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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
×

INTERNATIONAL BENCHMARKING OF US IMMUNOLOGY RESEARCH

Panel on International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research

Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING

INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE

PREPUBLICATION COPY

National Academy Press
Washington, DC
1999

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
×

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
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NOTICE: This volume was produced as part of a project approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. It is a result of work done by the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) as augmented, which has authorized its release to the public. This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by COSEPUP and the Report Review Committee.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Under the authority of the charter granted to it by Congress in 1863, the Academy has a working mandate that calls on it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of NAS.

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) was established in 1964, under the charter of NAS, as a parallel organization of distinguished engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of members, sharing with NAS its responsibilities for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of NAE.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) was established in 1970 by NAS to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to NAS in its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of IOM.

The Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) is a joint committee of NAS, NAE, and IOM. It includes members of the councils of all three bodies.

Financial Support: The development of this report was supported by the Sloan Foundation and the National Research Council.

Internet Access: This report is available on COSEPUP's World Wide Web site at http://www2.nas.edu/cosepup.

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
×

THIS REPORT IS DEDICATED TO MARIAN (BUNNY) KOSHLAND

A PIONEER IN THE FIELD OF MOLECULAR IMMUNOLOGY AND A FRIEND TO YOUNG IMMUNOLOGISTS

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
×

International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research

Panel Members

IRVING L. WEISSMAN (Chair), Professor of Pathology,

Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California

JAMES ALLISON, Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Professor, and

Cancer Research Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley

FREDERICK W. ALT, Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Professor, and

Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts

HAROLD VON BOEHMER, Professor,

Faculte de Medicine Necker – Enfants Malades, Institut Necker, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherché Medicale, Paris, France

MAX D. COOPER, Howard Hughes Medical Investigator and Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, Pathology, and Microbiology,

University of Alabama, Birmingham

IRWIN FELLER, Director, Professor of Economics,

Institute for Policy Research and Evaluation and

Pennsylvania State University, University Park

LAURIE H. GLIMCHER, Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology, Professor of Medicine,

Harvard School of Public Health, and

Harvard Medical School, Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Cambridge, Massachusetts

DAVID V. GOEDDEL, President and Chief Executive Officer,

Tularik, Inc., South San Francisco, California

HUGH MCDEVITT, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology,

Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California

DIANE MATHIS, Directeur de Recherches,

Institut de Genetique et de Biologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherché Medicale, Strasbourg, France

GUSTAV NOSSAL, Professor Emeritus,

Department of Pathology, University of Melbourne, Australia

ROGER M. PERLMUTTER, Senior Vice President,

Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, New Jersey

CRAIG B. THOMPSON, Howard Hughes Medical Investigator and Professor,

University of Chicago, Illinois

DON C. WILEY, Howard Hughes Medical Investigator and Professor,

Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Project Staff:

DEBORAH D. STINE, Study Director

TAMARA ZEMLO, Research Associate

NORMAN GROSSBLATT, Editor

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
×

Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy

PHILLIP A. GRIFFITHS (Chair), Director,

Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ

BRUCE M. ALBERTS, * President,

National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC

PETER DIAMOND, Professor of Economics,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

GERALD DINNEEN, * Retired Vice President,

Science and Technology, Honeywell, Inc., Edina, MN

MILDRED S. DRESSELHAUS, Institute Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

JAMES J. DUDERSTADT, President Emeritus and University Professor of Science and Engineering,

Millennium Project, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

MARYE ANNE FOX, Chancellor,

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

RALPH E. GOMORY, President,

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, New York, NY

RUBY P. HEARN, Vice President,

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, NJ

PHILIP W. MAJERUS, Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biophysicsand Director,

Division of Hematology-Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louise, MO

JUNE E. OSBORN, President,

Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, New York, NY

KENNETH I. SHINE, * President,

Institute of Medicine, Washington, DC

MORRIS TANENBAUM, Retired Vice Chairmanand Chief Financial Officer,

AT&T, Short Hills, NJ

IRVING L. WEISSMAN, Professor of Pathology,

Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine

WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON, Malcolm Wiener Professor,

Center for Social Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

WILLIAM A. WULF, * President,

National Academy of Engineering, Washington, DC

RICHARD BISSELL, Director

DEBORAH D. STINE, Associate Director

MARION RAMSEY, Administrative Associate

BRETT E. WILLETTE, Research Associate

*

Ex officio member

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
×

COSEPUP Guidance Group

MARYE ANNE FOX (Chair), Chancellor,

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

DAVID CHALLONER, Vice President of Health Affairs,

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

ELLIS COWLING, University Distinguished Professor At-Large,

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

GERALD DINNEEN, Retired Vice President,

Science and Technology, Honeywell, Inc., Edina, MN

MILDRED S. DRESSELHAUS, Institute Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

ALEXANDER FLAX, Consultant,

Potomac, MD

PHILIP A. GRIFFITHS, Director,

Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ

Immunology Benchmarking Guidance Group

PHILIP W. MAJERUS (Chair), Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biophysics and Director,

Division of Hematology-Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO

MARIAN KOSHLAND (Chair*), Professor of Immunology,

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley

ENRIQUETA C. BOND, President,

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Durham, NC

RUBY B. HEARN, Senior Vice President,

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, NJ

RICHARD B. JOHNSTON, JR.,

Department of Pediatrics, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, CO

DONALD R. MATTISON, Medical Director,

March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, White Plains, NY

JUNE OSBORN, President,

Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, New York, NY

*

Served from October 1996 to October 1997

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
×

PREFACE

In 1993, the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine issued the report Science, Technology, and the Federal Government: National Goals for a New Era. In that report, COSEPUP suggested that the United States adopt the principle of being among the world leaders in all major fields of science so that it can quickly apply and extend advances in science whenever and wherever they occur. The report also recommended that the United States maintain clear leadership in fields that are tied to national objectives, that capture the imagination of society, or that have multiplicative effects on other scientific advances. Those recommendations were reiterated in another Academy report, Allocating Federal Funds for Science and Technology, developed by a committee chaired by Frank Press.

Both reports stated that quantitative measures, such as number of dollars spent and number of scientists supported, are inadequate indicators of leadership and that policy decisions about programmatic issues or resource allocation would be better informed by comparative international assessments. To measure international leadership, the reports recommended the establishment of independent panels that would conduct comparative international assessments of scientific accomplishments in particular research fields. COSEPUP indicated that the panels should consist of researchers who work in the specific fields under review (both in the United States and abroad), people who work in closely related fields, and of the research users results who follow the fields closely.

To test the feasibility of the recommendation that panels conduct comparative assessments, COSEPUP has conducted experimental evaluations of three fields: mathematics, materials science and engineering, and immunology. The study panels for the assessments were charged with developing and presenting their findings and conclusions, not recommendations. Specifically, panel members were asked to address the following three questions:

  • What is the position of US research in the field relative to the research performed in other regions or countries?

  • What key factors influence the US performance in the field?

  • On the basis of current trends in the United States and abroad, what will be the future relative position of the United States in the field in the near term and the longer term?

This document presents results of the third and final assessment, that of research in immunology. The panel concluded that the United States is the world leader in immunology, and in its major subfields. In addition, while US dominance is evident in the major sub-fields: cellular immunology, molecular immunology, immunogenetics, and clinical aspects of immunology, and among the world leaders in some parts of subfields. The panel found that US leadership in immunology depends on being able to generate and pursue innovative research ideas. Sufficient funding from both government and private sources, talented researchers, and key infrastructure support mechanisms are instrumental in maintaining US leadership. However, diverse federal and industry priorities, a potential reduction in access to domestic and foreign talent, and the increasing cost of maintaining mice facilities could curtail US ability to capitalize on leadership opportunities in immunology.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
×

Now that all three of the assessments are completed, COSEPUP will begin to discuss the feasibility and utility of the benchmarking process and will make whatever recommendations it deems appropriate.

The committee appreciates all the hard work and dedication of the panel members and thanks them for their help and cooperation in completing this report.

This report has been reviewed by persons chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council's Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to obtain candid and critical comments that will assist the authors and COSEPUP in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets the institutional standards of objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The content of the review comments and draft manuscript remains confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following for their participation in the review of this report:

Jeffrey Bluestone, Director, Ben May Institute for Cancer Research

Suzan Cozzens, Chair, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology

Frank Fitch, Albert D. Lasker Professor Emeritus, Ben May Institute for Cancer Research

Maureen Henderson, Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology and Medicine, University of Washington

Richard Locksley, Department of Medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California San Francisco

Tak Mak, Ontario Cancer Institute, Department of Immunology and Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto

Carl Nathan, Beatrice and Samuel A. Seaver Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Cornell University Medical College

Joseph Newhouse, John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy and Management, Harvard University

Philippa Marrack, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Jewish Medical and Research Center

Edward Penhoet, Vice Chairman and CEO, Chiron Corporation

Klaus Rajewsky, Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne

Martin Weigert, Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University

Arthur Weiss, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California

Although those just listed have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, responsibility for the final content of this report rests solely with the author panel and COSEPUP. Finally, the project was aided by the invaluable help of COSEPUP professional staff: Deborah D. Stine, study director, and Tamara Zemlo, research associate.

Phillip A. Griffiths

Chair

Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1999. International Benchmarking of US Immunology Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9444.
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