The Third Annual Symposium on Health Sciences attracted over 400
scientists from 15 countries. It was held at the National Academy of
Sciences in Washington, D.C. The theme of this meeting was "Thymic
Hormones and Lymphokines: Basic Chem- istry and Clinical Applications."
The meeting emphasized the state of the art with regard to chemistry,
mech- anism of action, and clinical applications of thymic hormones and
lymphokines. In addition to the five sessions, the chairmen of each
session were asked to prepare a synthesis and overview of each of the
sessions. Some of the chairmen used this time to summarize the new
material presented while others addressed important areas of conflict
and terminology. The chairmen of the plenary sessions prepared short
summary papers which have been incorporated into this volume at the end
of each major section. We also invited several of the scientists who
took part in the poster presentations to submit short papers. In
addition to the scientific sessions, there were two awards and lectures.
One, the Abraham White Distinguished Science Award, was given to Dr.
Robert C. Gallo, who gave the keynote lecture. He was recognized for his
pioneering research and scientific contributions to our understanding of
the regulation of hematopoietic cell differentiation and the role of
viruses in the development of human leukemias.