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They wished to establish an immunogenetics research program that would enhance research in the Department of Surgery and provide the immunology support needed for a new kidney transplantation program.  Dr. Amos was appointed Professor of Immunology and Professor of experimental Surgery; and the following a year a Division of Immunology, with Amos as Chief, was formed within the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.  First recruits to the new Division of Immunology were Richard Metzgar, a tumor immunologist working on nonhuman primate leukocyte antigens, and Eugene Day, an immunochemist.  They were soon joined by immunohematologist Chester Zmijewski, biochemist William Boyle, geneticist Frances Ward, cellular immunologist David Scott (now at University of Maryland School of Medicine), immunochemist Jeffrey Dawson, and immunochemist Peter Cresswell (now at Yale University ).  These new recruits complemented the immunology research programs already established within clinical departments at Duke.  Rebecca Buckley, Hilliard F. Seigler, Barton Haynes, and Ralph Synderman, with primary appointments in clinical departments at Duke, were also members of the Immunology Division who played prominent roles during its formative years.  Dr. Amos and his colleagues laid a solid immunogenetic basis for organ transplantation and with the support of David C. Sabiston, Chair of the Department of Surgery, built an internationally recognized transplantation research center at Duke.

 

The Division’s strong research and training programs in Transplantation and Tumor Immunology attracted large numbers of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and visiting faculty, with the consequence that many senior faculty currently at other institutions received some of their immunology training and/or mentorship at Duke.  Among the numerous graduate students educated in the Division are Martin Dorf, Sally Huber, Janet Plate, Ronald Corley, Louise Markert, Wayne Flye, R. Randall Bollinger, Donna Kostyu, John Monroe, Walter Storkus, Robert Todd, Thalachallour Mohanakumar, Eugene Rinchik, Janice Blum, Alan Kirk, Frances Lund, Troy Randall, Carrie Miceli and Russell Salter.  Postdoctoral fellows included Edward Golub, Andrew Kemp, Jenny Ting, and Samuel Wells.  Anja Tiilikainen, Herve Betuel, Helen Bashir, Euripides Ferreira, Kimiyoshi Tsuji, and Edmond Yunis are only a few of the visiting faculty who spent an extended period of time in the Division.  Outstanding junior faculty recruited to and mentored within the Division now occupy senior positions, within other immunology programs; these faculty include Linda Gooding at Emory University, John Cambier at the National Jewish Center, Yair Argon at the University of Pennsylvania, and Olivera Finn, Chair at the University of Pittsburg.

           

With Dr. Amos’ retirement as Chief of the Division in 1990, Peter Cresswell became its new Chief.  Peter Cresswell recruited Michael Krangel and Carolyn Doyle to the Division in 1990.  Jeffrey Dawson became interim Chief of the Division when Dr. Cresswell accepted a position in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Immunobiology Program at Yale University in 1991.  The University then established a Department of Immunology and Dr. Dawson became the interim Chairman of the Department.  In 1993, Thomas F. Tedder joined the department as Chair with the goal of doubling the size of the program and bringing in the best and most promising new faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students. 

 

At the end of 2007, the Department of Immunology is composed of 42 faculty, 12 with primary appointments within the department and additional investigators holding primary appointments in other departments. All faculty at Duke are committed to interdepartmental collaboration to build bridges between basic research and clinical medicine.  A major strength of the Department of Immunology is its 30 secondary faculty holding primary appointments in the departments of Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Cell Biology, Pathology, Ophthalmology and Biostatistics and Bioinformatics.  These interactions provide depth to the Program in Immunology and facilitate interactions whereby clinical research faculty participate in departmental research and other activities. 

           

The Department of Immunology is also a component of other Medical Center immunology programs.  The department plays important roles in the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, the Duke Center for AIDS Research, SERCEB. Department of Immunology faculty are also members of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Programs within the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics. The Department of Immunology serves as a cornerstone for several of these programs by recruiting faculty, providing basic research, and participating in administration and research.  Joint training grants, and program project grants have resulted from the interactions in many cases.