Successful Start
The AESKU.KIPP INSTITUTE is intended to initiate
and coordinate international research cooperation
and developmental projects. At the same time it
offers the spatial and personnel requirements
for the implementation of joint interdisciplinary
projects at the Wendelsheim facility. The AESKU.KIPP
INSTITUTE has consciously positioned itself as
an international interface between basic and clinical
research, allowing recent research results to
be integrated into clinical applications.
Consequently, representatives of science, clinical
practice and industry participated in the inauguration,
in particular professor Yehuda Shoenfeld, Tel
Aviv, Israel, Prof. Dr. Klaus Helmke, Klinikum
Munich-Bogenhausen, Prof. Dr. Karl Lackner, University
Mainz and Prof. Dr. Gerd Schnorrenberg, Boehringer
Ingelheim, all from Germany; they presented their
personal views on the necessity and relevance
of an institution like this.
The establishment of the institution is granted
by the initiators of AIRA e.V., i.e. Dr. Torsten
Matthias, proprietor of AESKU.DIAGNOSTICS and
the Swiss private investor Dr. h.c. Karl-Heinz
Kipp. In addition, the Economics Department of
state of Rhineland-Palatinate grants the AESKU.KIPP
INSTITUTE laboratory to purchase current equipment
needed for its activities.
Vice minister Walter Strutz of the Ministry of
Economic Affairs of Rhineland-Palatinate, Dr.
Wilfried Bechtolsheimer representing the investors
family Kipp-Bechtolsheimer and Dr. Torsten Matthias,
gave the approximately 150 guests of the inauguration
an overview of their intentions to open new paths
in current and future autoimmunity research by
their financial support of the AESKU-KIPP INSTITUTE.
Presentations of Dr. Auerheimer, undersecretary
of the Ministry of Health of the Rhineland-Palatinate
and Dr. Ulrich Link, ISB, completed the program.
The AESKU.KIPP INSTITUTE also serves as a forum
for the international exchange of information.
With its events and publications, the institute
actively commits itself to supporting the public
awareness of prognosis, diagnosis and therapy
of autoimmune diseases, allowing patients and
treating physicians to take advantage of most
current research to make year-long odysseys of
affected individuals hopefully be a thing of the
past soon.
International AESKU.KIPP INSTITUTE symposium “Autoimmunity
2006”
As part of its continuing commitment to supporting
interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge between
researchers and clinical practitioners, the institute
intentionally organized the “1. International
AESKU.KIPP INSTITUTE Symposium Autoimmunity 2006“,
in addition to the official opening ceremony on
5 May 2006. 11 renowned scientists, most of them
members of the scientific advisory board of the
institute, gave lectures on the current state
of research in Wendelsheim on Saturday, 6 May
2006, and they discussed with approximately 80
from over the world its impact on diagnosis, prognosis
and therapy of autoimmune diseases.
The contents of the lectures covered exciting
views of the prospects of the future of autoimmunity
research (Autoimmunity towards the second millennium;
Prof. Yehuda Shoenfeld, Israel) and also existing
results on individual pathologies like:
- The humoral immune response to citrullinated
proteins in patients with rheumatoid arthritis:
genetic, clinical, technical, and epidemiological
aspects, Dr. Allan Wiik, MD, DSc., Statens Serum
Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark;
- The antiphospholipid (Hughes) syndrome - linking
many specialties, Prof. Graham R.V. Hughes,
The Rayne Institute, St. Thomas' Hospital, London,
UK;
- Autoimmunity against the endothelium: much
more than a laboratory curiosity, Prof. Pier
Luigi Meroni, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano,
Milano, Italy;
- Biologics in ANCA-related vasculitis, Prof.
Loïc Guillevin, Hopital Avicenne, Bobigny
Cedex, France;
- The molecular basis of primary biliary cirrhosis:
paradigm versus paradox for autoimmunity, Prof.
M. Eric Gershwin, MD, University of California
at Davis, USA;
- Autoantibodies and autoreactive T cells in
rheumatoid arthritis – pathogenic players
and diagnostic tools, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Günter
Steiner, Universitätsklinik für Innere
Medizin III, Vienna, Austria.
Current information on general immunological
mechanisms provided valuable background information
and the intended look beyond the nose:
- Strategies of immune regulation, Prof. Dr.
Hansjörg Schild, Institute for Immunology,
Universität Mainz, Germany;
- Current understanding of regulation of antibody
mediated autoimmunity, Prof. Dr. Reinhold E.
Schmidt, Klinische Immunologie, Medizinische
Hochschule Hanover, Germany;
- Global visualization of immune responses,
Prof. Dr. Markus J. Maeurer, Smittskyddsinstitutet,
Solna, Sweden;
- Molecular mimicry and autoimmunity, Prof.
Miri Blank, University of Tel Aviv, Center for
Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer,
Israel.
Patient forum “Autoimmune Diseases”
On Sunday, 7 May 2006, the AESKU.KIPP INSTITUTE
addressed patients and their families and the
interested public with the patient forum on autoimmune
diseases providing current information in German
on the diagnosis and therapy of:
- Rheumatoid Arthritis, Dr. Wolfgang Bolten,
Klaus-Miehlke-Klinik, Wiesbaden, Germany;
- Multiple Sclerosis, Dr. Stefan Langel, Rheinhessen-Fachklinik,
Alzey, Germany;
- Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis,
Dr. Clemens Keitel, DRK Krankenhaus, Alzey,
Germany;
- Hepatic Diseases, Dr. Marcus Schuchmann,
Universitätsklinik Mainz, Germany;
Up to 100 affected individuals took the opportunity
to get current information on diagnostic and therapeutic
options and to contact the speakers for discussing
more details.
The inauguration of the AESKU.KIPP INSTITUTE was
the start event for a novel platform for autoimmunity
research first cooperation projects were initiated,
fist research projects are being planned. The
first results are expected to be already presented
on the next scientific symposium intended for
the end of April 2007.
For more information visit our website: www.aesku-kipp.com
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The AESKU.KIPP INSTITUTE is being supported by
the nonprofit association AIRA e.V. , which does
not only intend to foster interdisciplinary autoimmunity
research, but also aims at creating excellent
conditions for interdisciplinary activities and
actual benefit for the public by intended openness
towards a variety of cooperation partners in science
and industry.
A public private partnership lays the foundation
stone of the financing of the AESKU.KIPP INSTITUTE.
The activities of the institute will be promoted
by the financial support of the initiators of
the AIRA e.V., i.e. Dr. Torsten Matthias, proprietor
of AESKU. DIAGNOSTICS and the Swiss private investor
Dr. h.c. Karl-Heinz Kipp. In addition, the Economics
Department of state of Rhineland-Palatinate granted
the most current equipment of the AESKU.KIPP INSTITUTE
laboratory needed for its activities.
To create a unique platform for interdisciplinary
research in autoimmunity, the support of committed
individuals is essential in order to initiate
and to guarantee the realization of future-oriented
research and development projects. Therefore,
the AESKU.KIPP INSTITUTE will be supported by
an active advisory council of experts in autoimmunity
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