The interdisciplinary research center in Immunologic diseases has two major goals. The first is educational and the second the undertaking of fundamental immunologic research on clinically relevant problems related to the pathogenesis of allergic diseases. Through the educational program, the center attempts to improve diagnosis and care of patients with allergic diseases by updating the core of fundamental immunologic knowledge of practicing physicians within the geographic region served by the center. The educational programs include a course of lectures given by the center members in the community hospitals, which covers topics and concepts in basic Immunology followed by lectures which deal with the diagnosis and treatment, and pathogenesis of specific allergic and immunologic diseases. The research involves three areas. Each concerns understanding pathophysiologic or pathogenetic mechanisms underlying a particular allergic and/or immunologic disease. Further, because certain aspects of these projects require fundamental physiochemical and biochemical techniques and expertise, two of the three projects involve co-operative, collaborative research between scientists in the departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, Biochemistry and Chemistry. The projects involve (1) a prospective study of the effects of respiratory syncytial viral infection in infancy on the development of chronic respiratory disease or asthma in later life; (2) a comparative study of the alpha and beta adrenergic receptor number and function on leukocytes in normal and asthmatic individuals; and (3) studies which involve determination of the characteristics of the human autoimmune response and separately, of human monoclonal IgG cryoglobulins.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter