Lawreen Connors Named Charles J. Brown Research Professor in Amyloidosis

Lawreen Connors, PhD, Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, has been named the Charles J. Brown Research Professor in Amyloidosis, effective July 1, and established by the estate of Charles J. Brown.

Dr. Connors received dual undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Mathematics from Boston College, a master’s degree in Chemistry from Tufts University, and doctoral degree in Biochemistry from Boston University. She joined the Amyloidosis Center as a post-doctoral trainee in 1994, and obtained faculty appointments in the Departments of Biochemistry and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine in 1998 and 2009, respectively.

Dr. Connors focuses her basic science research on uncovering the protein and genetic determinants that underlie the formation of amyloid. The early stages of her career featured structural analyses of amyloid-causing transthyretin (TTR) mutants, mainly those causing cardiac dysfunction. More recently, her studies have been focused on wild-type TTR amyloidosis, an age-related disease now recognized as an under-appreciated cause of heart failure in the elderly. She has received continuous support from the NIH and foundation grants, as well as industry-sponsored research agreements, and has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed scholarly articles and book chapters.

In 2009, Dr. Connors played a major role in establishment of the Amyloid Pathology Diagnostic Testing Laboratory in the Amyloidosis Center, a CAP-accredited and CLIA-certified facility that offers histologic and molecular testing for amyloid. Dr. Connors teaches GMS classes on systemic amyloidosis, and has mentored more than 20 master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral students. She has served on multiple local, national and international committees, and is Director of the Amyloidosis Center Gerry Laboratory and Co-Director of the Amyloid Pathology Diagnostic Testing Laboratory.