Samuel Norbert Breit

Prof Breit is a Clinical Immunologist and Immunopathologist at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney. As a Professor of Medicine at UNSW, he heads the Inflammation and Cytokine Biology Research Program at St Vincent’s Centre of Applied Medical Research. He has a career long interest in biomedical research, has a long track record of project grant support and has published over 160 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Prof Breit’s group has spearheaded the investigation of 2 important molecules his research group first discovered and characterised over a decade ago: the intracellular chloride ion channel protein CLIC1 and the divergent TGF-b superfamily cytokine MIC-1/GDF15. With the latter molecule, through an evolving understanding of its biology and potential clinical application, Prof Breit has then been able to take his basic discoveries, from the bench to the bedside. These discoveries have been licensed to several major international companies where they will be applied to patient diagnosis and therapy: MIC-1/GDF15 diagnostic technology can be used in the diagnosis and management of cancer and cardiovascular disease, whilst therapeutic applications include the treatment of inflammatory diseases, obesity and cancer associated syndromes. Prof Breit collaborates widely and maintains an active research program, involving post-doctoral scientist and PhD students, directed to understanding the biology, mode of action, disease association and therapeutic application ofMIC-1/GDF15 and its receptor GFRAL. Currently his research is focused on understanding the central and peripheral mechanisms by which MIC-1/GDF15 causes anorexia, modulates metabolism and impacts inflammation and immunity Prof Breit's publications and metrics can be found onhttps://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ouBIM90AAAAJ&hl=en Immunology; rheumatology; connective tissue diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome,SLE scleroderma & interstitial lung diseases - cytokines & biological response modifiers; gene cloning; genetic engineering; biopharmaceuticals; GDF15 and GFRAL