Breakthroughs in the Basement
Some interesting things are happening down in the basement of the Center for Clinical Sciences Research building at the Stanford University School of Medicine. It might be because the university’s new Human Immune Monitoring Center has just opened.
The unique facility has a simple goal: to extract as much information as possible about a patient’s immune system using just one blood sample. Sounds easy enough, but up until now it has just been a dream for many immunologists.
According to the center’s director, integration is what sets this facility apart from existing immunology laboratories. Unlike other hospital or research labs which typically run one or two specialized tests on a vial of blood, the Human Immune Monitoring Center runs a comprehensive battery of immunological tests and then compiles the data to produce an detailed “snapshot” of the patients overall immune system.
The center’s location may appear humble, but the research happening there is impressive. In addition to the investigations on autism, chronic fatigue syndrome and prostate cancer already going on, the HIMC is striving to create a “roadmap for normalcy” that will provide scientists with a reference point for studying malfunctions in the immune system.
When asked about his location, the director (who came from Agilent Technologies) had this to say,
“Symbolically I love being in the basement. This is all about getting in on the ground floor.”
David Herzberg, PhD
Director, Human Immune Monitoring Center
Source: Stanford School of Medicine News
Related Links: Center for Clinical Immunology at Stanford; Howard Hughes Medical Institute; BD Biosciences; womenshealth.gov; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Related Podcast: SatNav for the immune system from the University of Bath
Tags: C. Garrison Fathman MD; Mark M. Davis MD; HEDCO Foundation; Sidney E. Frank Foundation; microbiology
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