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Robert Goldstein, M.D.,
Director, DAIT
Dr. Goldstein announced that Dr. Helen Quill who had been serving as Special Assistant to the Office of the Division Director, has assumed the position of Chief, Basic Immunology Branch. Dr. Quill received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, specializing in the isolation and characterization of intestinal carbohydrate metabolism enzymes. As a Howard Hughes Research Associate at Washington University, she studied MHC class II protein structure and the role of invariant chains and carbohydrates in the transport of class II to the cell surface. Dr. Quill's expert standing in the field of T cell immunobiology will provide the Division with valuable scientific knowledge and an added dimension to the current programs.
Dr. Goldstein announced the following scientific initiatives:
National Cooperative Inner-City Asthma Study: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are cosponsoring an RFA to create a cooperative multi-center study to reduce asthma morbidity among under served, inner-city children and adolescents from 4 to 12 years of age. The objective of this cooperative study is to build on the initial Inner-city Asthma counselor intervention by adding interventions aimed at physicians and the environment.
Mucosal Gene Transfer: The NIAID and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases issued an RFA entitled AMucosal and Synovial Gene Transfer in Infection/Inflammation. The purpose was to stimulate investigator initiated research applications targeted at improved methods for transferring genes into cells of mucosal and synovial tissues to augment host defenses and alter inflammatory responses for the treatment or prevention of infectious immunologic diseases.
Cooperative Clinical Trial in Adult Transplantation: The goal of this solicitation is to fund a multi-center, cooperative clinical trial to improve the outcome of kidney transplants in adult populations. The goal of the study is to evaluate new and innovative therapeutic approaches, including modifications in existing therapeutic approaches, for enhancing graft acceptance and patient/graft survival among kidney transplant recipients.
Other Scientific Activities:
National Cooperative Inner-City Asthma Study (NCICAS): The objective of NCICAS Phase I (November 1992 - June 1994) was to identify intervenable factors determining asthma severity and morbidity among inner-city children. Preliminary analyses from 1,528 children have been completed.
The preliminary results have revealed:
- Knowledge about asthma is high, but asthma self-management skills are poor or lacking.
- High cockroach allergen levels exist in inner-city homes. These results contrast with prior studies of U.S. homes which found dust mite to be the predominant allergen.
- Asthma morbidity correlates with:
- Allergen sensitivity - especially cockroach
- Levels of cockroach antigen in the homes of severe asthmatics
- Lack of access to medical care
- Poor self-management skills
Workshop on Inner-City Asthma and the Environment: The Workshop on Inner-City Asthma and the Environment was held in May 1995 and was jointly sponsored by the NIAID, the NIEHS and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The purpose of the workshop was to bring together investigators involved in asthma intervention projects among minority populations.
Community Asthma Day: On October 6, 1995, Howard University held a half-day program entitled Asthma Awareness Day. This program was designed to be a fun way to teach asthma management techniques to asthmatic children in the DC school system. More that 300 children attended this event. Asthma Awareness Day was jointly sponsored by the NIAID, NHLBI, DC school system, asthma organizations, drug companies and community organizations.
Sinusitis: Bench to Bedside: This meeting was sponsored by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, INC. (AAOHNS), and NIAID. The meeting was held in Phoenix, AZ on January 19-21, 1996. A summary of the conference will be published in the AJournal of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery@ and the AJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Paul Ehrlich Symposium: NIAID is co-sponsoring, with the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), AAAAI, Paul Ehrlich Institute, Fogarty International Center, International Union of Immunologic Societies, IAACI, and APMA, the APaul Ehrlich Symposium on Regulatory Control and Standardization of Allergenic Extracts: Scientific Considerations.@ This meeting will be in Bethesda, MD, March 11-13, 1996. This symposium will review pathogenesis of allergic diseases, allergens and their use in diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases, standardization of biological reagents, and the role of regulatory agencies.
Asthma in the Elderly: The Asthma, Allergy and Inflammation Branch of the Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation (DAIT), NIAID has been participating , with the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) and NHLBI in preparing a publication addressing asthma in the older adult. This brochure is now ready for publication by NAEPP.
Inflammation: Dr. Daniel Rotrosen, Chief, Asthma, Allergy and Inflammation Branch, DAIT, NIAID was an invited participant at the UK Medical Research Council Topic Review on Inflammation held in Oxford, November, 1995. A detailed report of the review will be presented to MRC Research boards and MRC Council as a component of the MRC strategic planning process.
The Twelfth Symposium on Contemporary Topics in Immunology: This meeting will be held at the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Annual meeting in New Orleans in June 1996. The meeting is sponsored by the NIAID, the AAI and the Clinical Immunology society and will be co-chaired by Drs. Helen Quill, Arnold Levinson and Paul Kincade.
Workshop on Grantsmanship: The Basic Immunology Branch, DAIT, NIAID will again organize this workshop at the AAI Annual meeting. 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 4-6, 1995 in Seattle, WA. The U.S. Board members hosted this meeting, and in addition to the Japanese Board members, approximately 10 ad hoc scientists were invited to participate.
Cytokines in Inflammation and Disease: NIAID and the AAAAI sponsored a symposium entitled ACytokines in Inflammation and Disease A on December 8, 1995 at the NIH. The purpose was to provide an update on the current status of this exciting and rapidly moving field for both researchers and clinicians.
National Study to Improve the Characterization of the HLA System in African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans: Preliminary results from this study were presented at the annual American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI) meeting that took place in Dallas, TX in October, 1995. The results relate to HLA data from the National Marrow Donor Program registry and its impact on the prospects for members of different racial groups to find unrelated marrow donors.
The American Society of Transplant Physicians (ASTP)/The American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS): Dr. Rose, Chief, Genetics and Transplantation Branch, DAIT, NIAID participated in a session entitled ATransplant Immunobiology: Tolerance Induction. Both Drs. Goldstein and Rose discussed with the Executive committees of ASTP and ASTS at their 1995 annual meeting, current issues in transplantation research and changes in funding mechanisms and the future of transplantation research funding at the NIAID.
Review Of Asthma Research In Niaid And Other Institutes: An overview of NIAID=s activities in this area was provided by Dr. Daniel Rotrosen, Chief, Asthma, Allergy, and Inflammation Branch, DAIT, NIAID.
Current Research And Future Directions -- Vaccines For Immunologic Diseases: An overview of NIAID=s activities in this area was provided by Drs. Howard Dickler, Chief, Clinical Immunology Branch, DAIT, NIAID and Regina Rabinovich, Assistant Director, Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, NIAID.
Invited Council members and guests presented their current research efforts: Dr. Howard Weiner, Co-Director, Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women=s Hospital, Harvard Medical School: Oral Tolerance: Immunologic Mechanisms and Treatment of Animal and Human Autoimmune Diseases; Dr. Caroline Whitacre, Professor and Chair, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Ohio State University: Oral Tolerance for Autoimmune Disease; Dr. Rachel R. Caspi, Chief, Immunoregulation Section, Laboratory of Immunology, National Eye Institute: Oral Tolerance for Uveitis in Animal Models and Man; Dr. George Eisenbarth, Executive Director, Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diseases, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center: Self Antigen Vaccines in Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM); Dr. Philip Norman, Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Asthma and Allergy Center: Protein and Peptide Therapy for Allergy; Dr. Eyal Raz, Assistant Research Immunologist, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego: Inhibition of IgE Synthesis by IntraDermal DNA Vaccination; Dr. Judith Thomas, Professor of Surgery and Director, Histocompatibility Laboratory, Department of Surgery, University of Alabama: Use of Bone Marrow Cells to Enhance Solid Organ Graft Survival.
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