|
|
MISSION: UC Irvine Center for Immunology
| |
The UCI Center for Immunology currently
comprises thirty-five faculty members from the School
of Biological Sciences and the School of Medicine,
whose research and instructional efforts are in immunology.
It integrates the immunological research and educational
activities of multiple departments, including Molecular
Biology and Biochemistry, Microbiology and Molecular
Genetics, Physiology and Biophysics, Pathology, Medicine,
and Neurology. The activities of the UCI Center for
Immunology extend to synergize with allied areas of
research including biomedical engineering, public health
and physical rehabilitation.
The immune system plays a crucial role not only in fighting
infectious pathogens, but also in other disease states,
including cancer, as well as systemic and organ-specific
autoimmune conditions, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis,
scleroderma and diabetes. It is one of the best utilized
systems for discovering the pathways/mechanisms that
govern development in biological systems. The study
of immunology has been both a source of important discoveries
for many fields of biology, medicine, and public health,
and a reservoir for the design/generation of exquisitely
specific reagents that are of ever-increasing importance
in diagnostics, research and therapeutics. The development
of vaccines against common infectious diseases, which
began in the nineteenth century, has substantially increased
life expectancy, particularly in those regions of the
world where vaccines are available. On the other hand,
the emergence of human immunodeficiency virus and the
resulting failure of the immune system in AIDS threaten
to decimate populations, particularly in the developing
world. Thus, immunology is a field of continuously expanding
importance, scientifically, economically and socially.
Research in immunology has led to the discovery of unique
molecular processes, such as gene rearrangement and
variation, for which many Nobel prizes have been awarded
including those to Emil von Behring (recipient of the
first Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine), Karl
Landsteiner, Gerald Edelman, Cesar Milstein, Sosumu
Tonegawa, Niels Jerne, Baruji Benaceraff, Jean Dausset,
Rolf Zinkernagel and Peter Doherty.
The major mandate of the Center for Immunology is to
consolidate and further the research and training/instructional
efforts in immunology at UCI, thereby promoting the
rapid development of world-class research and outstanding
graduate and medical training programs in immunology.
Immunologists continue to lead the way in unveiling the
nature of host-pathogen interactions and in the research
of extra-cellular signaling molecules (cytokines) and
intracellular signaling pathways (signal transduction)
important in health and disease. Immunology is an exceedingly
important science that is currently undergoing a tremendous
expansion and will undoubtedly be at the cutting edge
of scientific endeavor for the foreseeable future.
|
|
