John L. Fahey can be considered one of the founding fathers of the field of clinical immunology and was the founding president of the Clinical Immunology Society in 1986. He discovered Immunoglobulin D (IgD) while at NIH and delineated other classes of immunoglobulins. Throughout his career, he engaged in international education and training in immunology, building research capacity for HIV/AIDS in developing countries. One of his major contributions in the fight against AIDS has been his research in the interaction of the immune system and the nervous system, pointing out the complexity of the disease. Fahey helped to establish several UCLA Institutes, such as the NIH-funded Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Immunology and Disease (CIRID), initiated in 1978. The Fahey collection spans the period 1970 to 2009 and consists primarily of correspondence relating to grant applicants and applicants, research programs, Immunology conferences, between colleagues and researchers in the field, and national and international HIV/AIDS research. Much of the collection relates to programs and ties with India, and there are several grant applications, biographical sketches and various program outlines.

Dr. John L. Fahey, born September 8, 1924, is an immunologist, researcher, and educator. He received his MS in Physiology at Wayne State Medical School in Detroit, 1949, and his MD at Harvard Medical School in Boston, 1951. Fahey received medical training and research experience at Wayne College of Medicine in Detroit, Harvard Medical School and other research centers in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s. As a Senior Investigator for the United States Public Health Service at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) from 1953-1959 he established the Clinical Research Laboratory and new methods for plasma protein analysis. While at the National Institutes of Health in the late 1970s, he discovered Immunoglobulin D (IgD), delineated and characterized the important classes of human immunoglobulins and established an Immunology Branch in NCI. At UCLA in the 1980s, he generated a community of clinical and laboratory scientists focusing on the role of the immune system, which led to the discovery of AIDS at UCLA.

24 Linear Feet (58 boxes)

Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.