Kulkarni recognized for research into complement system
Pulmonologist receives Svar Complement Excellence Award
Kulkarni
Hrishikesh S. Kulkarni, MD, an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received the 2023 Svar Complement Excellence Award from the International Complement Society and Svar, a life sciences company based in Sweden.
The annual award recognizes excellence in research into the complement system, a key part of the body’s immune system that can trigger an inflammatory response and help clear dangerous microbes.
Also an assistant professor of molecular microbiology and his division’s associate program director for research, Kulkarni studies complement activation in the lining of the lungs and the system’s role in respiratory diseases. His work has shown that a key component of the complement cascade — a protein called C3 — is produced in the lungs and protects against lung injury from bacterial pneumonia. He also has investigated the complement system in the context of lung transplantation and its role in lung damage from COVID-19.
