About the Book

First published in 1992, Retroviral Testing: Essentials for Quality Control and Laboratory Diagnosis is a concise, well-organized volume that discusses the background of retroviral disease, available testing technologies, test result interpretation, new testing alternatives, and essential quality control/quality assurance measures necessary for achieving accurate test results. It provides fundamental information on the epidemiology and infections caused by HIV and HTLV retroviruses, in addition to covering standards for handling blood samples.
Other features include a description of immune responses to retroviral agents and a detailed examination of the principles, interpretation, usage and advantages of numerous screening and confirmatory assays. Methods to evaluate diagnostic assays and statistical methods to assess test performance are covered. The text is supplemented by 57 diagrams and 14 tables, including an extensive list of over 130 diagnostic assays for the retroviruses.
Retroviral Testing: Essentials for Quality Control and Laboratory Diagnosis is an absolutely critical reference for all medical laboratories, medical technologists, educators, blood bank and immunology supervisors and personnel, and organizations such as WHO and CDC.

About the Author: Niel T. Constantine, Ph.D., M.T. (ASCP), is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Director and Division Head of Clinical Immunology at the University of Maryland Medical System/Hos- pital in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Constantine obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Department of Pathology in 1981. Dr. Constantine has taught medical technology students for over eight years, and was course chairman for clinical immunology, anatomy and physiology, and clinical pathology at the Program in Medical Technology at the University of Maryland. He also acted as assistant director for continuing education. In 1987, Dr. Constantine accepted an overseas assignment at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit #3 in Cairo, Egypt to direct a diagnostic and research laboratory for retro- and hepatotropic viruses. During his three years in Cairo, the laboratory became a World Health Organization (WHO) collaborating center for AIDS in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Dr. Constantine coordinated many HIV testing workshops and acted as a WHO consultant in several East African and Middle East countries. When returning to the University of Maryland in 1990, his major responsibilities include directing the clinical immunology laboratory in a 800 bed hospital, managing the budget, and conducting research in the field of retro virology. His major research interests include the development of improved diagnostic assays for the retroviruses. Dr. Constantine is a member of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, and is active in national and international conferences. He is the recipient of several research grants from the World AIDS Foundation to conduct HIV technology transfer in the countries of Ethiopia and Rwanda. His past activities included consultancies in Kuwait, Egypt, Pakistan, Abu Dabi, and Ethiopia. Recently, he has acted as a consultant for Family Health International to plan quality assurance programs in the countries of Thailand and the Philippines. Dr. Constantine has been author or co-author of over 40 scientific articles, 52 abstracts, and is the primary author of 2 books and 2 book chapters. Johnny D. Callahan, M.T. (ASCP) is a full time Graduate Student/Re- search Assistant in the Department of Pathology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine at Baltimore. He graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston in 1987 with a B.S. degree in Medical Technology, is a registered Medical Technologist and is an associate member of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP). In the past, he was a staff Medical Technologist in the Diagnostic Immunology laboratory at the Medical University of South Carolina Hospital in Charleston from 1987 to 1988; and the supervisor of the Clinical Diagnostics Branch, Virology Division, at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit #3 in Cairo, Egypt from 1989 to 1990.Mr. Callahan has acted as a WHO advisor and presented lectures at WHO- sponsored HIV workshops in Egypt and Kuwait; and was a WHO consultant and team member for the WHO Global Program on AIDS (GPA) laboratory component to help formulate a medium term plan for the control of HIV infection in Egypt. Johnny D. Callahan is the co-author of a book on HIV testing, has published seven journal articles, and is co-author on six scientific abstracts. His main research interests include the development of rapid diagnostic assays for the human retroviruses. Douglas M. Watts, Ph.D. is the Director of the Infectious Diseases Threat Assessment Research Program at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Watts received a B.A. degree in 1965 from Berea College, Berea, Kentucky, M.S. degree in 1972 and Ph.D. degree in 1974 from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He served as chief of an Arboviral Diseases Research Program from 1974 to 1977 at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, D.C.; Assistant Chief of the Department of Virology from 1977 to 1980 at the U.S. Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangkok, Thailand; Senior Scientist of an Arboviral Diseases Research Program from 1980 to 1982 at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Ft. Detrick, Frederick, Maryland; Medical Research Advisor for the World Health Organization (WHO) from 1982 to 1984 at the WHO Southeast Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, India; Senior Scientist of Virology Research Program from 1984 to 1988 at USAMRIID; Head of the Department of Virology from 1988 to 1991 at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit #3, Cairo, Egypt; and in 1991 assumed present position. Dr. Watts is a member of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Council for International Health. He has served as a guest lecturer at several national and international universities, a WHO consultant and advisor, member of U.S. Army ad hoc review committee, reviewer of scientific manuscripts and research proposals on tropical disease research for several scientific journals, and reviewer and advisor for the Board on Science and Technology for International Development, National Research Council, Washington, D.C. Dr. Watts is the author or co-author of 70 scientific papers, including 1 book chapter and co-author of 1 book. His current major research interest relate to the diagnosis and epidemiology of viral diseases.