Faculty Profiles

Alison Finnegan, PhD

Alison Finnegan, PhD, is a professor of internal medicine and professor of immunology/microbiology. She received her doctoral degree from Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass. She completed her postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., and continued as a senior staff fellow at the National Institutes of Health for three years before moving to Rush Medical College in 1987.

Dr. Finnegan’s research interest is in the area of rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that targets the synovial joints. Dr. Finnegan’s laboratory is working with a model of rheumatoid arthritis induced in mice. Her work is aimed at understanding the mechanisms controlling the induction and progression of arthritis specifically addressing the requirements for B cells, autoantibodies, Fc receptors, complement and cytokines in the development of disease. She is also assessing the activity of specific inhibitors to suppress arthritis.

Dr. Finnegan’s research is funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Immunology and Cellular Immunology and is a member of the American College of Rheumatology, American Association of Immunologists and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has also served on the advisory board for American Cancer Society and the Leukemia Research Foundation.