About the Author:

Alasdair Gilfillan, PhD received a BSc from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland and MSc and PhD degrees in Pharmacology from the University of Manchester, England. Following completion of his PhD, he moved to the United States to undertake research in Cell Biology and Biochemistry in the Department of Pediatrics, Yale University Medical School; initially as a Postdoctoral Fellow, then as an Associate Research Scientist. From there, Dr. Gilfillan moved to F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd (Nutley, New Jersey, USA) where he spent several years conducting preclinical research in the areas of allergy and inflammation. In 1999, he joined the Laboratory of Allergic Diseases (LA D), at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Bethesda, Maryland, USA), where he currently helps direct the basic research efforts within the Mast Cell Biology Section. Dr. Gilfillan has had a long term interest in mast cell biology, and his current research focuses on the elucidation of signaling mechanisms associated with the activation of mast cells through FceRI, KIT and other receptors, in health and disease. Dr. Gilfillan is the author of more than 90 scientific articles, and more than 50 abstracts. From 1994-2001, he was on the editorial board of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Immunology, Immunology Letters, The Open Immunology Journal, The Open Allergy Journal, and the World Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Dean Metcalfe, MD, received a BS from Northern Arizona University and an MD from the University of Tennessee. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan and received a MS in Microbiology from the University of Michigan. Dr. Metcalfe was a Fellow in Allergy and Immunology at NIH and a Fellow in Rheumatology and Immunology at the Robert Brigham Hospital and the Harvard Medical School. In 1979, he returned to NIH as a Senior Clinical Investigator. His subsequent career has been devoted to research and public service at the NIH. There he combines clinical and basic research, patient care and administrative duties, as well as scholarly activities in the form of teaching, writing, and speaking on areas related to allergic diseases. In 1995, Dr. Metcalfe was appointed the first Chief of the newly created Laboratory of Allergic Diseases (LAD), NIAID. He is also Chief of the Mast Cell Biology Section/LAD and Associate Director of the NIH Clinical Center Allergy and Immunology Clinical Fellowship Program which is administered through the LAD. Dr. Metcalfe is an author on over 490 scientific papers and 230 abstracts; and an editor on 12 books on mast cell biology, systemic mast cell disorders, food allergy and asthma. He is a past Chairman of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology; a past President of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology; and a past Chairman of the ACGME-RRC for Allergy and Immunology. Dr. Metcalfe has been elected to membership in the American Clinical and Climatological Association, the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the American Association of Physicians.