Thomas A.E. Platts-Mills, MD, PhD, FAAAAI, elected President of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology

MIAMI BEACH – Thomas A.E. Platts-Mills, MD, PhD, FAAAAI, became President of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) during its 2006 Annual Meeting in Miami Beach, FL. He will serve as President through March 2007.

The AAAAI is the largest professional medical specialty organization in the United States representing allergists, asthma specialists, clinical immunologists, allied health professionals and others with a special interest in the research and treatment of allergic disease.

Dr. Platts-Mills is Professor of Medicine and Microbiology at the University of Virginia. Since 1982 he has been head of the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Dr. Platts-Mills was educated at Balliol College Oxford and St. Thomas 's Hospital Medical School and did his fellowship at Johns Hopkins. He became a member of the Royal College of Physicians in 1971. Since 1974 he has been active in research on allergic disease and has published more than 300 papers. This research included the first publication of a dust mite allergen, establishing immunoassays for mite allergens and the evidence that it is mite faeces that are inhaled. He has published on the immune response to a range of allergens including those from pollens, dust mites the fungus Trichophyton and domestic cats.

Using studies on a birth cohort, on populations of school children and also case control studies in hospital emergency rooms, Dr. Platts-Mills' group has provided much of the evidence for a causal role of indoor allergens in asthma. In addition his studies provided evidence for a role of dust mite allergens in Atopic Dermatitis. His laboratory has provided extensive evidence about specific techniques used in allergen avoidance. The work has also provided strong evidence favoring the case for avoidance as a treatment for allergic disease. Dr. Platts-Mills has also continued to play a role in the debate over the causes of the increase in asthma. Most recently his laboratory has been studying the phenomenon and the mechanisms by which atopic and non-atopic children tolerate living in a house with a cat.

Dr. Platts-Mills' research has been funded by the NIAID and in 1992 he received a Merit Award from the NIH. He has served on the immunological sciences study section and has twice served on the editorial board of the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (JACI).

Established in 1943, the AAAAI has more than 6,300 members in the United States , Canada and 75 other countries. The AAAAI serves as an advocate to the public by providing educational information through its toll-free line at (800) 822-2762 and it's Web site, www.aaaai.org.

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