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Biography |
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Adel A. F. Mahmoud, M.D., Ph.D is at The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and The Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. He has recently retired as President of Merck Vaccines. Prior to that, he served at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland as Chairman of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief. Dr. Mahmoud's academic pursuits focused on investigations of host resistance to helminthic infections and strategies for their control. At Merck, Dr. Mahmoud led the effort to develop four new vaccines including: combination of Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella; Rota Virus; Shingles and Human Papillomavirus. Dr. Mahmoud received his M.D. degree from the University of Cairo in 1963 and Ph.D from the University of London, School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1971. He was elected to membership of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1987. He received the Bailey K. Ashford Award of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 1983, and the Squibb Award of the Infectious Diseases Society of America in 1984. He served on the National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Diseases Council and is a past president of the Central Society for Clinical Research and the International Society for Infectious Diseases. Dr. Mahmoud is currently serving as a member of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity and Committee on Scientific Communications and National Security (CSCANS) of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Abstract |
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Evolution of Human-Microbe Interplay
Humans and microbes evolved a set of relationships that span the spectrum from commensalism to mutualism and pathogenicity. The fundamental evolutionary concept that humans and microbes are co-inhabitants of this globe is providing the basis for new insights into these relationships. It is now appreciated that the respiratory and phosphorylation mechanism in human cells are of microbial mitochondrial origin. Furthermore, approximately 8% of the total human DNA sequence is of retroviral origin. These Human Endogenous Retroviruses may have potential oncogenic properties and are associated with certain human malignancies. On the other hand, the mutualistic relationship between humans and their microbiota is best studied in the gut flora which contains bacterial genomes many more folds the size of the human genome. Most of these bacteria perform necessary mutualistic functions such as digestion of complex carbohydrates, involvement in maturation of gut epithelium and immune functions and others. The challenge of the antagonistic feature of this relationship which results in human disease, however, remains. It necessitates a dissection of the genomic and metabolomic aspects of the interaction in an attempt to modify the war metaphor “us vs them!” with its multiple negative consequences. |
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