SCID

CDC to Consider Third COVID-19 Vaccine Dose for Immunocompromised

Booster shots? Pfizer-BioNTech said last week it would seek EUA for a third shot of its two-dose vaccine
vaccine

Giving a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines to immunocompromised will be discussed by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel meeting next week.

At the meeting scheduled for July 22, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will focus on the 2 to 4 percent of U.S. adults with weakened immune systems.

In Memoriam:

Dr. Noel R. Rose, 1927-2020

Co-founder of CIS, and a prominent researcher in the field of clinical immunology, passed away on Thursday, July 30th, 2020 at the age of 92 at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Dr. Rose, along with Dr. John Fahey, conceived CIS at a luncheon at Johns Hopkins in 1986.

Dr. Rose was born in Stamford, Connecticut, on December 3, 1927. His mother was a teacher and his father, a physician. He received his BS in Zoology in 1948 from Yale University, a PhD in medical microbiology from University of Pennsylvania in 1951, and his MD in 1964 from the State University of New York, Buffalo.

Dr. Rose made one of the greatest discoveries in immunology --the genetic basis of autoimmune disease. His research lab showed for the first time that the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) contains the key genes, which determine the risk for all autoimmune disease.

From 1982 until 1993, Dr. Rose was Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins.

He directed the Johns Hopkins Center for Autoimmune Disease Research, which he founded in 1999.

In 1991, Dr. Rose and Dr. Virginia T. Ladd founded the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, the primary research and advocacy forum for autoimmune diseases. This organization has worked closely with the Johns Hopkins University Autoimmune Disease Research Clinic. For 20 years, Dr. Rose chaired the AARDA’s scientific committee, and was instrumental in developing the biennial Noel R. Rose Scientific Colloquium, which convenes leading researchers in autoimmune and related diseases.

His numerous recognitions and accolades include the Abbot Award; Professional Recognition Award and Founder’s Distinguished Service Award from the American Society for Microbiology; Ernest Lyman Stebbins Medal from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which is the Bloomberg School’s most prestigious award; Nikolaus Copernicus Medal from the Polish Academy of Sciences; the Presidential Award from the Clinical Immunology Society, and the Golden Goose Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is justifiably recognized as the “Father of Autoimmunity.”

Dr. Rose has inspired several generations of public health students, clinicians and scientists worldwide, and he embodied the spirit of science and progress in public health and medicine.