27 Facts About Stephen Straus

Stephen E Straus was an American physician, immunologist, virologist and science administrator.

Stephen Straus is particularly known for his research into human herpesviruses and chronic fatigue syndrome, and for his discovery of the autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome genetic disorder.

Stephen Straus headed the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, and served as the founding director of the NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Stephen Straus attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, switching from physics to biology, and gained his BS in life sciences in 1968.

Stephen Straus gained his MD from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1972.

Stephen Straus subsequently trained at Barnes Hospital in St Louis, Missouri, and held a fellowship in infectious diseases at Washington University in St Louis.

Stephen Straus rejoined NIAID as a senior investigator in 1979, working in the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation.

Stephen Straus rose to head first the medical virology section and then, from 1991, the entire laboratory.

Stephen Straus served on the Institute of Medicine's Clinical Research Roundtable and the NIH Steering Committee.

Stephen Straus chaired the NIH Committee on the Recruitment and Career Development of Clinical Investigators, as well as multiple committees associated with the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research.

Stephen Straus was on the editorial boards of the academic journals Journal of Virology and Virology, and co-edited several textbooks, including Fields Virology.

Stephen Straus's studies included herpesvirus pathogenesis, immune responses and transmission, as well as antiviral drugs and vaccines.

Stephen Straus researched the mechanisms by which HSV establishes latency and later recurs.

Stephen Straus's group was one of the first to show that treating patients with the antiviral acyclovir can prevent genital and oral herpes from recurring.

Stephen Straus studied the persistent pain that can occur after shingles has cleared up.

Stephen Straus worked with Mike Oxman and Myron Levin on the Shingles Prevention Study, a large clinical trial which demonstrated that a live-attenuated VZV vaccine is effective against shingles.

Stephen Straus discovered that infection with EBV very occasionally results in a life-threatening chronic progressive disease, now called chronic active EBV infection.

In 1988, Stephen Straus was one of a group of physicians to propose the name "chronic fatigue syndrome" for the condition, and was one of the lead authors of the International Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Study Group's guidelines.

Stephen Straus pursued various virological, immunological, neuroendocrine and neuropsychological studies of the syndrome.

Stephen Straus found mutations in the genes encoding Fas and Fas ligand, as well as caspase-10 and N-Ras, are associated with the disorder.

Stephen Straus followed a cohort of over 200 people with ALPS, and showed that they have a substantially elevated risk of developing lymphoma.

Stephen Straus stated in a 2001 interview that he did not use alternative therapies, and he accepted the position because:.

Early in his tenure as director, Stephen Straus prioritised the clinical assessment of treatments widely used in America which had previously shown promising results in small clinical trials.

Stephen Straus responded that the center had "made important contributions in a field that is fraught with controversy and challenges" and that it was "applying the same scientific standards to the conduct of research and its review as used by other NIH institutes".

Stephen Straus was an elected fellow of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Stephen Straus was honored with the National ME Fund Award of the Netherlands in 1999, IDSA's John F Enders Lectureship in medical virology in 2005, and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons's gold medal for Distinguished Achievements in Medicine in 2007.

In November 2004, Stephen Straus was diagnosed with a brain tumor, from which he died at Potomac, Maryland in 2007, aged 60.