JOHNSON CITY – (Dec. 2, 2020) Dr. William Duncan, vice provost for research at East Tennessee State University, has been named by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to its committee on Assessment of NIH Research on Autoimmune Diseases.
He and the other committee members have been charged with providing a general overview of epidemiologic trends in autoimmune diseases, with particular focus on the research efforts by the National Institutes of Health. They will be closely examining the NIH research portfolio with particular attention to issues such as risk factors, diagnostic tools, barriers to diagnoses, treatments and prospects for cures.
The group will also be examining related trends, barriers to research, and potential areas for research. A final report will be developed at the conclusion of the project.
Duncan has been at ETSU since 2008. Previously he was chief operating officer and
chief scientific officer of the Baylor Research Institute. At the National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, he served as associate director of the Therapeutics
Research Program in the Division of AIDS (DAIDS) beginning in 1993, and then served
as deputy director of the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation (DAIT)
from 2002 to 2004. 
He has extensive experience developing and administering national and international research programs, promoting the development of therapeutic agents and diagnostic tools for the treatment of cancer, infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases.
Duncan received his Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas.
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