STONY BROOK PROFESSOR RECEIVES $150,000 GRANT
              FROM SCLERODERMA FOUNDATION TO STUDY MAST CELLS

Dr. Barry L. Gruber One of Eight Recipients Nationwide of Two-Year awards

A professor in the Health Sciences
Center  at Stony Brook University is among eight researchers nation-wide to
receive  identical  $150,000  grants from the Scleroderma Foundation, which
funds  national  centers at the forefront of new scleroderma science. Barry
L.  Gruber,  M.D.,  Professor  of Medicine and Dermatology in the School of
Medicine, was Stony Brook's recipient of one of the two-year awards.

      Scleroderma  is  a  rare  disease  of  the skin, joints, and internal
organs,  affecting  approximately  300,000  people  in the U.S. and is most
commonly  diagnosed  in  women  between the ages of 25 and 55. The disease,
which  results  in  overproduction  of  collagen (connective tissue) in the
body,  can  cause  hardening of the skin and excess collagen buildup in the
esophagus,  kidneys,  lungs, and gastrointestinal tract. Scleroderma is not
contagious.

      Dr.  Gruber's research proposal earned him the Marta Marx Eradication
of  Scleroderma  Award.  His research will focus on determining the role of
mast  cells (involved in allergic reactions) in scleroderma patients. Other
awards,  chosen  from  among 40 submissions world-wide, went to researchers
from  University  of  Tennessee,  University  of  Maryland,  University  of
Washington,  University  of  South  Carolina,  Georgetown  University,  and
University of Texas.

      The  Scleroderma  Foundation  (www.scleroderma.org)  has  provided $9
million  in research funds since 1989, making it by far the largest private
supporter  of research into the disease. While serving to provide essential
funding  for  continued  research,  the  grants  and selection process also
acknowledge  excellence  in  the  field. Many recipients credited with this
grant go on to receive funding from the National Institutes of Health.

      Dr.  Gruber  joined  the Stony Brook faculty in 1984. He received his
medical  training  at  New  York  Medical College, which was followed by an
internal medicine residency at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
He  subsequently  obtained sub-specialty training in Rheumatology, Allergy,
and  Clinical  Immunology at Stony Brook University and has the distinction
of  four  board  certifications in Internal Medicine, Rheumatology, Allergy
and  Clinical  Immunology, and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology. He resides
in Stony Brook.