About i³D
Centers of Excellence at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School – the newly established Center for COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness (CCRP2), the Public Health Research Institute (PHRI), the Center for Immunity and Inflammation and the Center for Emerging Pathogens – combine to form a new institute to pursue novel approaches to detect, treat and prevent a wide range of current and emerging diseases caused by infectious agents and harmful inflammation.
Institute for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases (i³D), is expected to act as a springboard to further develop this already strong area of research excellence at Rutgers. The institute is located within the Rutgers International Center for Public Health, an advanced research facility for infectious disease research on the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences Campus in Newark.
Research at i³D focus on the breakthrough field that examines the link between infectious and inflammatory diseases. Dysfunction of the immune system has recently been implicated in diseases that include AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, influenza, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autism, asthma and obesity. Studies have suggested that dysfunction of the immune system is an important common basis for many of these diseases. For example, estimates by the National Institutes of Health indicate that up to 23.5 million people in the U.S. are afflicted by autoimmune diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Type 1 diabetes, and for unknown reasons their prevalence is increasing.
In other diseases and conditions, including cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders, studies indicate a significant contributing role for harmful inflammation. It is now anticipated that understanding interactions between infection, inflammation and the immune system will lead to novel treatments and advanced diagnostics for a wide range of current and emerging diseases.
Recent discoveries by i³D scientists are leading to novel approaches that use the body’s immune response to combat inflammation and help patients manage both acute and chronic diseases. Currently, there are limited effective treatments for inflammatory diseases besides steroids, which can have harmful side effects. Research teams focus on new approaches to regulate harmful inflammatory responses, in some cases harnessing immune regulatory pathways that prevent tissue-damaging inflammatory responses.
Other groups focus on improved detection of diseases at the earliest stages of infection when targeted treatments may be most effective. Recent studies by researchers at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School already have led them to develop breakthrough technologies in molecular biology that are now used for more rapid detection of tuberculosis. Working together, these research teams share state-of-the-art methodologies and conceptual breakthroughs leading to more rapid translation of basic discoveries into novel and improved diagnostics and treatments.
The more specific goals of the new institute include:
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Developing new treatments, diagnostics and preventive measures for infectious and inflammatory diseases - Moving new therapies and treatments from bench to bedside more quickly
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Helping to break the cycle of poverty and disease in impoverished communities locally and worldwide
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Offering continuing education to all health professionals as well as science writers and health educators
- Sharing research and information with the public through publications, blogs, social media and video
William C. Gause, senior associate dean for research at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, said, “Dysfunction of the immune system is increasingly recognized as contributing to a broad spectrum of infectious and noninfectious diseases. The specific focus of our new institute provides a unique opportunity to build an innovative and significant program of biomedical research excellence for Newark and the State of New Jersey. It provides the opportunity to develop innovative perspectives and insights for the development of new treatments and diagnostics that can be rapidly translated to the clinic.”
Dysfunction of the immune system is increasingly recognized as contributing to a broad spectrum of infectious and noninfectious diseases. The specific focus of our new institute provides a unique opportunity to build an innovative and significant program of biomedical research excellence for Newark and the State of New Jersey. It provides the opportunity to develop innovative perspectives and insights for the development of new treatments and diagnostics that can be rapidly translated to the clinics. 
