|
David A. Relman, M.D., Assistant Professor, Departments of Microbiology/Immunology & Medicine, Stanford University
Dr. Relman explored the connection between infectious agents and chronic diseases. Epidemiologic, clinical, and histologic evidence suggests such associations, varying in how compelling they are for different organisms. Responses to antibiotics in affected patients and insights into mechanisms of pathology further imply a connection. Various methods have been used or are being developed to detect organisms in affected people, including PCR, high-density DNA micro-assays for broad communities of microbes, representational difference analysis, mass spectroscopy, and others. Dr. Relman discussed at length the approach of looking at the host as a mirror of infection and a source of signature markers for the course of infection. Patterns of gene expression can become a signature for different types of infection in the absence of the microbe.
In advising NIAID in how best to further this field, he mentioned fostering multidisciplinary collaborations among scientists in different fields, for example, epidemiologists, clinicians, pathologists, and molecular biologists. Further, the area could benefit from better specimen collection and better sharing of data. |