About ISICR

The International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research (ISICR) is a non-profit organization of scientists devoted to research in the fields of interferon, cytokine and chemokine cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry and the clinical use of these biological response modifiers. Each year the ISICR sponsors an international meeting where scientists can present their latest findings to the worldwide scientific community. Membership in the society is open to all individuals interested in interferons, cytokines and chemokines. For more information about the ISICR or how to join the ISICR, please go to www.isicr.org.

 

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ISICR Officers

Leonidas Plantanias, M.D., Ph.D.

President

Prior to joining Northwestern, Leonidas C. Platanias M.D., Ph.D., was the Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In November 2002, Dr. Platanias was named the Jesse, Sara, Andrew, Abigail, Benjamin and Elizabeth Lurie Professor of Oncology, honoring the children of Northwestern University Trustee Ann Lurie and her late husband, Robert. In addition to his duties as Deputy Director he continues his molecular biology and biochemistry research focused on signaling pathways in cancer cells and efforts to develop novel treatments for malignancies by targeting such pathways. Dr. Platanias is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Leukemia and Lymphoma, and Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research where he serves as an Associate Editor. Dr. Platanias has served as a member or chair in several review committees at NIH, the DOD, and the VA. He recently completed a term as a member of the Cancer Molecular Pathobiology (CAMP) study section, and he is now one of the founding members of the Molecular Oncogenesis (MONC) study section at NIH. Dr. Platanias is also an active member of the Hematologic Malignancies and HAST Programs.

Dr. Platanias has provided the leadership for numerous new faculty recruitments and has chaired or co-chaired supra-departmental search committees as part of this process. In this role, he directs the Lurie Cancer Center’s funds supporting faculty recruitment. Dr. Platanias is also responsible for directing the space planning and allocation for the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center, as well as for the McGaw Pavilion in Evanston where the Lurie Cancer Center also has research space. Dr. Platanias has oversight of the Lurie Cancer Center’s shared resource facilities and, in addition to regular individual meetings with facility directors, runs a quarterly meeting for facility directors from both campuses.

 

Thomas Hamilton, Ph.D.

Secretary

Thomas Alan Hamilton, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, at Case Western Reserve University. He has held this position since 2003. In addition, he is a Professor with the Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, Ohio State University School of Medicine. Dr. Hamilton also has held positions at many prestigious institutions, including Stanford University, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Duke University Medical Center.

His clinical research interests include: Regulation of Inducible Gene Expression in Mononuclear Phagocytes, Regulation of Chemoattractant Cytokine Expression in Tissue Inflammation and Chemokine Function. His research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals and he has contributed chapters to medical textbooks in his field. He has been the editor-in-chief, Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research since 2002. In addition, Dr. Hamilton is an international speaker and presenter.

In 1971, Dr. Hamilton received his BA in Biology/Chemistry at the University of Colorado. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1976 at University of Oregon Health Sciences Center, in Portland. Dr. Hamilton completed several fellowships during this time, including a National Institutes of Health pre-doctoral fellowship in Biochemistry at University of Oregon Health Sciences Center, in Portland, Oregon, and also a NRSA-postdoctoral traineeship in tumor biology, Department of Pathology at Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, California (1976-1978).

Dr. Hamilton is a member of numerous professional associations, including the American Association of Immunologists (Chair, Program Block on NK cells and Macrophages 1996-1999); American Association for Advancement of Science; Society for Leukocyte Biology (Nominating Committee – 1991, Councilor 1992 – 1995, Treasurer 1995-1998; President Elect – 1998; President – 1999; International Society for IFN Research; Secretary 2006-2009); and the International Cytokine Society, among others.

 

Bob Friedman, M.D.

Treasurer

Dr. Friedman currently serves as the chairman of the Department of Pathology for the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. He has held this position since 1981 after serving in many different capacities at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Friedman earned his M.D. from New York University College of Medicine, attending after achieving a New York State Medical Scholarship.

Among the numerous societies of which he is a member, Dr, Friedman also belongs to the American Association of Immunologists, the American Society for Microbiology, and the American Society for Experimental Pathology. He has achieved recognition in many areas, including representative for the Joint Japan-American Conference on Interferon 1970, member of the editorial board for the Journal of Virology and president of the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research in 2003. He also served from time to time as a visiting lecturer at several universities and research institutes, and as a book reviewer or ad hoc editorial consultant for several professional journals. His research interests include pathology, virology, immunology, and oncology.

 

Lisa Hetherington

Business Office Manager

Lisa Hetherington joined FASEB in 2007 as Senior Project Coordinator in the managed Society Services department. With over 10 years of administrative and management experience, Lisa is responsible for coordinating and implementing activities for several client societies.

Before coming to FASEB, Lisa served as Director and Manager for various operational, research and publication services. From 2005 to 2007, as the manager of a business analyst group, she planned, directed and coordinated system development life cycles for support and implementation of software changes.

From 1998 to 2005, Lisa worked for a privately owned direct mail firm, serving in different capacities as a Client Service Manager for fulfillment and publishing clients and as the Warehouse Operations Director, managing over $7 million of client inventory.

 

Charles E. Samuel

President Elect

Charles Samuel is the Charles A. Storke II Professor of Molecular Biology. His laboratory’s research concerns animal virus-host interactions with focus on mechanisms of innate antiviral immunity involving the PKR kinase and ADAR deaminase. He received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from Montana State University and his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. He was a Damon Runyon Scholar at the Duke University Medical Center where he began his work on the biochemistry of interferon’s antiviral actions.

Dr. Samuel joined the UCSB faculty in 1974. He served as Director of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Interdepartmental Program from 1987-1995, as the Founding Chair of the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from 1995-1998, and then again as MCDB Department Chair from 2001-2004.

Dr. Samuel is a National Institutes of Health Research Career Development Award recipient, an NIH MERIT awardee, a FASEB Wellcome Professorship awardee, a Humboldt Forschungpreis recipient, and an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Academy of Microbiology. He now is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and serves on the editorial boards of Virology, the Journal of Virology, and the Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research.