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Daniel Rotrosen, M.D., Director, DAIT
Dr. Rotrosen announced the following new staff: Kenneth Adams, M.D. has joined the DAIT as Chief of the Asthma and Inflammation Section, Asthma, Allergy and Inflammation Branch. Dr. Adams received his Ph.D. in pulmonary physiology and pharmacology from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and completed his post-doctoral training at the University of Kentucky and at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Dr. Adams' research focused on pulmonary immunopharmacology, including studies demonstrating the central role of cysteinyl leukotrienes in antigen-induced bronchospasm. Dr. Adams subsequently directed a pulmonary inflammation research section at Schering-Plough Research Institute where he was responsible for preclinical studies aimed at the development of anti-cytokine reagents for the treatment of asthma. Prior to joining the Division, Dr. Adams served as Director of Extramural Student Support at Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, with a faculty appointment in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology.
Jeannie Borger has joined the Division as Special Assistant to the Division Director. Ms. Borger served as a program analyst with the National Institute on Drug Abuse for eight years specializing in legislative and Congressional activities.
Pamela Adewunmi joined the staff of the Division as a Program Assistant in the Office of Program Planning, Operations and Scientific Information. Prior to joining NIAID, Ms. Adewunmi served as a Grants Technical Assistant with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) where she was responsible for the planning, administration and organization of NIH advisory committee meetings.
Dr. Rotrosen announced the following scientific activities:
SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES
Innovative Research in Human Mucosal Immunity: The NIAID issued a Request for Applications (RFA) to support exploratory/developmental research projects focused on human mucosal immunity. The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America are cosponsoring this RFA. This solicitation seeks to enhance understanding of the human mucosal immune system by increasing the number of innovative and novel projects and by attracting new investigators to this field.
Update on Inner-City Asthma Study: This study (1996-2000), co-funded by NIAID and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, consists of 7 asthma centers (Boston, Bronx, Chicago, Dallas, New York, Seattle and Tucson) and a Data Coordinating Center. The study recently completed recruitment of 950 children with moderate and severe asthma, ages 5-11, to evaluate the effectiveness of two interventions: a communication/ physician education protocol, and an educational intervention combined with professional cockroach extermination to reduce exposure to indoor allergens and environmental tobacco smoke. The children will undergo 1 year of active interventions and 1 additional year of follow-up.
Inner City Asthma and Pollution: In collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the effects of pollutants on asthma will be tested among the children enrolled in the Inner-City Asthma Study. Indoor and outdoor levels of airborne particulate matter and co-pollutants, such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide and environmental tobacco smoke, will be correlated with asthma symptoms and measurements of pulmonary function.
Interagency Committee for Emergency Medical Services for Children Research (ICER): NIAID has joined the ICER to coordinate research on emergency medical services for children. One important focus of this committee is emergency medical services for asthma. The committee is under the aegis of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, EMSC Program of the Health Resources and Services Administration. Membership also includes the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Nursing Research, the National Institute of Mental Health and other government agencies, including the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Education.
Asthma Symposia: NIAID is organizing symposia on asthma at both the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) meeting in San Diego in March 2000 and at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) meeting in Toronto in May 2000. The symposium at the AAAAI meeting will include an update on the Inner-City Asthma Study and several presentations dealing with novel, immune-based therapeutic interventions for asthma and other allergic diseases. The symposium at the ATS meeting will focus on early life risk factors for the development of asthma. In addition, NIAID is organizing and sponsoring a special workshop at the AAAAI meeting entitled "The Role of Animal Models in Understanding the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Asthma." The purpose of this session is to compare experimental data from various asthma models and examine their potential relevance to human asthma.
Subcommittee on Air Quality Research: NIAID is participating in monthly meetings of the Subcommittee on Air Quality Research of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR). The purpose of this group, chaired by Dr. Dan Albritton of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is to develop a strategy to coordinate federal particulate matter (PM)-related research. In response to a directive from the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the subcommittee has now expanded its charge to include health effects and exposure research activities and includes representatives from NIAID, NIEHS, NHLBI, NIOSH, CDC and ATSDR.
Annual U.S.-Japan Immunology Board Meeting: The seventeenth annual joint meeting of the U.S. and Japanese Immunology Boards of the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program was held in San Francisco on June 27 & 28, 1999. This meeting was held in conjunction with the 34th Tuberculosis-Leprosy Research Conference. For the first time, the Immunology Boards joined with the U.S.-Japan Tuberculosis and Leprosy Panels in order to maximize exchange of scientific information among basic and applied immunological investigators.
Workshop on Human Immune Response Genes: NIAID and the NIH Office of Rare Diseases will hold a workshop in Bethesda on September 27, 1999, to address obstacles to identification and characterization of genes that control the immune response. Overlapping genetic loci in multiple autoimmune diseases, of which the MHC is the best example, likely contain gene families contributing to susceptibility and protection from immune-mediated diseases. A group of internationally recognized experts in genetics and autoimmunity will consider how collaboration and coordination can be facilitated in this area.
Bioinformatic Analyses: Joining Clinical and Gene Expression Data to Better Understand Transplant Rejection and Graft Survival: The Genetics and Transplantation Branch is establishing a new scientific study to gain insights into graft survival and the processes of rejection. These studies will use bioinformatics to co-analyze clinical and gene expression data, either from RT-PCR or gene chip studies, to uncover the underlying mechanisms responsible for acute and chronic graft rejection and long-term graft survival. This endeavor will use data derived from patients enrolled in the NIAID-supported Cooperative Clinical Trials in Kidney Transplantation, supplemented with clinical data from the Transplantation Scientific Registry, currently managed by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) under contract to the Federal Government. This project is a partnership among NIAID, Motorola Corporation's Software Division and Oceania Corporation, a leading supplier of medical records systems.
Non-Human Primate Transplant Tolerance Cooperative Study Group: The NIAID and NIDDK are cooperatively supporting a multi-center, cooperative research program to evaluate existing and new tolerance induction treatment regimens and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of the induction, maintenance and/or loss of tolerance in non-human primate models of kidney and islet transplantation. The goals of this research program are to: (1) evaluate further the safety, toxicity and efficacy of existing tolerance induction regimens; (2) evaluate the safety, toxicity and efficacy of new tolerance induction regimens; (3) define the underlying mechanisms of action of the therapeutic approaches under investigation; and (4) develop and validate immune and/or surrogate markers of the induction, maintenance and loss of tolerance, graft function, graft acceptance and graft survival.
NIAID Tetramer Facility: A NIAID Tetramer Facility has been established through the NIH AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program. This facility provides custom synthesis and distribution of soluble MHC I/peptide tetramer reagents that can be used to stain antigen specific CD8 T cells. Investigators can apply for tetramer reagents through the NIAID Tetramer Facility web site.
Biomarkers and Surrogate Endpoints: Advancing Clinical Research and Applications The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) organized a meeting, held on April 15-16, 1999 at NIH, to discuss the prospects for the development of new biomarkers and surrogate endpoints in clinical research. DAIT staff played a major role in the development of this meeting.
Asthma Center Directors Meeting: The biannual meeting of the directors of the NIAID-sponsored Asthma Centers was held on June 10-11, 1999. This meeting, co-sponsored by NIAID and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), focused on the status of the Inner City Asthma Study, the role of allergens and pollutants in asthma and allergy, the causes of asthma in early life, and the future of allergen immunotherapy.
Environmental Protection Agency Asthma Workshop: NIAID participated in a meeting, sponsored by EPA's Office of Research and Development, entitled "Asthma: The Regional Science Issues," held in Washington, D.C. June 15-17, 1999. This meeting discussed basic aspects of asthma and the linkage between environmental factors and asthma. NIAID will present information obtained from the Inner-City Asthma Study.
Healthy Homes Initiative: NIAID is collaborating with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (Office of Lead Hazard Control), National Center for Environmental Health, Center for Disease Control, EPA, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and NIEHS, in joining the Healthy Homes Initiative Task Force. This task force is a result of President Clinton's Executive Order on Children's Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks, and focuses on improving children's health by identifying and implementing housing-based interventions. Among the areas of particular interest to NIAID, the task force will consider moisture control and other means to control levels of indoor house dust mite, cockroach, and mold.
American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, April 17-22, 1999: The fifteenth annual Symposium on Contemporary Topics in Immunology was held and cosponsored by NIAID, AAI and the Clinical Immunology Society. Dr. Helen Quill, Chief, Basic Immunology Branch, chaired this symposium. This year's symposium included a presentation by the NIAID Director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, on the immunobiology of host defense in HIV/AIDS, as well as presentations on primary immunodeficiency diseases, mechanisms of T cell tolerance in pregnancy, and the molecular regulation of T cell activation.
Workshop on Alloimmunization as a Strategy for Vaccine Design against HIV/AIDS: Dr. Charles Hackett, Chief, Molecular and Structural Immunology Section co-organized a workshop with the Division of AIDS, NIAID, to discuss alloimmunization as a potential vaccine strategy against HIV infection and AIDS. This workshop included a number of invited experts in the field, and was held on May 6, 1999.
Hyperaccelerated Award/Mechanisms in Immune Disease Trials - Update: In May, 1998, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) issued RFA AI-98-006 entitled: "Hyperaccelerated Award/Mechanisms in Immune Disease Trials" in order to support mechanistic studies of immunologic and other parameters in patient samples from clinical trials in these diseases. Such studies are frequently not done and represent a unique opportunity to conduct scientific research in human subjects. This RFA is co-sponsored by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), and the Office of Research and Women's Health (ORWH). To date, 14 applications have been received. All funded applications have been co-funded by 2 or more of the co-sponsors. This pilot project will be renewed for FY 2000.
New Immunotherapies for Autoimmune Diseases Symposium:On April 9-10,1999, the NIAID held a unique meeting on New Immunotherapies for Autoimmune Diseases for both scientists and lay individuals. Both the lay individuals and scientists who attended were very enthusiastic about the interaction afforded at the meeting and felt more meetings of this type should be held to enhance communication and emphasize our partnership in research and treatment of these diseases.
Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation Program Updates: Dr. Rotrosen gave a general overview of the Division's portfolio, funding mechanisms and allocation of resources. Drs. Quill, Seyfert, Hackett, Plaut, Collier, Rose and Ms. Blustein from the Basic Immunology, Asthma, Allergy and Inflammation, Clinical Immunology and Genetics and Transplantations Branches, presented a more detailed analysis of their individual portfolios or programs describing the different areas of investigation, mechanisms of funding, allocation of resources, and major accomplishments.
Concept Review: Two concepts were presented and approved.
Clinical Coordinating Center for Cooperative Clinical Trials in Pediatric Kidney Transplantation: This initiative will renew NIAID's Clinical Coordinating Center to support the NIAID Cooperative Clinical Trials in Pediatric Transplantation (CCTPT). The CCTPT will continue studies through 2004 to evaluate new and innovative therapeutic approaches, including evaluation of modifications in existing therapies, and for enhancing graft acceptance and patient/graft survival for kidney transplant recipients up to 21 years of age. The Clinical Coordinating Center will require two additional years of support beyond the CCTPT to complete patient follow up, data analysis and publication of study results.
Program Projects in the Immunopathogenesis of Chronic Graft Rejection: Renewal of NIAID's Program Projects in the Immunopathogenesis of Chronic Graft Rejection is proposed to continue collaborative research between immunologists and clinical investigators to elucidate the important cellular and molecular events of both the induction and effector phases of chronic solid organ graft rejection, and to develop improved therapeutic approaches to enhance long-term graft survival. Support will be provided for basic research and preclinical studies of animal models applicable to the treatment and/or prevention of human chronic graft rejection and studies directly relevant to understanding the underlying basic mechanisms of chronic rejection. back to top |