Therapeutic Manipulation of Adaptive Autoimmunity

Speaker:
Prof Salvatore Albani
Professor and Director of Translational Research, Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (SBMRI)
Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Diego

Host:
Prof David Virshup
Program Director for Cancer & Stem Cell Biology, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School

Date:
Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Time:
5.00pm to 6.00pm
(Light refreshments will be served at 4.30pm)

Venue:
Amphitheatre, Level 2
Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School
8 College Road, Singapore 169857
(opposite Singapore General Hospital, Block 6/7)

Contact:
Ms Jacqueline Goh, Duke-NUS Research Affairs Department
Tel: 6601 2275 or Email: jacqueline.goh@duke-nus.edu.sg

Synopsis:
The talk will discuss the relevance of understanding and manipulating T cell immunity in human arthritis. The focus will be on two main topics, both stemming from our work: i) Development from concept to conclusion of Phase II trial of a first in class tolerogen for Rheumatoid Arthritis; ii) A Theragnostic approach to stratify responders to therapy with iTNF in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.

Biography:
Prof Salvatore Albani, MD, PhD, earned his medical degree and doctorate (on the Molecular Basis of Pediatric Diseases) at the University of Pavia. He completed his residency in Pediatrics. Albani completed his postdoctoral training at the Scripps Research Foundation and the University of California, San Diego. He is an internationally renowned rheumatologist and immunologist. He is currently professor and director of Translational Research, Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (SBMRI) and a Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Before joining SBMRI, Albani was professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, the Charles A.L. and Suzanne M. Stephens Rheumatology Research Chair at the Arizona Arthritis Center. He served as director of the Translational Medicine Unit at the Clinical Investigation Institute at the University of California, San Diego, where he also was professor of Medicine and Pediatrics. Albani is a founding member and President of the Eureka Institute for Translational Medicine, an international educational and research network aimed at fostering translational medicine. Prof. Albani's main research interest is translational. He has conceived and developed a first in class drug for Rheumatoid Arthritis from idea to Phase II clinical testing. He has developed various technologies platforms for the understanding and therapeutic manipulation of human immunity. The most recent is a reverse translational research approach applying a novel theragnostic approach to identify predictors of responsiveness to therapy and stratify appropriately patients with arthritis. His research has been published in numerous leading peer-reviewed publications and has also led to a portfolio of approximately 80 patents. Prof Albani is actively involved in developing novel initiatives in Medicine which bridge idea to product, science to business. Prof. Albani’s research has been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Arthritis Foundation, the Arthritis National Research Foundation and private sources. He is the recipient of multiple awards and honors, including the Kourir Award in Pediatric Rheumatology, Paris, France; and the Fijkman Award for Translational Research, Utrecht, the Netherlands. Albani also serves on ad hoc review panels and on several editorial boards.