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Baylor Institute for Immunology Research Director Appointed to New Chair in Transplant Immunology; $5 Million Gift Endows Chair

Research Will Seek to Reduce Organ Rejection

(DALLAS, Sept. 16, 2004) - Jacques Banchereau, Ph.D., director, Baylor Institute for Immunology Research, has been appointed to the newly established W. W. Caruth, Jr. Chair in Organ Transplantation Immunology at Baylor Research Institute. The Baylor Health Care System Foundation received a $5 million gift from the W. W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas to create the chair.

"The ability to develop this world-class transplant immunology program is made possible by the generosity of the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas. We are grateful for this foundation's commitment to improve the lives of people in our community and around the world," said Joel Allison, president and chief executive officer, Baylor Health Care System. 

"With ties to the clinical strengths of Baylor University Medical Center's transplant program, Dr. Banchereau's research will dramatically enhance the quality of life for transplant patients. He is an exceptionally gifted scientist whose work already is making great inroads toward developing potential cures for a number of diseases, including cancer and autoimmune and infectious diseases," said Michael Ramsay, M.D., president, Baylor Research Institute.

When a patient receives an organ transplant, rejection of the organ by the recipient's body almost always occurs. If scientists can reduce the likelihood of organ rejection by making transplanted organs more readily accepted by the body and developing better and safer techniques to fight rejection, then donated organs may last longer, the quality of life for the recipient may improve, and the high cost of transplantation may decrease. In addition, by reducing rejection and the number of patients that need to be re-transplanted as a result of chronic rejection, more organs may be available to those on the transplant waiting lists. Each year at Baylor, more than 350 patients receive solid organ transplants.

Dr. Banchereau is internationally renowned for his study of the human immune system.  Known as the "father" of dendritic cell technology, Dr. Banchereau focuses his research on manipulating dendritic cells, often called the "sentinels" of the immune system. 

"To prevent rejection of organs and establish tolerance, we must manipulate the immune system," Dr. Banchereau said. "The cells that produce antibodies and cells that can destroy transplanted organs receive their 'orders' from dendritic cells. We are seeing glimmers of success in this strategy in cancer research trials."

Dr. Banchereau has reported that 16 of 18 patients with advanced melanoma - a deadly form of skin cancer - who received injections of dendritic cells loaded melanoma antigens showed signs in laboratory tests of an enhanced immune response to their cancer. Tumor growth also was slowed in the nine patients who mounted responses against more than two of the antigens.

Recruited from France , Dr. Banchereau has published work in major international medical journals including Nature, Science, Scientific American, Immunity, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Lancet, Journal of Immunology, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Blood and others. Chemical Abstracts Service Science Spotlight recently recognized Dr. Banchereau as having the most cited journal article in 2002. Dr. Banchereau's paper, "Dendritic Cells and the Control of Immunity," was published in Nature.

Dr. Banchereau and his team built the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research scientific and laboratory structure devoted to design and testing of novel vaccine strategies. These novel vaccines are tested in Food and Drug Administration-approved clinical trials that are conducted in close collaboration with physicians on the medical staff at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. 

Opened in 1998, Baylor Institute for Immunology Research is a component of Baylor Research Institute, an affiliate of Baylor Health Care System. 

The gift from the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas is the latest in a long history of Caruth philanthropy at Baylor Health Care System. Funding was provided for the first paging system and for the Caruth Surgical Research Laboratory, Caruth Diagnostic Laboratories, and Mabel P. and W.W. Caruth, Jr. Nuclear Medicine Center. Through the Hillcrest Foundation, established by Mrs. W.W. Caruth, Sr., gifts from the Caruths helped make possible the A. Webb Roberts Hospital, Our Children's House at Baylor, the James M. and Dorothy D. Collins Women and Children's Center, the Baylor Geriatrics Center, the cardiac robotics surgery program, and the expansion and renovation of the Baylor University School of Nursing.

Communities Foundation of Texas, one of the largest community foundations in the country, both in terms of total assets and grant dollars awarded, has for nearly 50 years advanced philanthropy in North Texas. Its sole mission is to fulfill the philanthropic intentions of its donors to meet the educational, medical, civic, artistic and cultural, and social service needs of the community. The Foundation's volunteer board of directors is deeply rooted and broadly involved in the community. More than $500 million in charitable grants have been awarded since 1953, $33 million in the last year alone.