News
Penn Immunologist to Co-Direct $12 Million Grant to Study Hepatitis
June 30th 2014John Wherry, PhD, an associate professor of microbiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) are co-directing a $12 million grant to study immune responses in people who have been effectively cured of hepatitis C viral infection with new, high-potency antiviral drugs. This grant is part of the Cooperative Centers for Human Immunology program, administered by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Hepatitis C Infection Supports Organ Acceptance, Scientists Discover
June 26th 2014Chronic hepatitis C virus infections are among the most common reasons for liver transplants. Because existing viruses also infect the new liver, the immune system is highly active there. Despite this, the new organ is not rejected, as scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technische Universität München (TUM) have now discovered. The long-term stimulation of the innate immune system by the virus actually increases the probability of tolerance.
