Founded
in 1988, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology
(LIAI) is one of only a few non-profit biomedical research institutes in the
world focused on understanding the immune response to infectious agents
and cancers and on advancing progress toward the prevention, treatment
and cure of immune system diseases.
"Sometimes in science there are so many people trying to answer the
same question that it's good to stray off in another direction,"
Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D., LIAI president and chief scientific officer.
"Taking the road less traveled can bring its voyagers to unexpected -
and even groundbreaking - new territory."
LIAI's researchers, many of them world-renowned scientists, are
exploring the body's defense system at the molecular and cellular
levels. We are making important discoveries about how the immune system
works and the causes of immune system disorders. By unraveling the
complexities of the immune system, LIAI researchers are providing
critical insights that are moving science closer to the prevention,
treatment and cure of numerous illnesses including infectious diseases
and cancer, as well as immune system disorders such as diabetes,
arthritis and multiple sclerosis.
OUR MISSION
The La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology is dedicated to
increasing knowledge and improving human health through studies of the
immune system. Our essential purpose is to expand our understanding of
how the immune system works and to discover the causes of immune system
disorders. The knowledge gained through our biomedical research can, in turn lead
to the prevention, treatment and cure of a wide range of human diseases.
BREAKTHROUGHS
A Cure for Type 1 Diabetes
Matthias von Herrath, M.D., is edging closer to a goal - a cure for
type 1 diabetes. Von Herrath and his fellow researchers' development of
a combination therapy is showing significant promise in type 1 diabetes
when caught in the early stages. Work on this promising research continues, with clinical testing currently under way on each of the combination therapy components individually. If required government approvals are received, human clinical trials of the combination therapy are planned. Read more
Emerging and Infectious Disease
The La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology launched the Center
for Infectious Disease in 2006, focusing research efforts on new and
re-emerging infectious diseases such as West Nile virus and avian flu,
along with potential bioterrorist agents such as smallpox. Led by
renowned vaccine expert Alessandro Sette, Ph.D. and principal
investigator Bjoern Peters, Ph.D., the Center for Infectious Diseases
is home to the world's largest database on how the immune system
responds to infectious diseases, the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB). Read more
Key Role in Biodefense
Shane Crotty, Ph.D., a principal investigator at La Jolla Institute for
Allergy & Immunology, identified an antibody that could be the
nation's first line of defense in protecting against a terrorist
smallpox outbreak. Crotty's work is one of several La Jolla Institute
for Allergy & Immunology projects under way that play a key role in
the nation's biodefense efforts. In 2005, while studying long term
immunological memory to the smallpox vaccine, Crotty identified the
anti-H3 antibody in humans that quickly fights the smallpox virus.
This is a vital finding since the younger portion of the U.S.
population is not vaccinated (routine U.S. smallpox immunization ended
in 1972). Crotty is currently analyzing how to mass-produce the
antibody so it may be stockpiled nationally, along with the smallpox
vaccine. Read more
Natural Killer T-Cells and Lyme Disease
Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D., found that a bacteria transmitted by the
tick bite, and which causes Lyme disease, stimulates an immune attack
by the NKT cells - a major discovery considering this is the first
disease-causing microorganism (and only the third substance on earth)
known to naturally activate NKT cells. Read more
More Breakthroughs
OUR FACILITY
The La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology is located in UC San
Diego's Science Research Park and is a world-class biomedical research institute covering
145,000 square feet. Our space provides an open laboratory setting that
encourages La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology's highly
collaborative research environment. Specialized research rooms are
suited for
all aspects of molecular and cellular biology and feature larger lab
areas that can support critical technologies and infrastructure. These
technologies include highly sophisticated instrumentation for analysis
at the atomic, genetic, protein and cellular levels - all of which are
critical to advancing understanding of immune system disease. More about the UCSD Science Research Park
