This application requests continued support for a postdoctoral training program for physicians and scientists seeking an intensive research experience in clinical immunology. The trainees will learn to apply advanced technology to specific problems in clinical immunology, with special emphasis on rheumatic, autoimmune, and lymphoproliferative diseases. The long-term objective of the program is to provide the trainees with the technical expertise and scientific judgment that will equip them for academic or research careers in clinical immunology. Each trainee will work together with one of the 10 staff preceptors. The program emphasizes the following areas: (1) the relationship between HLA antigens and rheumatoid arthritis; (2) molecular basis of autoantibody production; (3) mechanisms of joint and cartilage inflammation; (4) immunologic aging, autoimmunity, and lymphoproliferative disease; (5) biochemical basis of immunosuppressive therapy; (6) control of immune responses by gene therapeutics; and (7) pathogenesis of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The research of the staff preceptors is dedicated to the elucidation of the fundamental pathogenic mechanisms that trigger and sustain autoimmune and rheumatic diseases, and to the application of this knowledge toward the development of new therapeutic agents.
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