Eugene Major

Eugene (Gene) O. Major, PhD, is a senior investigator at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a division of the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH).

He has a research interest in progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare and usually fatal viral disease caused by a weakened immune system, an occurrence that could follow treatment with Rituximab.

Dr Major is one of the Associate Investigators assigned to the NIH Post-Infectious ME/CFS Study.

Notable studies

 * 2010, Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy in Patients on Immunomodulatory Therapies "'Abstract - Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a demyelinating disease of the white matter of the human brain caused by lytic infection of oligodendrocytes with the human polyomavirus JCV. Although the majority of PML cases occur in severely immune-suppressed individuals, with HIV-1 infection as the predominant factor, PML has been increasingly diagnosed in patients treated with biological therapies such as monoclonal antibodies that modulate immune system functions. Monoclonal antibodies that target the cell adhesion molecules VLA-4 (natalizumab; Tysabri® for multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease) or LFA-1 (efalizumab; Raptiva® for severe forms of plaque psoriasis) to prevent extravasation of inflammatory T cells into tissues, or target the cell surface marker CD20 (rituximab; Rituxan® for hematologic malignancies and rheumatoid arthritis) to deplete peripheral circulating B cells, have all been associated with PML. The link between the effects of these therapies on the immune system and the occurrence of PML has prompted investigations on JCV sites of latency in the bone marrow, the migration of bone marrow derived cells into the circulation, and intracellular virus entry into the brain.'"
 * 2009, Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy after rituximab therapy in HIV-negative patients: a report of 57 cases from the Research on Adverse Drug Events and Reports project (FULL TEXT)

Online presence

 * PubMed - Eugene Major

Learn more

 * Wikipedia - Eugene O Major
 * Institution