The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NIAID's mission is to conduct basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.
Immunostimulants, also known as immunostimulators, are substances that stimulate the immune system by inducing activation or increasing activity of any of its components. One notable example is the granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor.
Kiril Tsochev Bratanov was a prominent Bulgarian biologist and pioneer in the area of immunology of reproduction.
Mucosal immunology is the study of immune system responses that occur at mucosal membranes of the intestines, the urogenital tract, and the respiratory system. The mucous membranes are in constant contact with microorganisms, food, and inhaled antigens. In healthy states, the mucosal immune system protects the organism against infectious pathogens and maintains a tolerance towards non-harmful commensal microbes and benign environmental substances. Disruption of this balance between tolerance and deprivation of pathogens can lead to pathological conditions such as food allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, susceptibility to infections, and more.
Zeda Fran Rosenberg is an American microbiologist and epidemiologist, active in HIV biology and prevention. She is the chief executive officer of the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM). IPM was founded by Rosenberg in 2002 and is a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing microbicides and other innovative HIV prevention products and making them available for women in developing countries.
CONRAD is a non-profit organization scientific research organization that works to improve the reproductive health of women, especially in developing countries. CONRAD was established in 1986 under a cooperative agreement between Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) and the United States Agency for International Development(USAID). CONRAD’s products are developed primarily for women in low-resource settings, in that they are designed to be safe, affordable and user-friendly. CONRAD is led by Scientific and Executive Director Gustavo Doncel, M.D., Ph.D. Primary funding for CONRAD comes from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with additional funding from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
HIV/AIDS research includes all medical research that attempts to prevent, treat, or cure HIV/AIDS, as well as fundamental research about the nature of HIV as an infectious agent and AIDS as the disease caused by HIV.
HIV in pregnancy is the presence of an HIV/AIDS infection in a woman while she is pregnant. There is a risk of HIV transmission from mother to child in three primary situations: pregnancy, childbirth, and while breastfeeding. This topic is important because the risk of viral transmission can be significantly reduced with appropriate medical intervention, and without treatment HIV/AIDS can cause significant illness and death in both the mother and child. This is exemplified by data from The Centers for Disease Control (CDC): In the United States and Puerto Rico between the years of 2014–2017, where prenatal care is generally accessible, there were 10,257 infants in the United States and Puerto Rico who were exposed to a maternal HIV infection in utero who did not become infected and 244 exposed infants who did become infected.
Salim S. Abdool Karim, MBChB, MMed, MS(Epi), FFPHM, FFPath (Virol), DipData, PhD, DSc(hc) is a South African public health physician, epidemiologist and virologist who has played a leading role in the AIDS and COVID-19 pandemic. His scientific contributions have impacted the landscape of HIV prevention and treatment, saving thousands of lives
The uterine microbiome is the commensal, nonpathogenic, bacteria, viruses, yeasts/fungi present in a healthy uterus, amniotic fluid and endometrium and the specific environment which they inhabit. It has been only recently confirmed that the uterus and its tissues are not sterile. Due to improved 16S rRNA gene sequencing techniques, detection of bacteria that are present in low numbers is possible. Using this procedure that allows the detection of bacteria that cannot be cultured outside the body, studies of microbiota present in the uterus are expected to increase.
Helen Rees OBE GCOB is a medical researcher and the founder and Executive Director of the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute of the University of Witwatersrand. She has led many HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health studies and advised on vaccination strategies to help prevent various medical conditions.
Satish Kumar Gupta is an Indian immunologist and an Emeritus Scientist at the National Institute of Immunology. Known for his research in reproductive immunology, Gupta is an elected fellow of all the three Indian science academies viz. Indian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, India and Indian National Science Academy He is also a J. C. Bose Fellow of the Department of Biotechnology and an elected fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Medical Sciences in 1997.
The vaginal epithelium is the inner lining of the vagina consisting of multiple layers of (squamous) cells. The basal membrane provides the support for the first layer of the epithelium-the basal layer. The intermediate layers lie upon the basal layer, and the superficial layer is the outermost layer of the epithelium. Anatomists have described the epithelium as consisting of as many as 40 distinct layers. The mucus found on the epithelium is secreted by the cervix and uterus. The rugae of the epithelium create an involuted surface and result in a large surface area that covers 360 cm2. This large surface area allows the trans-epithelial absorption of some medications via the vaginal route.
Norbert Gleicher is an American obstetrician-gynecologist active in obstetrical practice, in vitro fertilization, reproductive endocrinology, and reproductive immunology. He is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (FACOG) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and currently serves as president, medical director and chief scientist of the Center for Human Reproduction (CHR) in New York City, a clinical fertility center that he founded in 1981. Simultaneously, he is President of the Foundation for Reproductive Medicine, a not-for-profit research foundation. Gleicher maintains additional academic appointments at Rockefeller University, and Medical University of Vienna.
Stephen James Challacombe FRC(Path), FDSRCS, FMedSci, is professor of oral medicine at King's College in London, best known for research in oromucosal immunology and for developing the Challacombe scale for measuring the extent of dryness of the mouth. He led the team that laid out research challenges of global health inequalities and oral health, particularly relating to the oral manifestations of HIV.
Sarah Anne Robertson is a fellow of both the Australian Academy of Science and Australian Academy for Health and Medical Sciences, and Professor of Reproductive Immunology at University of Adelaide, Australia, and Director of the Robinson Research Institute. She was an NHMRC fellow for more than 15 years.
Niki M. Moutsopoulos is a Greek periodontist and immunologist. She is a senior investigator in the oral immunity and infection section at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Moutsopoulos specializes in oral immunology and periodontitis. Her research program focuses on host-microbial interactions that can drive chronic inflammatory responses and tissue destruction in the oral cavity.
Sharon Louise Hillier is an American microbiologist. She is the Richard Sweet Endowed Chair in Reproductive Infectious Disease and vice chair of the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and Magee-Women's Research Institute.
Hugh Auchincloss Jr. is an American immunologist and physician serving as the principal deputy director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 2006. He was previously a transplant surgeon and professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and researched at Massachusetts General Hospital for 17 years.
Lisa Cencia Rohan is an American chemist and pharmaceutical scientist.
