June 21, 2001 To Whom It May Concern: I am happy to provide this letter of recommendation in support of Dr. Ping Zhou' s application for permanent residency in the United States of America. I consider him to be an extraordinarily able scientist capable of making a major contribution to health care. I have known Dr. Zhou for the past few years through his close collaboration with Dr. Marisa Alegre, an Assistant Professor in the Section of Rheumatology within the Department of Medicine. As a result of this interaction and the contribution he made to the work in Dr. Alegre' s laboratory, Dr. Zhou was given an appointment in our Department in 1997 as a Research Associate. Dr. Zhou is an extremely talented microsurgeon who has brought remarkable new skills to the University of Chicago. He was trained in China and holds both an MD and a PhD from Tongji Medical University, one of the most prestigious academic institutions of that country. Dr. Zhou left China in order to pursue his academic research career in the United States. We are very glad that he chose the University of Chicago for his appointment. Since coming to our institution, Dr. Zhou has developed models of cardiac and pancreatic islet transplantation in mice that have open new areas of research at our University. In addition to this new research avenue, Dr. Zhou has shown extraordinary productivity in studies using his model of cardiac transplantation. In fact, he has already published 9 papers in internationally recognized journals since his appointment at the University, and presented his work at the most renowned National and International Transplantation meetings. His studies on new therapies that may induce specific tolerance to transplanted organs have major implications in clinical medicine. Most transplanted patients need to take multiple immunosuppressive medicines to inhibit the immune system so that rejection of the graft does not occur. Advances in Dr. Zhou' s field of research may lead to drugs that would specifically suppress immune system cells that recognize and reject the graft without affecting those that prevent infectious diseases and cancer. If these approaches are successful, transplanted patients will only need short-term treatment following transplantation and will no longer experience complications from long-lasting immunosuppression. It may be useful to provide some information about our institution and how Dr. Zhou will participate in our academic and scientific enterprises. The University of Chicago and the University of Chicago Hospitals (UCH) share a strong reputation for teaching, research and patient care. The University's Division of the Biological Sciences has supported the development of an academic environment that encourages collaborations between clinical and basic science faculty. The Division consists of 19 clinical, basic, and bridge departments. In addition to the traditional academic departments, the Division has a number of multidisciplinary centers and five research institutes: (1) the Ben May Institute for Cancer Research, (2) the Institute for Molecular Medicine, (3) the Brain Research Institute, (4) the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the (5) Interdivisional Research Institute. In addition, there are unique interdepartmental committees structured along programmatic, rather than departmental lines. The Committees on Immunology, Genetics, Virology, Clinical Pharmacology, among others, bring scientists and educators into an environment that promotes the exchange of ideas, collaboration and focus. There are several active weekly seminar series and journal clubs in areas related to this work at the University of Chicago. Dr. Zhou attends and participates in several of the immunology and transplant meetings and seminars at The University of Chicago. The Section of Rheumatology, under the leadership of Dr. Marcus Clark, is committed to maintaining excellence in research, clinical care and education. The Section has a long tradition of supporting both clinical and basic research. Recently as a demonstration of the support that the Department has for this Section's research, the 11,000 square feet of space occupied by the Rheumatology has been completely renovated and now has 6,000 square feet of laboratory space and eleven faculty offices. The Section provides a weekly meeting in which presentations alternate between Research Conferences, Journal Club presentations of research or clinical articles, and Clinical Conferences. A monthly laboratory meeting is also organized allowing the three major investigators occupying Rheumatology laboratory space to present their data and form grounds for possible collaborations or sharing of techniques or equipment. Dr. Zhou currently has the following resources at his disposal in Dr. Alegre's laboratory: a 600 square foot laboratory as well as the additional 4000 square feet of common laboratory space within the Section of Rheumatology. Additional space includes the animal facilities, as well as space shared by members of the Committee in Immunology as cores, including flow cytometry allowing cell-sorting, monoclonal antibody, and immunohistochemistry cores for tissue sectioning, imaging, and staining. Tissue culture facilities include laminar flow hoods, CO2 incubators, and microscopes (light, inverted, phase contrast, fluorescence, and confocal equipped with both a conventional camera and a CCD camera, with direct computer interface). A hollow-fiber cell culture system for monoclonal antibody production, a microtiter harvester apparatus for thymidine-incorporation assays, and both beta and gamma counters are present. A 137 cesium radiation source for both tissue culture and animal use is available. The laboratories include a walk-in cold room, liquid nitrogen freezers, ~20o and ~80o freezers, water baths, centrifuges, spectrophotometer, pH meters, a micro ELISA reader with direct computer interface, a PCR apparatus, magnets for cell separation, and various kinds of electrophoresis apparatuses for molecular biology and biochemistry (polyacrylamide gel, agarose gel, RNAse protection, western blot analysis). Dr. Zhou's research work calls for animal research. Animal care facilities are part of the central animal quarters of the University of Chicago. Included in these are standard large and small animal facilities, a large animal surgery suite containing microscopes and surgical equipment for rodent microsurgery. A dual corridor specific pathogen free barrier facility for mice within the barrier facility, a separate room for breeding, and a separate animal procedure room are also part of the facility. Each mouse cage has a microisolator top, and cages are kept in individually ventilated racks. Dr. Zhou has been provided with the latest technical equipment to support his research. He has at his disposal Pentium-based IBM compatible computers with direct linkage to the University's computer system. The flow cytometer, confocal microscope, ELISA reader and j3- and 'y-counter are all interfaced directly with IBM or Apple computers. The University of Chicago is committed to providing long-term employment and adequate time and support for Dr. Zhou to devote 100% effort to his research and career development. The Department of Medicine and Section of Rheumatology will provide the equipment, facilities, and resources necessary for development of Dr. Zhou' s career. We are committed to his retention, development, and advancement at the University. I have no doubt that Dr. Zhou's extraordinary ability in microsurgery and inmmnology research will lead to major advances in science and medicine with potentially major significance for clinical care. I therefore support his application for permanent residency with utmost enthusiasm. Sincerely, Harvey M. Golomb Lowell T. Coggeshall Professor and Chairman Department of Medicine

Lowell T. Coggeshall Professor in Medical Sciences Harvey M. Golomb, M.D. -- Chairman and Professor of Department of Medicine