PROGRAM

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Guest Speakers

Professor Marvin FRITZLER
Professor of Medicine, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a world authority on autoimmunity and in particular auto-antigens and diagnostic testing for auto-immunity. His airfare will be sponsored by Immunoconcepts, courtesy of the DIDG.

Associate Professor Hans Joergen MALLING
Allergy Unit, National University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.is expert in allergen specific immunotherapy, having been involved in the WHO position statement on Allergen immunotherapy and has particular interests in the clinical aspects of immunotherapy including patient dosing regimens and safety.

Dr Alan STURGESS
St George Hospital, NSW

Dr Richard WONG
Princess Alexandra & Royal Brisbane Hospitals, Brisbane

Marvin J. Fritzler, Ph.D., M.D.

Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Dr Fritzler received his PhD in 1971 and his M.D. degree in 1974 from the University of Calgary. From 1976 to 1978 he was a post-doctoral fellow at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla and the University of Colorado under the supervision of Dr. Eng M. Tan. He was appointed to the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary in 1978. In 1986, he was inducted into the American Lupus Society Hall of Fame, was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award at the University of Calgary in 1988, and the Canadian Society for Clinical Research presented him with the Distinguished Scientist Award in 1995. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Calgary Technologies International and the Board of Management of the Alberta Science and Research Authority (ASRA). In September of 2002 he was inducted as an Honorary Member in the Mexican Academy of Medicine. His research program is oriented to the cell and molecular biology of human autoantigens and has a focus on application of new diagnostic technologies. He is currently engaged in government-sponsored projects to assess the impact of environmental toxin exposure on health. He has authored over 180 manuscripts, book chapters and review articles. He currently holds the Arthritis Society Chair at the University of Calgary.

Dr Richard Wong

Dr Richard Wong is a Staff Specialist in Clinical Immunology and Immunopathology in the Division of Immunology, Queensland Health Pathology Services based at the Princess Alexandra and Royal Brisbane Hospitals. After graduating from the University of Bristol in 1989, he worked in the wet and windy city of Bristol before moving to Australia in 1992, having been tempted by its beautiful sunny beaches. He then trained in Clinical Immunology, Allergy and Immunopathology at the Princess Alexandra (not that far from the coast), Westmead (disappointing surf on the Parramatta River), Royal Prince Alfred (can't quite see Bondi) and Liverpool (nowhere near a beach!) Hospitals before returning to Brisbane in 1999. His laboratory interests include autoantibody testing and the immunophenotyping of lymphoid/myeloid malignancies. He unwittingly "put his hand up" to conduct a survey of anticardiolipin antibody (aCL) testing in late 2000, which has lead to the development of both the Working Party on aCL testing and Consensus Guidelines on aCL testing (currently in its 3^rd and hopefully close-to-final revision). He is also a member of the Coeliac Disease Testing Working Party and has recently co-authored a Broadsheet on Autoantibody and Genetic Testing in Coeliac Disease for the RCPA Board of Education.

Assoc. Professor Allan Sturgess

A/Prof Allan Sturgess trained in clinical and laboratory immunology at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the Royal Melbourne Hospital under Ian Mackay and Senga Whittingham. There his interest in autoimmunity and autoimmune diseases began and continues to this day. He has worked at St George Hospital in Sydney since 1988 where his work includes supervision of the Immunorheumatology Laboratory as well as clinical work at the interface of immunology and rheumatology. His current research interests focus on the clinical application of autoantibody assay results.

Dr Bob Anderson - DIDG Speaker

Bob Anderson is a consultant gastroenterologist at The Royal Melbourne Hospital primarily involved in immunology research with the aim of developing a vaccine for coeliac disease. PhD studies at the University of Otago in New Zealand addressed the role of bacterial chemotactic peptides in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease and sclerosing cholangitis. Last year, he returned from Oxford University where he spent four years as a post-doctoral scientist working to identify the toxic peptides in gluten. He is establishing a research group at the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute focussed on gut immunology and coeliac disease. He is also setting up a Coeliac Clinic at The Royal Melbourne.

Collaborations with the Coeliac Society, primary care and dietitians are aimed at raising awareness of coeliac disease amongst medical, academic, business and lay people.

Associate Professor Anne-Louise Ponsonby - DIDG Speaker

Anne-Louise Ponsonby works in the field of analytical observational epidemiology. Much of her previous work related to the aetiology and prevention of sudden infant death. More recently, she has worked in the field of immuno-epidemiology with regard to the environmental determinants of immune disorders in particular, child allergic disease and multiple sclerosis. In addition to her work at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Dr Ponsonby's current activities include an Adjunct A/Prof appointment with the Menzies Centre for Population Health and Chair, Population Heath Theme, Australian National University Medical School.

Dr Glenn Reeves - DIDG Speaker

Glenn Reeves is a Staff Specialist in Immunology, Allergy, and Infectious Diseases at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. He is also a consultant Immunopathologist in Hunter Area Pathology Service. Glenn's main areas of interest include systemic autoimmunity (particularly lupus), organ-specific autoimmunity (especially coeliac and urticaria), allergy and primary immunodeficiencies. Current research projects include the quality of life of lupus patients, the role of dietary factors in allergic disease, autoimmune urticaria, and the pathogenesis of coeliac disease.

Professor Peter Roberts-Thomson - DIDG Speaker

Peter Roberts-Thomson is Chairman and Prof of the Dept of Immunology, Allergy and Arthritis at Flinders Medical Centre. His research interests are systemic autoimmune disorders particularly scleroderma and rheumatoid arthritis. He also has an interest in immune diagnostic tests and is chairman of the QAP(RCPA) in Immunology.

"I believe that clinical immunology is more exciting now than when I started in this speciality over 25 years ago!!"

Professor Tom Gordon - DIDG Speaker

Tom Gordon is a graduate of the University of Adelaide and Professor and Director of the Department of Immunology, Allergy & arthritis at the Flinders Medical Centre. He is a Rheumatologist and Immunopathologist with an interest in systemic autoimmune diseases, particularly lupus and Sjogren's syndrome. He has worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the Scripps Clinic in California and recently spent a sabbatical at the Oklahoma Medical research Foundation. He is an International Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology, a member of the ANA committee of the International Union of Immunological Societies, a member of the Henry Kunkel Society and on the editorial board of international journals. He has 23 years of continual funding from the NH & MRC for his experimental research program on autoimmune diseases and has published his work in the Journal of Immunology, PNAS, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Lancet and Arthritis and Rheumatism. In 1998 and 1999 he was co-winner of the International Ethel Baxter award for work on Sjogren's syndrome presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.