NIDS Medical Research Board

Jeffrey Galpin, M.D.: Dr. Galpin received his Medical Degree from University of Illinois and trained at Presbyterian St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago. He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship at University of California in Infectious Disease and at the National Institutes of Health. He has received the Young Research Award for Genetic Engineering and Immunology and is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Southern California, Chairman of the Shared Medical Research Foundation, Editor Emeritus of the Infectious Disease Alert World Newsletter and is on the board of four other Biotech companies. He has also participated in the development of four national research networks to encourage community-based clinical research. During his career, his accomplishments include developing the first gene therapy for AIDS and co-developing Hydroxyurea, a myelosuppressive drug for AIDS. He also holds patents in DNA hydrolization and in the treatment of neurological degenerative diseases with immune regulators and neuropeptides.

Dr. Galpin is currently asking the NIDS Board to provide immune profiling data on autistic children in order to determine whether immune modulating therapies such as neuropeptides are a viable treatment option for the autistic population.

Michael Goldberg, M.D.: Dr. Goldberg received his Medical Degree from UCLA and trained at LAC-USC Medical Center. He is the Director of the NIDS Medical Advisory Board and is on the clinical teaching staff at both UCLA and Cedars-Sinai Hospitals. He has seventeen years experience in evaluating and treating children with disorders that fall within the evolving spectrum of NIDS.

Dr. Goldberg possesses a patient panel of over 400 with varying diagnoses, including autism, PDD, chronic fatigue syndrome and ADD/ADHD. This patient base has provided the NIDS Board with several preliminary findings relative to immune dysregulation and brain blood flow patterns through NeuroSpect analyses. At present, the NeuroSpect data (over 100 scans) is being consolidated and analyzed for publication.

Julie Griffith, M.D.: Dr. Griffith is a pediatric neurologist in southern California who was recently accepted to the Board. Her biosketch is under development.

Her primary role on the Board will be to offer neuro-cognitive insights and assist the Board with the selection of cognitive evaluation tools to support therapeutic and clinical trials.

Nancy Klimas, M.D.: Dr. Klimas is currently a Professor of Medicine, Psychology, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami School of Medicine and the Miami VA Medical Center. She is also a clinical immunologist who has worked in the area of neuro-immune connections, in relation to HIV Infections and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, for approximately fourteen years. Her work in associating the degree of immune activation with severity of cognitive dysfunction has led to the study of potential mechanisms relative to these findings. These laboratory-based observations are currently being translated into clinical trials that will aid in finding treatments for symptoms of cognitive dysfunction through immune-based therapies.

Dr. Klimas is currently finalizing a cytokine profile for use in the immune profiling initiative of the NIDS Board.

Ismael Mena, M.D.: Dr. Mena received his Medical Degree from the University of Chili and completed his postgraduate work and fellowship in Nuclear Medicine at UCLA. He was a Professor of Radiology Services at UCLA for over twenty years and is currently Professor Emeritus at the UCLA School of Medicine. He is also currently the Director of Nuclear Medicine at the Las Condes Clinic in Santiago, Chili. He has published several articles related to neuro-imaging in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Autism and is considered a leading expert in this field. He possesses one of the most comprehensive pediatric NeuroSPECT scan databases, with controls, in the world.

Currently, he and Dr. Goldberg are collaborating on the analysis of NeuroSpect database available to the Board through Dr. Goldberg's patient base.

Byron Hyde, M.D.: Dr. Hyde received his medical degree from the University of Ottawa, has maintained a private practice for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patient for 15 years and has written one of the leading textbooks on CFS: The Clinical and Scientific Basis of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Dr. Hyde is currently the Director of the Nightingale Research Foundation, a research center focused on the disease process behind Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). Dr. Hyde will offer the Board his clinical input relative to the clinical protocols and immune profiles currently under development and may offer his facility as a site for clinical trials

Advisory Board

James Oleske, M.D.: Dr. Oleske is the Chairman of Immunology within the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Dr. Oleske will offer the Board clinical and research resources as well as a significant clinical experience base with regard to autism, ADD and chronic fatigue syndrome. He may also offer his facility as a site for clinical trials.

Vijendra Singh, PhD.: Dr. Singh is currently working on his auto-immune theories for autism at the Biotechnology Center at Utah State University. Dr. Singh possesses over 20 years of experience in neurobiology and immunolgy research. He also serves on the Scientific Board of the Autism Autoimmunity Project.