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FOCIS Network of Consortia (NOC)
“NOC Monday” at FOCIS 2008
The Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) connects multiple disease specific, genetic consortia under the FOCIS Network of Consortia in an effort to uncover the genetic basis of autoimmunity. The Network, spearheaded by FOCIS Past-President, David Hafler, MD, Harvard University and Stephen Rich, PhD, University of Virginia, recently completed genome wide association scans revealing novel candidate genes that may provide important insights into disease pathogenesis and therapeutic targets.
The results were presented for the first time on June 11, 2007 at the Federation’s Annual Meeting (FOCIS 2007) in San Diego. The NOC unites again on June 9 at FOCIS 2008 in Boston to present reports from additional consortia who have completed their scans and have new data to share.
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FOCIS 2008 – June 5-9, 2008
Network of Consortia Presentations – June 9
Boston Marriott Copley Place – Boston, Massachusetts, USA
“Scientists that once worked in disease-specific silos are uniting to create a catalogue of common genetic variations that will enable scientists to unravel underlying causes of autoimmune diseases,” said Stephen Rich. “New data across diseases is showing great commonality, identifying potential targets that work across autoimmune diseases,” he added.
For more information please contact Sarah Krause, FOCIS Program Manager.
Who's Who in the NOC
| Consortia | Representative, Institution | Web Site |
| Inflammatory Bowel Disease | Judy Cho, Yale University | |
| Multiple Sclerosis, Genetics | Adrian Ivinson, Harvard | www.imsgc.org |
| ITN: MS, Diabetes and T cell | Vicki Seyfert-Margolis, Immune Tolerance Network | |
| Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Genetics | John Harley, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation | |
| Type 1 Diabetes, Genetics | Steve Rich, University of Virginia | www.t1dgc.org |
| Juvenile RA | David Glass, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital | |
| North American RA | Peter Gregersen, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research | www.naracdata.org |
| Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium | Lon Cardon, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center | www.wtccc.org.uk/ |
| Swedish Rheumatoid Arthritis Consortium | Mark Seielstad, Genome Institute – Singapore | |
| IMAGEN Consortium | John Rioux, University of Montreal |
NOC Mission
To promote consortia involved in patient collections, and allow the exchange of ideas around new technologies, databases and analytical tools.
Background
The Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) is devoted to advancing the science and medicine of clinical immunology through multidisciplinary programs that integrate the science of inflammation among the different clinical specialties.
New scientific platforms have recently evolved that will allow the definition of the molecular pathology of human inflammatory disease. Scientific platforms include:
- DNA variation in the human genome
- mRNA expression using microarrays
- Proteomics examining proteins in the circulation and inflammatory sites
- Immunologic assays
- Open source database and analytical tools.
The Network of Consortia (NOC) brings together consortia annually to hold cross-disciplinary meetings for established consortia and provide assistance to interface with NIH and industry to promote the goals of ascertaining the molecular pathology of human disease.
Participating consortia are organized by academic medical scientists: Clinicians and senior scientists with experience in management of complex projects, and technology specialists. Consortia will represent complex collaborations among different investigators and institutions crossing many scientific disciplines.
Topics of interest include:
- Sharing controls across consortia
- Intellectual property/principals of consortia
- Sharing of best practices
- Genotyping
- Unified databases
- Rationale for biomarkers
- Analytical approaches
Activities
2007 NOC Meeting
The Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) has taken on the role of connecting multiple disease specific, genetic consortia under the FOCIS Network of Consortia in an effort to uncover the genetic basis of autoimmunity. The Network, spearheaded by FOCIS President, David Hafler, MD, Harvard University and Stephen Rich, PhD, University of Virginia, has recently completed genome wide association scans revealing novel candidate genes that may provide important insights into disease pathogenesis and therapeutic targets.
The results were presented for the first time on June 11 at the Federation’s Annual Meeting (FOCIS 2007) in San Diego.
Francis Collins, MD, PhD of the National Human Genome Research Institute presented a cross-section of data from ongoing genome wide association scans in autoimmune disease – inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and type 1 diabetes (T1D). In addition, the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC) presented a series of disease-oriented genome wide association scans using a common control group.
“Scientists that once worked in disease-specific silos are uniting to create a catalogue of common genetic variations that will enable scientists to unravel underlying causes of autoimmune diseases,” said Stephen Rich. “New data across diseases is showing great commonality, identifying potential targets that work across autoimmune diseases,” he added.
For more information please contact Sarah Krause, FOCIS Program Manager.
© 2008 FOCIS