NIAID 50th Anniversary Symposium: Vaccines for Prevention and Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases

National Institute of Allergy and, Infectious DiseasesFOR RELEASE, Thursday, May 28, 1998, Laurie K. Doepel

Did you know that nearly 5 percent of adults in North America suffer from autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, arthritis and lupus?

You are invited to attend a symposium highlighting groundbreaking research being conducted in developing vaccines for these diseases. The symposium will feature leading academic and industry investigators in immunology and autoimmune diseases discussing their current research, and the outlook for using vaccines to prevent and treat these diseases in the future.

The symposium celebrates the 50th anniversary of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and is being held in partnership with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International, numerous other components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and several autoimmune disease organizations.

Classically, a vaccine turns on specific immune responses that prevent a particular infectious disease. More recently, however, scientists have begun investigating how vaccines might also be designed to turn off specific undesirable immune responses that are directed against normal, healthy tissues and result in autoimmune diseases. A variety of approaches to inducing tolerance to target antigens in these healthy tissues or of otherwise modulating these destructive immune responses have been successful in animal models of human autoimmune diseases. Clinical trials in humans are currently being conducted with several agents. Scientists hope that these new approaches may lead to more effective interventions to prevent and treat autoimmune diseases.

The meeting takes place all day Monday, June 8 (see agenda) at the Natcher Conference Center Auditorium (Bldg. 45) on the main NIH campus in Bethesda, Md. No registration is required. Because parking is limited, attendees are encouraged to use Metro. The Medical Center Metro Station is within walking distance of the Natcher Conference Center.

For more information, please call the NIAID Office of Communications at (301) 402-1663.

VACCINES FOR PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES

Natcher Conference Center Auditorium 45 Center Drive National Institute of Health Bethesda, MD

June 8, 1998

NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED

8:05 AM - WELCOME

8:20 AM - A Plan for Vaccination Against Disease (Charles Janeway, M.D., Yale University)

9:10 AM - CD40 As a Central Mediator in Cellular and Humoral Immunity (Randolph J. Noelle, Ph.D., Dartmouth Medical School)

10:00 AM - BREAK

10:20 AM - Mapping Autoantigenic T Cell Epitopes to Prevent Juvenile Diabetes (Hugh McDevitt, M.D., Stanford University)

11:10 AM - Pathways: Immunologic Vaccination for the Prevention of Type Diabetes (George Eisenbarth, M.D., Ph.D., University of Colorado)

NOON - LUNCH

1:30 PM - Spontaneously Developing Arthritis in a TCR Transgenic Model (Diane Mathis, Ph.D., INSERM/Strasbourg)

2:20 PM - Vaccines for Prevention and Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (Dennis A. Carson, M.D., University of California-SD)

3:10 PM - BREAK

3:30 PM - Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases with MHC-Based Therapeutics (Maureen Howard, Ph.D., Anergen)

4:20 PM - Antigen-Specific Immunotherapy in Autoimmune Disease (David Hafler, M.D., Harvard Medical School)

5:10 PM - ADJOURNMENT

SPONSORS:

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases National Institute of Child Health and Human Development National Eye Institute National Institute of Dental Research National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Office of Research on Women's Health, National Institutes of Health Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association Lupus Foundation of America National Multiple Sclerosis Society Arthritis Foundation The S.L.E. Foundation