Molly Ellis Tyner Boland had a passion for research and new discoveries that made everyone around her work harder to live up to her high standards. Having lost her sister to the rare genetic disease Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), she was determined to help patients and their families with diseases like HLH and Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. After graduation, she continued her education as a UAB Graduate Biomedical Sciences student in the Pathobiology and Molecular Medicine theme, co-mentored by Chander Raman, PhD and S. Louis Bridges, Jr. MD, PhD.
Her research focus was the mechanism(s) by which interferon-gamma contributes to the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis in particular and autoimmunity in general. Her investigations showed terrific promise. She was published three times in her first two years of graduate school and was invited to present at the 2015 American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting.
Molly was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder in 2016, and she died at the age of 24 while at the NIH undergoing treatment. UAB recently honored Molly posthumously with an honorary master’s degree, presented to her parents William and Joy Tyner.
Memorial gifts may be made in her memory to the William J. Koopman Arthritis Research Endowment at UAB. Click here to make a gift.