FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2000
Contact: Maria Stearns
(215) 590-4091
[email protected]
Immunologist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Receives National Award in Clinical Laboratory Immunology
Philadelphia, Pa. -- Steven D. Douglas, M.D., director of the Section of Immunology and of the Clinical Immunology Laboratories at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, has been selected to receive the Erwin Neter Award of the Association of Medical Laboratory Immunologists (AMLI). Commemorating the late Erwin Neter, Ph.D., founder of clinical laboratory immunology, this national award recognizes major lifetime accomplishments in this research field. Dr. Douglas received the award and delivered the 2000 AMLI Abbott/Erwin Neter Memorial Lecture on July 13 at the annual AMLI meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The title of this year's lecture, "Monocytes and Natural Killer Cells -- Probes of Innate Immunity and Disease" reflects a major research focus of Dr. Douglas's laboratory over the past 30 years. Monocytes and natural killer cells play crucial roles in the human immune system, and much of Dr. Douglas's work has focused on how defects in the immune system affect these cells. Dr. Douglas established methods for isolating monocytes from human blood and studying their functions. He showed that they develop into macrophages, other important immune system cells.
An internationally recognized authority on inherited and acquired immune deficiencies, Dr. Douglas has developed several major diagnostic tests that are used in clinical laboratories throughout the world. During the past 15 years, he has studied the role of monocytes in HIV infection, and is a leader in the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. He has received dozens of research grants and has produced nearly 400 peer-reviewed scientific publications.
In addition to his positions at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. Douglas is a professor of Pediatrics and associate chair for academic affairs at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the nation's first children's hospital, is a leader in patient care, education and research. This 373-bed multispecialty hospital provides comprehensive pediatric services, including home care, to children from before birth through age 19. The hospital is second in the United States among all children's hospitals in total research funding from the National Institutes of Health.
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