The UCLA Research Park: Immunology and immunotherapy

With the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA as an anchor tenant at theUCLA Research Park on the site of the former Westside Pavilion shopping mall, UCLA is poised to enter a new era of biomedical breakthroughs.A first-of-its kind effort in California, the nonprofit public-private partnership will leverage UCLA ’s existing strengths in clinical and biomedical scientific research across a range of disciplines. Top-flight scientists from UCLA and around the world will pursue new tools, treatments and vaccines to address a variety of pressing health challenges, including cancer, infectious diseases, allergi es, autoimmune disorders, heart conditions, immune factors associated with organ transplantation and more.The goal, said Dr. John Mazziotta, vice chancellor for health sciences and CEO of UCLA Health, is “to build the immunology equivalent of Silicon Valley in Los Angeles.”What are immunology and immunotherapy?Key areas of biomedical research at UCLA, the related fields of immunology and immunotherapy seek to understand and strengthen the human immune system. Research in these fields has resulted in a range of lifesaving applications, from HIV therapies and messenger RNA vaccines to monoclonal antibody –based and gene-based treatments for cancer and other disorders.Milo Mitchell/UCLA HealthThese types of therapies use substances produced by the body or in a laboratory to boost, maintain or suppress the body ’s natural immune defense system ...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news