In immunology, autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents. Any disease resulting from this type of immune response is termed an "autoimmune disease". Prominent examples include celiac disease, diabetes mellitus type 1, Henoch–Schönlein purpura, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren syndrome, eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, Addison's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, polymyositis, dermatomyositis, and multiple sclerosis. Autoimmune diseases are very often treated with steroids.
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) is one of the institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
WEHI, previously known as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, is Australia's oldest medical research institute. Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, who won the Nobel Prize in 1960 for his work in immunology, was director from 1944 to 1965. Burnet developed the ideas of clonal selection and acquired immune tolerance. Later, Professor Donald Metcalf discovered and characterised colony-stimulating factors. As of 2015, the institute hosted more than 750 researchers who work to understand, prevent and treat diseases including blood, breast and ovarian cancers; inflammatory diseases (autoimmunity) such as rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes and coeliac disease; and infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV and hepatitis B and C.
C-C chemokine receptor type 9 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CCR9 gene. This gene is mapped to the chemokine receptor gene cluster region. Two alternatively spliced transcript variants have been described.
The Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research is given annually by Johnson & Johnson to honor the work of an active scientist in academia, industry or a scientific institute in the field of biomedical research. It was established in 2004 and perpetuates the memory of Paul Janssen, the founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary.
Eugene C. "Gene" Butcher is an American immunologist and a professor of pathology at Stanford University School of Medicine.
An autoimmune disease is a condition that results from an anomalous response of the adaptive immune system, wherein it mistakenly targets and attacks healthy, functioning parts of the body as if they were foreign organisms. It is estimated that there are more than 80 recognized autoimmune diseases, with recent scientific evidence suggesting the existence of potentially more than 100 distinct conditions. Nearly any body part can be involved.
Sir Marc Feldmann is an Australian-educated British immunologist. He is a professor at the University of Oxford and a senior research fellow at Somerville College, Oxford.
Michael D. Lockshin is an American professor and medical researcher. He is known for his work as a researcher of autoimmune diseases, with focus on antiphospholipid syndrome and lupus. He is Professor Emeritus of Medicine and the Director Emeritus of the Barbara Volcker Center for Women and Rheumatic Disease at Hospital for Special Surgery. He retired from HSS on January 31, 2023.
John J. O'Shea is an American physician and immunologist.
C. Garrison Fathman is a Professor of Medicine and Division Chief of Immunology and Rheumatology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is also the Associate Director of the Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection and Director of the Center for Clinical Immunology at Stanford University. He was Founder and first-President of the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies. As Director of the CCIS, Dr. Fathman initiated a multidisciplinary approach to study and treat autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, and initiated several new approaches to education and community outreach.
Alessio Fasano is an Italian-born medical doctor, pediatric gastroenterologist and researcher. He currently holds many roles, including professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and professor of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, both in Boston. He serves as director of the Center for Celiac Research and Treatment at MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) and co-director of the Harvard Medical School Celiac Research Program. In addition, he is director of the Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center at MGHfC, where he oversees a research program with approximately 50 scientists and staff researching a variety of acute and chronic inflammatory diseases, including cystic fibrosis, celiac disease, enteric infections and necrotizing enterocolitis. A common theme of these programs is the study of the emerging role of the gut microbiome in health and disease. Fasano is also the scientific director of the European Biomedical Research Institute of Salerno (EBRIS) in Italy. Along with these leadership positions, he is a practicing outpatient clinician in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition and the division chief.
Amita Aggarwal is an Indian clinical immunologist, rheumatologist and a Professor and Head at the Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology of the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow. Known for her studies in autoimmune rheumatic diseases, Aggarwal is a recipient of the Shakuntala Amir Chand Award of the Indian Council of Medical Research and an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, National Academy of Medical Sciences and the National Academy of Medical Sciences. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded her the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for her contributions to biosciences in 2004.
Gabriel A. Rabinovich is an Argentine biochemist who is currently a professor at the School of Exact and Natural Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires. He is also the deputy director of Immunopathology Laboratories, and the head of Structural and Functional Glycomic Laboratories.
Robyn S. Klein is an American neuroimmunologist as well as the Vice Provost and Associate Dean for Graduate Education at Washington University in St. Louis. Klein is also a professor in the Departments of Medicine, Anatomy & Neurobiology, and Pathology & Immunology. Her research explores the pathogenesis of neuroinflammation in the central nervous system by probing how immune signalling molecules regulate blood brain barrier permeability. Klein is also a fervent advocate for gender equity in STEM, publishing mechanisms to improve gender equity in speakers at conferences, participating nationally on gender equity discussion panels, and through service as the president of the Academic Women’s Network at the Washington University School of Medicine.
George C. Tsokos is a Greek-American rheumatologist who serves as a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Chief of the Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston. He is recognized as one of the foremost leaders of modern lupus research with landmark discoveries that have brought understanding of lupus to new levels, shedding light on how the disease develops and progresses over time.
Vijay K. Kuchroo is an Indian-American immunologist and serial entrepreneur. He is the Samuel L. Wasserstrom chair of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women's Hospital. He is also the director of the Evergrande Center for Immunologic Diseases at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
Autoinflammatory diseases (AIDs) are a group of rare disorders caused by dysfunction of the innate immune system. These responses are characterized by periodic or chronic systemic inflammation, usually without the involvement of adaptive immunity.
Fionula Brennan (1957–2012) was an Irish immunologist and Professor of Cytokine Immunopathology at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology.
Iain Blair McInnes is a Scottish rheumatologist, Vice Principal and Head of the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Muirhead Chair of Medicine and Versus Arthritis Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Glasgow. His research has focused on inflammatory diseases, particularly rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis.
