IMMUNE INSTITUTE BATTLES AND WINS COVETED GRANT LJIAI SIGNS $25M CONTRACT
By Tanya Kurland
Villiage News
2004 - Scientists all over the world will find it easier to gather and analyze research on immunology cells, microbes and vaccines thanks to the efforts of the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, which has received a seven-year, $25 million contract to develop an Immune Epitope Database.
The funds were granted from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
"I was honored. The contest for the contract is probably not something that just any group can qualify for, to begin with," said Dr. Stephen Wilson, director of information and research technology and deputy principal investigator. "You are competing against other preeminent groups out there ... Obviously when we were awarded the grant, we were elated."
An epitope is a small site on a larger molecule that is the focus of an immune response. Data from the project will allow researchers to quickly access key information on the way the body responds to microbes, especially those responsible for emerging infectious diseases such as SARS and West Nile virus, or potential bioterrorist threats involving "germ warfare."
The database will also allow scientists to share information with peers, provide an important tool for understanding the immune response to disease-causing microorganisms, and for the development and improvement of vaccines. This resource will assist scientists in measuring immune reactions, developing diagnostic methods, designing and evaluating new vaccines, understanding how certain microbes can escape immune reactions, and gaining insight into what constitutes a successful immune response.
"It is like having a Library of Congress...and all of the people who needed the information can have access to it," Wilson said.
Founded in 1988, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology is a non-profit medical research center dedicated to increasing knowledge and improving human health through studies of the immune system. Researchers at the institute carry out studies on human immune response designed to understand and develop cures for autoimmune diseases and allergies, as well as research to improve vaccine development.
"We tend to do research that has the greatest impact for human health because it feels like it is the right thing to do, but also that's where most of the collaborations and collateral knowledge resides," Wilson said.
The immune system is the core system in the body that protects a person from infection and regulates normal healthy growth of cells. When an infectious microorganism is introduced into the body, immediately the organism, such as a virus, multiplies.
"If you are infected with a virus or bacteria, it is your immune system that must kick into gear using a whole multitude of cells to identify things as a threat and destroy them," Wilson explained.
The database is expected to be completed by October 2005. The contract should create at least 10 positions at the institute and more at its three local subcontractors, the University of California, San Diego Supercomputer Center, Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) and The Scripps Research Institute. Scientists from the University of Copenhagen will also participate. Dr. Alessandro Sette, head of the division of Vaccine Discovery at the institute, is heading the project.
"We are forced to try and solve disease without knowing everything," Wilson said. "Sometimes we leap-frog and make assumptions and try to short-cut the process. But in the end we are going to have to understand things in great detail if we are going to conquer the really tough problems...This database is the first step in doing that."