Introductory Immunology: Basic Concepts for Interdisciplinary Applications

Introductory Immunology: Basic Concepts for Interdisciplinary Applications, Second Edition is a completely updated, revised and expanded resource on the immune system as a primary defense for the maintenance of health and homeostasis. The book highlights the components of the human immune system and how they work together to confer protection against pathogenic invaders. It also creates an understanding of the basis for clinical tests and immune therapeutics and their importance in identifying and treating disease states. This updated edition will strengthen the foundation required to understand the placement of immune function within clinical practice, thus allowing a basic platform to define therapeutic treatments.

• Creates appreciation for the components of the human immune system that work together to confer lifelong protection
• Provides core knowledge in immunology to build a foundation to explore mechanisms involved in clinical disease
• Breaks down all immunology concepts into manageable, logically digestible building blocks
• Geared toward readers without medical, biochemical or cellular expertise
• Includes a glossary that provides functional definitions of complex terms

Jeffrey K. Actor, PhD, holds the title of professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Texas McGovern Medical School at Houston Texas. Dr. Actor received his PhD from the University of Massachusetts. His research interests include examination of host immune responses during parasitic disease, understanding proinflammatory and regulatory cytokines during infections, vaccine development, and molecular mechanisms of immunomodulation. Over the past 25 years, he has established himself as a productive educator-scientist (tenured, full Professor) with a strong background in immunology and molecular biology, with a broad range of expertise in pathobiology and clinical disease.