Nov 12, 2003 By: yunews
Bronx, NY,
Nov 12, 2003 -- A team of investigators from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center (MMC), led by Dr. Harris Goldstein, director of Einstein鈥檚 Center for AIDS Research, will receive $1.5 million in the next year (and nearly $8 million over 5 years) from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support and expand the Center for AIDS Research at Einstein and MMC. The Einstein/MMC Center for AIDS Research joins an elite group of 20 other national Centers for AIDS Research designated and funded by the Centers for AIDS Research Program at the NIH.
鈥淥ur Center has more than 40 investigators whose research into HIV-1 and AIDS receives more than $23,000,000 in NIH funding each year, and we are thrilled to receive this additional support, which places us among the foremost AIDS research centers in the country,鈥 said Dr. Goldstein. 鈥淭he funding will foster collaborative and translational research among basic scientists and clinical investigators working at Einstein and at its University Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center.鈥
He adds, 鈥淓instein investigators have been at the forefront of AIDS research since the emergence of the AIDS epidemic. We care for a large and diverse population and the NIH support will certainly facilitate our efforts to translate research findings discovered in laboratories into new therapies to treat the patients we serve.鈥
Dr. Goldstein, who joined the Einstein faculty in 1987, is best known for development of in vivo research models for studying AIDS, as well as for being the first to demonstrate in an animal model the efficacy of novel treatments using cytokines, immunotoxins and gene therapy for the prevention and treatment of HIV-1 infection.
In addition to serving as director of the Einstein/MMC Center for AIDS Research, Dr. Goldstein is a professor and vice chair for research affairs in the Department of Pediatrics at Einstein and Montefiore and a professor of Microbiology & Immunology at Einstein. A resident of Teaneck, NJ, he is a graduate of Einstein鈥檚 class of 1980.
To mark the inauguration of the Einstein/MMC Center for AIDS Research, the medical school will host a special celebration on Monday, November 17, from 4 to 5 p.m. in its Robbins Auditorium. The keynote speaker for this special event will be Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH鈥檚 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. A world-renowned scientist and clinician, Dr. Fauci will discuss the pathogenesis (development) of HIV-1 infection and future directions for AIDS research.
