The People behind Immunopaedia
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Clive Gray, PhD
Clive Gray is the founder of Immunopaedia. He was awarded a PhD in transplantation immunology in 1994 and subsequently moved into HIV/AIDS research seeing this as a priority in the South African context. He has since worked at the Center for AIDS Research at Stanford University investigating specific cellular immunity to HIV in individuals receiving antiretroviral drug therapy. He was one of the first to publish on the restorative effects of HAART on the immune system and was lead author on one of the first papers to show diminished antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in response to lowering antigen load by suppressing viral replication with HAART. Locally he has co-coordinated pioneering workshops on HIV vaccines, been actively involved in the scientific agenda of vaccine development in South Africa and is currently Chair and Professor of the Division of Immunology, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town . He is recipient of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation International Leadership Award, allowing the development of Immunopaedia.
Monica Mercer, MD
Monica Mercer is the clinical materials writer for Immunopaedia and leads the development of educational materials for both the website and workshops. As a clinician herself she works closely with the immunologists to bridge the gap between immunological concepts and clinical cases to ensure that ultimately everyone speaks the same language.
Shayne Loubser, MSc
Shayne Loubser MSc, is currently a second-year full-time PhD student at the University of the Witwatersrand and is based at the AIDS Immunology Laboratory at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, in Johannesburg. Shayne is the producer of the computer-generated illustrations, which accompany each case study. He is also involved with the background research related to the current knowledge of the immunology underlying the featured clinical case study.
Carina Kriel
Carina Kriel is the Curator and Coordinator for Immunopaedia. She is responsible for the coordination and loading of website content and oversees all administrative aspects.
Mission
Our mission is to promote knowledge and research in the field of HIV paediatric immunology and immunology in general in South Africa.
Aims
Immunopaedia is a South African based programme designed to address the fundamental needs of healthcare providers requiring a general understanding of immunology and more specifically people working with HIV infected children.
Rationale
HIV causes a disease which destroys the immune system, therefore understanding immunology is key to understanding HIV infection. Cultivation of a good basic knowledge improves care of HIV patients on many levels including understanding disease progression, treatment, management and implementation of prevention strategies.
Components
A website composed of clinical and immunological themes where the information is presented in various formats to maximize the readers understanding:
- There are clinical case studies with questions and answers.
- There are colour graphics and text designed to explain concepts which correspond with a particular case study.
- There are tools, links and news articles to keep readers current in the world of clinical and basic immunology.
