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Terry Strom, M.D.
Professor, Department of Medicine
Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Strom talked about the exciting potential of bringing new knowledge about tolerance to the clinic. Tolerance occurs either when specific T-cell clones are deleted or paralyzed, creating a gap in the immune response. T cells fail to respond to antigen in natural circumstances. Thus, understanding and manipulating T-cell programming can lead to cures for diseases, including cancer and infectious diseases, and ways to manage organ transplantation. Dr. Strom felt that it may be necessary to use biologic agents such as monoclonal antibodies to CD4, CD8, and receptors for T-cell growth factors, together with conventional immunosuppressive agents to achieve tolerance and that this is a fertile research area for the future.
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