Robert Goldstein, M.D.
Director, DAIT, NIAID
Drs. Charles Hackett and Vicki Seyfert have joined the Division staff as Chief of the Molecular and Structural Section and Chief of the Immunoregulation Section, Basic Immunology Branch, respectively. Dr. Hackett for the past 4 years was Director of Cellular Immunology at ImmuLogic Pharmaceutical Corp., Palo Alto, California before coming to the division. Whereas, Dr. Seyfert recently completed studies with Dr. Lou Staudt at the NCI on the role of B cell oncogenes in leukemogenesis.
Ernestine T. Smartt has been appointed the Director of the Office of Epidemiology and Clinical Trials, she has been with NIAID for more than eight years and with DAIT for five years. Ms. Smartt will be directing the second inner city asthma study, and monitoring the asthma demonstration and educational projects.
Dr. Peter J. Gergen has accepted a position, Medical Officer, at the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, PHS. His area of interest at the agency will be child health. Dr. Gergen was with this institute for more than five years leading the inner city asthma project.
Dr. Goldstein related the following scientific activities:
NIAID/NIEHS Bi-annual Asthma Program Directors Meeting: The NIAID and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) will hold the Bi-annual Asthma Program Directors Meeting at NIH on April 17-18, 1997. This meeting will provide a unique opportunity to present the nationwide efforts of NIAID and NIEHS to improve asthma through targeted interventions in underserved populations and through basic research.
NIH Symposium "21st Century Management of Upper Respiratory Allergic Diseases: A Focus on Allergy and Asthma": NIAID is co-sponsoring an NIH Symposium "21st Century Management of Upper Respiratory Allergic Diseases: A Focus on Allergy and Asthma" to be held in Chicago on January 13-14, 1997. This two-day symposium will focus on controversial and rapidly evolving aspects in the diagnosis and management of asthma and allergic diseases.
American College of Chest Physicians/NIAID/NHLBI Workshop on the Future of Sepsis Research: In August 1995 the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), NIAID, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) convened a two-day workshop at NIH to discuss research needs and opportunities in the area of sepsis. An executive summary of this workshop has now been accepted for publication in Chest (February 1997).
Healthy Buildings/ IAQ '97: Global Issues and Regional Solutions: NIAID is co-sponsoring a meeting: "Healthy Buildings/ IAQ '97: Global Issues and Regional Solutions," to be held in Washington, DC, September 28-October 2,1997. This meeting will bring together building engineers, architects and health care professionals to discuss indoor air quality as a global issue.
U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program (USJCMSP): U.S.-Japan Immunology Board: The Annual Meeting of the Immunology Board of the USJCMSP was held on December 9 - 10, 1996, at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. Scientific presentations were provided in an open session by members of both the U.S. and Japanese Boards, as well as by five ad hoc scientists invited to participate.
Results of NIAID supported African-American HLA workshop presented at annual American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics: NIAID has supported a long-term series of studies to refine the definition of HLA alleles in African Americans and to define new alleles. This 10 year effort was presented at the annual ASHI meeting this past October by Dr. Andrea Zachary of the Johns Hopkins University Immunogenetics laboratory. This study has led directly to the identification of 16 previously unknown HLA alleles in African-Americans and the refinement of the definition of the constellation of HLA haplotypes in the African-American population.
Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases Brochure: This publication provides interested parties and the general public with information about these diseases including the clinical picture, etiology, available therapy, and research opportunities.
The Genes of Primary Immunodeficiency - Windows on the Immune System and Prospects for Gene Therapy: This one-day symposium was held at the NIH on November 18, 1996. NIAID cosponsored this event with the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, the Jeffrey Modell Foundation, and the Immune Deficiency Foundation.
Workshop on Registries for Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases: On November 19, 1996, NIAID in cooperation with the NIH Office of Rare Diseases convened a group of leading primary immunodeficiency disease investigators to review the information that had been obtained from existing registries and to consider whether registries for additional primary immunodeficiency diseases would be useful.
Workshop on Clinical Trials for Immune System Mediated Diseases: On December 6, 1996, NIAID convened a group of leading basic and clinical immunologists to consider the role that the Institute should play in clinical trials for immune system mediated diseases, including asthma and allergy, autoimmune diseases, and transplantation rejection.
Announcements and Solicitations
Immunobiological Consequences of Aging. Immunobiological Consequences of Aging, was published in the NIH Guide in October, 1996. This announcement is being co-sponsored by the NIAID, the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Dental Research, and is intended to stimulate research to define the scientific basis for the effects of senescence on immune function.
NIAID/American Society of Transplant Physicians Minority Fellowships in Transplantation. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is co-sponsoring a program announcement with the American Society of Transplant Physicians. This announcement, invites applications for Individual Postdoctoral Fellowships from racial/ethnic minority individuals, women, persons with disabilities for research on the etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and/or treatment and prevention of transplant rejection.
Concept Review
Eight proposed research emphasis areas (concepts) were presented, discussed and approved.
Asthma, Allergic and Immunologic Diseases Cooperative Research Centers. The purpose of this research emphasis area is to promote and sustain innovative, multidisciplinary, and highly interactive disease-oriented basic and clinical research projects through continued support of the NIAID Asthma, Allergic and Immunologic Diseases Cooperative Research Centers (AAIDCRCs).
The Pathogenesis of Chronic Sinusitis. The purpose of this concept is to investigate the mechanisms by which viral and bacterial infections and non-infectious stimuli result in chronic inflammation and sinusitis, and to use this knowledge to develop new and more effective strategies to treat and prevent sinusitis.
Autoimmunity Centers of Excellence. The objective of this research is to support integrated centers of basic, pre-clinical and clinical research in autoimmunity. Each Autoimmunity Center of Excellence would consist of a multidisciplinary, interactive program of basic research projects focused on elucidation of the basic mechanisms of autoimmunity, understanding of self tolerance and/or immune modulation in autoimmune disease, and an integrated clinical component for piloting of new and novel immunotherapies for autoimmune disease.
Surrogate Markers of Immunologic Diseases. The research purpose is to support the development of immunologic/laboratory markers for risk assessment, diagnosis, disease activity, and/or therapeutic benefit for immunologic diseases, including asthma, allergic and autoimmune diseases, and transplantation rejection. Development of reproducible, and reliable markers for clinical therapeutic benefit are particularly sought.
Clinical Trials for Immune System Mediated Diseases. The objective of this research is to enhance the understanding of the effectiveness and mechanisms of action of immunologic interventions for human immune system mediated diseases which will lead to improved methods of treatment and prevention as well as insights into the pathogenesis of these diseases.
Cooperative Clinical Trial in Pediatric Transplantation. The goal of this research emphasis area is to continue studies to evaluate new and innovative therapeutic approaches, including evaluation of modifications in existing therapies, for enhancing graft acceptance and patient/graft survival among kidney and/or liver transplant recipients up to 18 years of age. Because of the importance of the immune system in graft acceptance/survival, this emphasis area also seeks to enhance basic knowledge about the pediatric immune system and foster the application of such knowledge in the clinical setting.
The Immune Response to Transplants of Cells and Tissues of the Nervous System. The goal of this proposed research emphasis area is to characterize the immunologic response to transplants of cells and tissues of the nervous system and to define the manner and extent to which that response affects successful engraftment. This knowledge will allow more successful use of neuro-cell transplants for a variety of neurological degenerative diseases and injuries.
Application of Data on the HLA System to the Development and Improvement of Vaccines and Influence of HLA and Other Genes on Response to Vaccines. The overall objective of this research emphasis area is to continue investigations to identify and modify the structure of peptides to increase their potency and broaden their specificity with regard to the MHC restriction elements that can recognize them and present them to the human immune system. The result of these efforts should pave the way for testing the feasibility of peptide-based vaccines to prevent and/or treat serious human infectious diseases. Specific diseases that could be targeted with these studies include malaria, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. back to top |