett had a special interest in promoting women in science and was Dr. Huttenlocher’s first cell biology and teaching mentor. During an independent study project at Oberlin College, Dr. Brummett guided Dr. Huttenlocher in writing about cell adhesion and migration, an area that became the focus of Dr. Huttenlocher’s research.
 
About WARF and the Award
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is the private, nonprofit patent and licensing organization for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A pioneer and innovator among university-based technology transfer offices, WARF’s mission is to support, aid and encourage UW-Madison research by protecting its discoveries and licensing them to commercial partners for beneficial use in the real world. Ten faculty are appointed to WARF Named Professorships each year. Support for this award is provided by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education with funding from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.