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Daniel Rotrosen, M.D., Director
Dr. Rotrosen announced the following new staff members and scientific activities:
Christine Czarniecki, Ph.D. Dr. Czarniecki joined the division in November 2002 as director of regulatory affairs in the Office of Clinical Applications. Dr. Czarniecki received her Ph.D. in microbiology from Georgetown University Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and was a post-doctoral staff fellow at NIH. She has over 21 years’ experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including positions at Genentech, Inc., ICOS Corporation, Axys Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and most recently InterMune Inc. where she served as vice president of regulatory affairs.
Sue Yuan, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Yuan joined the Office of Clinical Applications in January 2003 as a senior regulatory affairs officer. Dr. Yuan received her M.D. and Master of Medicine (pharmacology) from Beijing Medical University. She received her Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Toronto. Prior to joining the Division, Dr. Yuan was a regulatory scientist at Aventis Pasteur Limited.
Cheryl Kraft, M.S. Ms. Kraft joined the Basic Immunology Branch in March 2003 as a senior program officer for bioinformatics and biodefense. She holds a Master’s degree in information and telecommunications systems from Johns Hopkins University has 20 years of experience in the fields of computer science and bioinformatics. Prior to joining the division, Ms. Kraft was a senior software manager at Celera Genomics, with the responsibility for genomic data and software systems.
Shan R. McCollough, M.Ed. Ms. McCollough joined the Office of Program Planning, Operations, and Scientific Information, in January 2003, as a program analyst. Ms. McCollough who has a Master’s degree in educational psychology, was the lead research coordinator for the FAST Track project, a national longitudinal intervention project aimed at preventing conduct disorders in children, conducted by the University of Washington in Seattle.
Annette L. Rothermel, Ph.D. Dr. Rothermel joined the Clinical Immunology Branch as a program officer in January 2003. She received her Ph.D. in microbiology/immunology from Thomas Jefferson University, and completed her post-doctoral research training at The Scripps Research Institute. Before joining the division, Dr. Rothermel held appointments at the R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute, and the Yale University School of Medicine, where she conducted research on mechanisms of immune response regulation in autoimmune disease, organ transplant rejection, chronic inflammation, and cancer.
Karina Allbritton Ms. Allbritton joined the Office of Program Planning, Operation and Scientific Information in February as a program specialist. Her responsibilities include providing support for the meetings of the Advisory Council Subcommittee on Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation and providing assistance to the planning and management of the RMS and operating budgets for DAIT.
Linna Ding, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Ding joined the division in February 2003 as a medical officer in the Office of Clinical Applications. Dr. Ding received her M.D. from Southeast University School of Medicine, Nanjing, China and her Doctor of Medical Science degree from Nagoya University School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan. Prior to coming to the United States, Dr. Ding was assistant professor in the department of immunology, Nagoya University School of Medicine. Following an eight year fellowship in the NIAID Laboratory of Immunology, Dr. Ding served as principle investigator in the Center For Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), FDA, and subsequently as a medical officer in the immunology and infectious disease branch, division of clinical trial design and analysis, CBER, FDA.
SCIENTIFIC INITIATIVES
Innovative Grants on Immune Tolerance: RFA: AI-03-010: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), invite applications for exploratory/development research project grants to support novel work on the molecular mechanisms and applications of antigen-specific immune tolerance, which is the selective and long-term inactivation of immune responses.
NIAID Richard M. Asofsky Scholars in Research Award: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), DHHS invites applications from current NIAID grantees (principal investigators) to apply for the Richard M. Asofsky Scholars in Research (ASIR). Dr. Asofsky served NIH and NIAID with distinction and energy for 37 years, a major part being spent improving research training programs. This announcement has been created to represent and honor his dedication to bring underrepresented minorities into the biomedical sciences. The ASIR Program is to provide supplemental funding to NIAID extramural principal investigators for the purpose of supporting underrepresented minority high school and college students in their research laboratories to expose them to research career opportunities in the areas of allergy, immunology, transplantation, microbiology, and infectious diseases, including AIDS.
Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Disease Research Opportunities: This program announcement replaces notice (NOT-AI-02-023) Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Opportunities, published in the NIH Guide on May 17, 2002. This PA is intended to encourage the submission of investigator-initiated research grant applications in biodefense and select emerging infectious diseases. The goal is to expedite research leading to the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases caused by potential bioterrorism agents.
DIVISION ACTIVITIES
NIAID/AAAAI Symposium: Molecular Mechanisms of Asthma – Tracking Targets from Mouse to Man: On March 7, 2003, NIAID co-sponsored a daylong symposium at the 60th Annual AAAAI meeting in Denver that highlighted recent advances in asthma research. The program featured presentations by basic scientists and clinical researchers and covered a wide range of scientific areas, including genetics of asthma, lung structure and function, inflammation and immunomodulation.
NIAID/AAAAI Workshop: Allergen Exposure: NIAID sponsored a workshop on March 9, 2003 at the 60th Annual AAAAI Meeting. This workshop discussed the relationship of allergen exposure to the development of asthma and allergy, and also effects of allergen on asthma severity in the NIAID-NIEHS Inner City Asthma Study, including the relationship between allergen exposure and asthma morbidity, and the capacity of an environmental intervention both to reduce allergen exposure and asthma severity.
NIAID/ATS Symposium: NIAID sponsored a symposium on May 18 at the 2003 Annual ATS Meeting highlighting updated results of the NIAID-NIEHS Inner City Asthma Study and the Inner City Asthma Pollution Study, including the capacity of environmental intervention both to reduce allergen exposure and asthma severity, and the effects of indoor and outdoor pollutant exposure on asthma morbidity.
Asthma 2003 Meeting: On June 19-21, 2003, NIAID will participate with other NIH institutes, and federal and non-federal organizations, under the leadership of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) at a conference in Washington, “Asthma 2003-Meeting the Challenge of Healthy People 2010: Preventing and Controlling Asthma.”
Food Allergy Expert Panel Meeting: On June 30 and July 1, 2003, in Bethesda, NIAID will hold an Expert Panel meeting on Food Allergy. This meeting is intended to integrate basic, pre-clinical and clinical research, to identify both important knowledge gaps, and opportunities for developing promising new research directions.
Imaging Technology and Study of Immune Function Workshop: On April 8 and 9, 2003, the NIAID hosted a workshop of grantees and other invited scientists to present recent results on imaging technologies to study immune function. Among other topics, the presentations included non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging techniques, high-resolution 4D imaging of immune cell interactions, and microPET imaging and quantitative analysis with applications to a variety of immune-mediated diseases.
American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Annual Meeting: The nineteenth annual Symposium on Contemporary Topics in Immunology, cosponsored by the NIAID and the AAI, was held as part of the Annual AAI Meeting that convened in Denver, CO, from May 6-10, 2003. This year’s symposium included presentations on imaging technologies for immunology research, random mutagenesis in mice to identify regulatory pathways that control immune tolerance and activation, and topics on innate immunity.
The NIAID and AAI also cosponsored a workshop on Funding Opportunities in Biodefense for Immunologists to inform the research community of special programs under which they might obtain funding to conduct research on immunological questions related to bioterrorist threat agents and emerging and re-emerging infectious pathogens.
The NIAID also sponsored a focus group meeting at the conference to discuss NIAID/NIH policies and issues of concern to basic and clinical research extramural investigators. Topics of discussion included expectations regarding future NIH budgets, the ongoing reorganization of the CSR immunology study sections, and the process by which the NIAID selects special funding programs for targeted research.
Workshop on Environmental Factors in Autoimmune Disease: NIAID, in cooperation with NIEHS, NIAMS, the Office of Rare Diseases, the Office of Women’s Health, the American Autoimmune Related Disease Association, and the Environmental Protection Agency, organized a workshop on February 4-5 to discuss recent progress in and potential future directions for research related to environmental influences on autoimmunity and autoimmune diseases. While a variety of environmental factors, including infectious agents and chemicals, have been linked to the development of autoimmune diseases both in humans and in animal models, the mechanisms by which environmental factors interact with the immune system are still unclear. Plenary presentations at the workshop highlighted recent studies in epidemiology of autoimmune diseases, gene-environment interactions, and immunological effects of environmental chemicals.
NIAID-Sponsored Clinical Initiatives in Transplantation in Patients with Chronic, Progressive Diseases
Division staff presented a highly stimulating discussion on current issues of NIAID-Sponsored Clinical Initiatives in Transplantation in Patients with Chronic Progressive Diseases. Discussant Josiah Wedgwood, M.D., Ph.D., chief, immunodeficiency and immunopathology section, Clinical Immunology Branch opened the discussion with Stem Cell Transplantation in Lupus and Scleroderma and Nancy Bridges, M.D., chief, clinical transplantation section, Transplantation Immunology Branch discussed the latest developments in Liver and Kidney Transplantation in HIV-Infected Recipients.
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