Posted on January 6, 2004 at 10:34 a.m.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has received a five-year, $3.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish an Autoimmunity Center of Excellence — one of four newly named centers and one only nine such centers nationwide. The centers bring together investigators representing diverse disciplines from across the country to conduct basic research and clinical studies aimed at developing new therapies for autoimmune diseases.
"Autoimmune disorders and diseases comprise a significant portion of the healthcare burden in this country,” said Dr. Robert Carter, associate professor of medicine with the division of clinical immunology/rheumatology and director of the UAB center. “NIH created the network of autoimmunity centers to speed translation of basic research into new therapies and to further our understanding of human immunology.”
UAB's long and notable history of basic and clinical study in the field of autoimmune research was a key factor in NIH’s decision to name it a center of excellence. “UAB received the highest score among all institutions applying for this award," Carter said. “We have great expertise and many proven strengths in this area of research.”
The UAB center will undertake three basic research projects with an emphasis on therapeutic manipulation of cytokines and T-cells, components of the immune system that play instrumental roles in the development and progression of autoimmune diseases. “The shared theme of these studies will provide for the sharing of ideas among all researchers involved in the investigations,” Carter said.
In addition to its basic research activities, the center, as part of its grant application, has proposed two clinical studies — one on psoriatic arthritis and one on lupus. “A steering committee of leaders representing all the centers will decide which clinical studies to conduct and which centers will participate based on each center’s expertise,” Carter said. “If one or both of UAB’s proposed clinical studies are selected, the center will receive additional funding to support these trials.”
UAB’s center brings to the table a host of researchers with demonstrated expertise in autoimmune disease research and various specialties. Basic research projects will be led by Dr. Tong Zhou, associate professor of medicine; Judith Thomas, Ph.D., professor of surgery; Dr. Casey Weaver, professor of pathology, and Dr. Charles Elson, professor of medicine. If selected, the psoriatic arthritis trial will be led by Dr. Larry Moreland, professor of medicine with the division of clinical immunology/rheumatology, and the lupus trial by Carter and Zhou.
"Collaborative center projects will unite the expertise of investigators working in diverse areas of human autoimmune disease," said Moreland, director of clinical activities for the UAB center. "Taking part in the development and implementation of these ground-breaking investigations will expand our collective knowledge and place UAB at the forefront of human immunological research."
Other Autoimmunity Centers of Excellence are: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, N.Y.; Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass.; Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Penn.; Columbia University, New York, N.Y.; Duke University, Durham, N.C.; University of California at San Francisco; University of Colorado, Denver; and University of Rochester, N.Y.