Immune Deficiency Foundation Awarded 5 Year NIH Grant for USIDNET

TOWSON, Md., April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the grant "Resources to Assist Investigations in Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases" from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  This grant will allow IDF to continue to advance the detection, understanding, diagnosis and treatment of primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDD) through their program, the United States Immunodeficiency Network (USIDNET).  

USIDNET is a team of leading immunologists whose purpose is to advance knowledge in the field of PIDD.  USIDNET solicits, develops, evaluates and implements clinical research strategies to advance the detection, understanding, diagnosis and treatment of PIDD. There are three main components: the national patient registry, a cell repository, and educational programs to train new investigators. The patient consented registry is central to USIDNET's goals to collect, supply and examine longitudinal data about the diagnosis, prognosis and best treatment strategies in PIDD.

"We are pleased to receive this grant that will allow us to continue the important work of USIDNET," said IDF president and founder Marcia Boyle.  "IDF has been administering patient registries for primary immunodeficiencies supported by the NIH since 1992 and we are excited about the potential of the new patient-consented registries to dramatically improve the treatment of patients."

The Principal Investigator on the grant, Dr. Charlotte Cunningham-Rundles from Mt. Sinai Medical Center added, "We are enormously pleased with the progress of USIDNET and are delighted to be able to both continue and accelerate the work in primary immune deficiency over the next five years. We thank all of our collaborators, friends in industry and government, and especially the patients who continue to inspire us."  

She is joined with the Co-Investigators Dr. Luigi Notarangelo, Children's Hospital Boston, Dr. Kathleen Sullivan, Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania and Dr. Jennifer Puck from the University of California, San Francisco.

This grant is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

About The Immune Deficiency Foundation

The Immune Deficiency Foundation, founded in 1980, is the national non-profit patient organization dedicated to improving the diagnosis, treatment and quality of life of persons with primary immunodeficiency diseases through advocacy, education and research. www.primaryimmune.org

To learn more about USIDNET, visit www.usidnet.org

SOURCE Immune Deficiency Foundation