Dr. William Banks, professor (Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine) and associate chief of staff for Research and Development at VA Puget Sound Health Care System has received the 2018 William S. Middleton Award. It is the highest honor conferred by the VA Biomedical Laboratory Research and Development Service.
The award recognizes Bank’s long history of contributions to VA research, particularly his groundbreaking work in the emerging field of neuroimmunology—which studies interactions between the nervous and immune systems. He is considered a leading expert on the blood-brain barrier and how it functions within the body.
Banks’ laboratory studies how the brain communicates with the rest of the body through the transfer of molecules across the blood-brain barrier. The barrier consists of different cells within the blood vessels that limit the passage of certain molecules from the blood into the brain. His work has also helped scientists comprehend how disruptions in the homeostasis mechanisms within the body—such as blood sugar level maintenance—can lead to diseases in the nervous system.
