Dr. Swanborg has had more than two decades of uninterrupted research funding.

As research funding becomes tighter and more competitive, researchers often find themselves spending an increasing amount of time writing grant proposals instead of actually doing their work in the lab. They are grateful when they receive a grant that covers an extended period of two or three years, and rejoice over a four- or five-year grant.

Only a few dozen investigators have been able to obtain continuous funding for a project for a decade or longer, and just a handful have received more than two decades of uninterrupted funding. One WSU researcher, however, is a standout.

Robert Swanborg, PhD, professor of immunology and microbiology, and associate professor in neurology, is in his 33rd year of continuous support for his project, “Encephalitogenic Nature of Altered Brain Preparation,” and has just received a renewal that will extend support for his project by another five years. The $1.3 million renewal comes from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

He and his research team are studying a disease in animals – experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis ­– that serves as a model for multiple sclerosis in humans. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease that destroys the insulating myelin sheath, which covers nerves in the brain and spinal cord. Without the myelin, the nerves essentially short-circuit and result in a variety of symptoms, including motor difficulties and, in some cases, blindness.

Dr. Swanborg and his research group are particularly interested in “autoreactive” T lymphocytes, or T cells. Normally, suppressor lymphocytes regulate T-cell activity, but occasionally T cells invade the central nervous system and induce autoimmune inflammatory diseases, such as MS. The researchers are currently using both cellular immunological and molecular biological approaches to study the mechanism regulating the T cells.

With this information, he hopes to learn more about MS and other autoimmune diseases. “We have made some important observations that other people have been able to build on,” he said, adding that their findings helped in the development of an experimental treatment for MS.

About his longevity as a funded researcher, Dr. Swanborg remarked, “The idea of going to work every morning and anticipating a new experimental result really keeps me going. It’s exciting.”