application abstract): Dr. Diamond received his Ph.D. in 1992 (Cell/Dev Biology) and M.D. degree from Harvard University, where he worked with Timothy Springer, who describes him as `an extraordinary level of graduate student that one may see only several times in a lifetime.` The candidate has nineteen publications, eight of these as first author, the first four research done in college and the next fifteen from his Ph.D. work in immunology, focusing on the role of CD11b/CD18 on leukocytes. After graduating from the MD/Ph.D. program he initially began a post-doc to continue his study of integrins in the Drosophila genetic system, but then decided to continue clinical training in order to be able to combine clinical work with basic investigation. Having now completed a residency and in the midst of an infectious diseases fellowship, he requests funding to obtain new training in viral pathogenesis and molecular epidemiology so that he can apply his skills in a system that is new to him. Dr. Diamond is at the very highest level of prior research training and experience that can be considered appropriate for the K08 award. The career development plan is outlined for five years, with courses in epidemiology and biostatistics during phase I, followed by the period of independent research in phase II. The proposed research addresses the role of interferon in infection by dengue virus (DV), both to investigate how IFN modulates DV infection, and how DV alters the IFN response. The candidate proposes to use this award as a vehicle for learning a new area of research that will allow him to add virology and molecular pathogenesis to his knowledge base and to apply his prior research and clinical skills in a novel system.
