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International Highlights
May 2001 Program Developments
Fogarty International Center Pan American Fellowship Program The Pan American Fellowship (PAF) program brings post-doctoral candidates from Latin America and the Caribbean to train in NIH intramural laboratories for a period of one to two years. Please note that the PAF program is different from the NIH Visiting Program. The PAF fellows' stipend is shared between the NIH lab and the supporting Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) institution, with NIH covering health insurance and lab fees and the LAC counterpart covering travel to and from NIH. We have just learned that up to 15 new fellows, including 4 from Mexico, 2 from Argentina, 4 from Chile and the remaining from other Latin American and Caribbean countries will be participating in the program beginning Fall of 2001. Research interests of the PAF fellows are varied and some of the past research projects have been in the fields of infectious diseases, diabetes, mental health, dental health, cancer, environmental health, aging, etc. Please notify your IC's intramural laboratory chiefs of this opportunity to host PAF fellows. For additional information, please contact Dr. Luis A. Salicrup, Program Officer for the Americas, at the Division of International Relations at Fogarty by phone: 301-496-4784 or e-mail: Luis_Salicrup@nih.gov.
Stigma FIC will host a stigma conference in September that will focus on ways to combat the cross-cutting issue of stigma in this country and in the developing world. FIC staff is planning this conference in consultation with a trans-NIH committee and a panel of experts that is currently being formed. The burden of stigma due to disease will worsen significantly as the incidence of such marginalizing illnesses as HIV/AIDS and major depression increase. Individuals with stigmatized diseases are less likely to seek medical attention, causing higher morbidity and mortality among these “silently sick” populations, and communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS spread more easily through populations with untreated individuals. In order to address some of these crucial issues, FIC, in coordination with several ICs, plans to issue an RFA for stigma research for funding in FY 02. FIC recently convened a series of network meeting of grantees and trainees that enable grantees, trainees, and collaborating colleagues to exchange information on current projects. Network meetings were held under the joint Actions for Building Capacity and International Training and Research Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases Programs, the International Maternal and Child Health Research and Training Program, the International Bioethics and Career Development Award, and the International Training and Research Program in Population and Health. Bioethics The
revised/updated version of the 1993 CIOMS International
Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human
Subjects is now available for comment on the CIOMS website (www.cioms.ch).
Please feel free to distribute among your grantees. Regional
Activities
Chile: On April 3-6, FIC, NIEHS, and NCI co-sponsored the NIH-Chile Research Cooperation Workshop in Health and Environment, along with the Chilean Commission of Science and Technology (CONYCIT), at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Chile. The goals of this workshop held in Santiago were to provide an effective forum for discussion and the establishment of collaborative projects between Chilean scientists and researchers from or supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and to stimulate sharing resources and information in four areas of biomedical research of mutual interest: environmental toxicology, signal transduction, cancer, and genomics and bioinformatics. Six pre-proposals for collaborative research and training activities resulted from the workshop in the four different areas. Egypt:
The First
Lady of Egypt, Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, visited NIH on
Monday, April 2, to hear about NIH’s activities in maternal
and child health, women’s health, and NIH-Egypt cooperation.
She meet with Drs. Kirschstein, Maddox, Pinn and
Hrynkow, as well as two Egyptian scientist currently working
at NCI. NCI,
FIC and Mansoura University organized a workshop on “The
Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in Egypt” in Mansoura,
Egypt, April 3-5, 2001. The
workshop was held under the auspices of the Joint Science and
Technology Board of the U.S.-Egypt Partnership for Economic
Growth and Development, with presentations by researchers from
the United States, Canada, and Egypt.
Participants came from the universities of Mansoura,
Suez Canal, Alexandria, South Valley, and The Mubarak City for
Science and Technology. The
U.S.-Egypt Joint Science and Technology Board will meet
on May 22 in Cairo. At
this meeting, the Board will consider grants in biotechnology,
including 38 proposals in biotechnology related to health.
European Union Mr. Amar Bhat will travel to Brussels May 13-16 for meetings with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research to discuss ongoing and potential areas of cooperation. He will also represent NIH at the U.S.-EU Science and Technology Joint Consultative Group meeting on May 15. Germany: Ms. Natalie Tomitch traveled to Berlin and Bonn April 2-6 for meetings with the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (NSF-equivalent), the Federal Ministry for Research and Education, the German-American Academic Council, and the Institute for Nutrition. Italy:
FIC, in cooperation with
the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), organized
an international workshop on African biodiversity in Rome,
Italy, April 9-11. FIC
was represented by Dr. Josh Rosenthal and Ms. Natalie Tomitch.
The purpose of the workshop was to gather scientists,
experts, industrial partners and policy makers, from Italy,
Africa and the United States, to share information on the
current, state-of-the-art science of discovery and utilization
of plant and marine biodiversity in Africa for the production
of new drugs or products for agricultural use. Another aim of
the workshop was to lay the foundation for developing a
Natural Product Research Network involving Italy (i.e., the
CNR and other Italian institutions and industries), the United
States (including the International Cooperative Biodiversity
Groups, or ICBG, sponsored by the FIC), and African
laboratories and Centers of Excellence.
Outcomes included a commitment to facilitating research
and training for the exploration of African biodiversity.
CNR agreed to serve as Secretariat and to establish a
website for the nascent network.
FIC agreed to develop a listserve. PAHO: Dr. Luis A. Salicrup represented the Fogarty International Center (FIC) in the Mental Health in the Americas Planning Committee meeting held February 20-21. The meeting was co-sponsored by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The purpose of the meeting was to set the objectives and expected outcomes of the regional symposium entitled, "Mental Health in the Americas: Partnering for Progress" to be held November 5-6, 2001 in Washington, D.C. Discussion also focused on identifying existing best mental health practices in the region and existing research projects (including those sponsored by FIC, NIMH and other NIH institutes and centers), as well as current activities and new initiatives (including the upcoming FIC Stigma conference). Logistical issues such as the proposed structure of the meeting and potential speakers and participants were also discussed. Spain:
Dr. Luis A. Salicrup represented NIH at the III
Consultative Group Meeting for Central America held in
Madrid, Spain, jointly organized by IADB and the Government of
Spain. The
consultative group meetings provide an opportunity for Central
American governments to meet with multilateral organizations
like the IADB and international donors to discuss priority
issues relevant to the social and economic development of the
region. The
meeting had vast representation from the major donors
including the U.S., European Union, Germany, France, the
Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, Switzerland, etc.
The meeting provided an opportunity for dialogue and to
find areas of productive collaboration between the Central
American governments as an integrated region and the
donor community. Dr.
Salicrup participated in the Workshop on Human
Development and Social Equity, where he presented
his paper published by the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) and the Organization of
American States (OAS) in 1999 entitled,
“Meeting the Challenges: Free Trade Workforce, Science
and Technology Development in Central America”.
This study was the first assessment ever done on
applied science & technology centers of excellence
(including training and research institutions) that can
enhance Central America’s competitiveness and technological
infrastructure to support Sub-Regional trade expansion and
economic growth. National
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute The
Americas:
Six international scientific organizations in addition to PAHO,
NHLBI and major countries in the Americas have endorsed a new
initiative titled “Pan American Hypertension
Initiative” (PAHI), launched by NHLBI and PAHO.
This initiative is designed to develop collaboration
between national programs in hypertension in the Americas.
PAHI will focus on the health problems of an estimated
140 million hypertensives in the region, emphasizing the need
to prevent and control this condition, and its sequelae of
heart attacks, stroke, heart failure, disability and premature
deaths. In
follow-up of PAHI activities, Ministers of Health of countries
of North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean
unanimously endorsed a joint resolution at the Directing
Council meeting at PAHI Headquarters on September 29, 2000.
The resolution gives CVD increased attention in future
public health program sin the Americas, with particular
emphasis on hypertension.
A meeting with PAHO and country representatives was
held in April 2001 at NIH to discuss joint plans for
implementing the PAHI initiative in the region. Europe:
NHLBI is
participating in an international conference to be held in
Washington in May 2001 on “Women’s Health in Menopause:
New Strategies Improved Quality of Life.” The conference will cover a number of areas related to the
health of women, including cancer, cardiovascular disease,
osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, etc.
Several European organizations are also participating
under the leadership of the Giovanni Lorenzini Foundation in
Milan, Italy. A
joint international document addressing “Women’s Health in
Menopause” is being developed in preparation for the
meeting. China:
A US-PRC 20th
Anniversary Celebration will be held in China in June to
recognize twenty
years of successful joint collaboration in cardiopulmonary
epidemiology. Topics
for new directions in joint research will also be explored
during a joint symposium on Future Directions in
Cardiovascular and Cardiopulmonary Research in the 21st
Century. Russia:
A US-Russia
Joint Symposium on Cardiac Arrhythmias will be held in
Washington, D.C., May
23-25, 2001. US
and Russian scientists will exchange information on the latest
advances in research and discuss new areas for scientific
exchanges and joint research projects. Japan:
The NHLBI Director for International Programs will participate
in the International Congress of Preventive Cardiology and the
WHO Symposium on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
in Osaka in May and a satellite symposium in Kyoto in June on
an international study of cardiovascular prevention.
National
Institute on Aging Iceland:
On April 23, NIA and the Icelandic Heart Association
signed a commitment of support for a collaboration on a vast
study on the interactions of age, genes and environment
(AGES). This collaboration, with support from both NIA and the
Iceland Government, will allow the Icelandic Heart Association
to extend into the new millennium its 34 years of data that
describe the health of 23,000 Icelandic residents in the
greater Reykjavik area. The AGES study will continue the
original longitudinal study of Icelandic citizenry for key
information on trends in cardiovascular health. In addition,
the eligible participants will contribute physical examination
information on the health of their bones, muscles, metabolic,
and nervous systems. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Botswana: During the week of March 25-30, 2001, in Gaborone, Botswana, the NICHD, in co-sponsorship with NIAID. NIMH, NCCAM, FIC, and the CDC, convened a “Consultation to Explore a Research Agenda to Improve the Care and Management of Mothers and Children Affected by HIV in Africa.” The meeting involved about 150 biomedical and social science researchers, health care providers, representatives of African non-governmental agencies and faith-based organizations, research funding agencies, and people living with HIV/AIDS. Two-thirds of the participants were Africans from twelve countries. Dr. Yvonne Maddox, Deputy Director, NICHD and Acting Deputy Director, NIH and Dr.Ruth Nduati, University of Nairobi, co-chaired the consultation, which focused on identification of urgently needed areas for future research, training, and infrastructure support. Kenya: Dr. Daniel Raiten, Health Scientist Administrator, Office of Prevention Research and International Programs, NICHD, attended the annual meeting of the United Nations (UN) Administrative Committee on Coordination: Subcommittee on Nutrition (ACC/SCN), and a symposium on the role of nutrition in the HV pandemic, in Nairobi, Kenya, during the week of April 2, 2001. The importance of food and nutrition in the context of prevention, care, and treatment of HIV/AIDS was emphasized. It was the first time that NIH was represented at this meeting. Dr. Raiten met with individuals from international organizations involved in the delivery of services to the developing world and informed them about relevant NIH/NICHD research efforts. WHO: Mr. Gray Handley, Associate Director, PRIP, participated in the discussion of the draft “Child Health and Nutrition Research Review of Progress” Report on April 18-20, 2001, in Geneva, Switzerland. This report has been commissioned by the Global Forum for Health Research, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and WHO, as a background document for the UN General Assembly Special Session on Child Health that will be held in New York in September 2001. India: During the week of April 22, 2001, the Indo-U.S. Joint Working Group (JWG) on Contraceptive and Reproductive Health (CRH) Research sponsored a workshop on “Transgenic Animal Models in Reproductive Health Research” in Rockville, Maryland. Participants included scientists from both India and the U.S. The workshop and business meeting of the JWG-CRH were organized by NICHD program staff who serve as members of the U.S. Secretariat for the JWG-CRH. Dr. Yvonne Maddox, Deputy Director, NICHD, and Acting Deputy Director, NIH, participated in the meeting. Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research: The first meeting of the Steering Committee of the Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research was held May 7–9, 2001, in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Yvonne Maddox addressed the U.S. principal investigators and senior foreign scientists, who are recipients of cooperative agreement awards to conduct research on a range of topics to help reduce infant and maternal morbidity and mortality in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Guatemala, India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Uruguay. The meeting was organized by Dr. Susan Meikle, Health Scientist Administrator, Center for Research for Mothers and Children, NICHD and Staff Science Coordinator for the Global Network, with planning and logistical support provided by Research Triangle Institute, the organization that operates the Global Network’s Data and Coordinating Center. The complementary FIC International Maternal and Child Health Research and Training Program Network meeting was held concurrently with the Global Network Steering Committee meeting. First Typhoid Vaccine to Protect Children Proven Effective: NICHD scientists have developed and tested the first vaccine capable of protecting young children from ages 2 to 5 against typhoid fever. It appears to be the most effective typhoid vaccine ever developed and is virtually free of side effects. Results of the study, which was conducted in the Dong Thap province of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, appear in the April 26, 2001 New England Journal of Medicine. There are plans to test the vaccine in children under two. Authors of the study include Drs. Feng Ying C. (Kimi) Lin, Zuzana Kossaczka, Delores Bryla, John Robbins, Rachel Schneerson, and Shousun Szu, all of NICHD; Dr. Joseph Shiloach, NIDDK; and several investigators affiliated with the Dong Thap Province Hospital, Pasteur Institute, and the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Vietnam. NICHD
Scientist Recipient of the Sabin Gold Medal:
Dr. John B. Robbins, Chief, Laboratory of Developmental and
Molecular Immunity, NICHD, is the recipient of the 2001
Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal from the Sabin Vaccine Institute
for dedicating his career to the development of vaccines for
preventing diseases that afflict children worldwide, including
meningitis, pertussis, typhoid, and others. USAID
Program on Child Health and Nutrition:
From June 9 through June 17, 2001, Mr. Gray Handley
plans to participate in an evaluation team that will involve
site visits to the World Health Organization and health
research organizations in India to assess progress made in the
USAID Program on Child Health and Human Nutrition Research. National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial ResearchChina: During the 7th World Congress on Preventive Dentistry, held in Beijing, China, April 24-27, NIDCR sponsored a symposium entitled, “Cancer Prevention: International Aspects and Collaborations.” Henning Birkedal-Hansen and Silvio Gutkind, Division of Intramural Research, and Lois Cohen, Office of International Health, worked together to organize the session. Dr. Cohen served as moderator of the symposium, Dr. Gutkind presented an overview of his lab’s work in understanding the genomics of oral cancer, and Dr. Kevin Hardwick made a presentation on NIDCR’s international role in head and neck cancer prevention, in which he described the Institute’s international mission and mechanisms available for building and funding international collaborative research in oral cancer. Dr. Qiang Huang, New York Medical College, presented material related to his work on gene-environment interactions, which he is doing as part of the NIDCR International Collaborative Oral Health Research Planning Grant in International Centers Against Oral Cancer. The symposium also featured biomedical, health promotion and epidemiological researchers from Malaysia, England and Thailand. Following the symposium, the panel members met together to discuss development of a joint research project in this field. Other NIDCR priorities and initiatives were discussed at the Beijing meeting. John Clarkson, Dean of the Dental School, Trinity College, Dublin, opened the plenary portion of the meeting with a discussion of fluoride research and its implications for public health. William Shaw, University of Manchester, UK, one of the team leaders of the NIDCR-WHO craniofacial anomalies project, presented an overview of the international collaborative research network and activities under the NIDCR-WHO Craniofacial Anomalies umbrella. Additionally, Dr. Cynthia Pine, University of Dundee, Scotland, discussed international perspectives on targeting caries prevention, a talk which was based on her NIDCR International Collaborative Oral Health Research Planning Grant. An international conference to explore issues and develop research teams and protocols to look at methods for the prevention of craniofacial anomalies will be held in Park City, Utah, May 24-26, as part of the NIDCR-WHO project to help support international collaborative research in craniofacial anomalies. More than 40 researchers will attend the meeting from every continent. International Collaborative Oral Health Research Planning Grants: At the AADR meeting in Chicago, March 7-10, staff attended meetings of two of the networks being established through the R21 International Collaborative Oral Health Research Planning Grants: International Consortium to Conduct Research into Temporomandibular Disorders (PI: Sam Dworkin, University of Washington) and Oral Health Related Quality of Life (PI: Hillary Broder, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey). A meeting of another planning grant network, Models of Health Inequalities in Childhood Dental Caries (PI: Cynthia Pine, University of Dundee, Scotland), will be held on the NIH campus on May 21-22. Czech Republic: NIDCR staff participated in the first Global Congress in Dental Education, to be held March 28 - April 1 in Prague, Czech Republic. Kevin Hardwick served on a workgroup looking at Research and the Dental Student. WHO: Kevin Hardwick participated as an invited WHO Expert in a consultation meeting on Oral Health Promotion, Oral Disease Management as an Essential Component of Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Control, held in Geneva, April 2-4. The purpose of the meeting was to help set program priorities for the WHO Oral Health Program. Dr. Hardwick gave a presentation on international collaborative oral health research, and served as rapporteur of a workgroup which examined ways to build international networks for improving oral health. Bioethics: As a follow-up to the Bioethics Conference held last October in Bangkok, NIDCR staff are working with Fogarty International Center to develop a symposium for the Annual Meeting of the International Association for Dental Research. This symposium, entitled “International Collaborative Research: Ethical and Legal Issues” will be held on June 29 in Chiba, Japan. Dr. Sam Dworkin will serve as Chair for the session. Global Oral Health: Lois Cohen continued to revise and update the co-authored of a panel report on Global Oral Health, which is part of the American Dental Association’s Future of Dentistry Project. That document is to be reviewed by the State and Local Dental Societies, the ADA Board of Trustees and eventually the ADA House of Delegates at its October meeting. Other:
Lois Cohen was honored to present the first Dario
Restrepo Memorial Lecture in International
Health, at Nova Southeastern Dental School, February 2.
Dr. Cohen gave a talk on the International
Community of Dentistry. Office of International Health staff served as guest lecturers in a course in International Health for Masters of Public Health students at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. On February 8, Kevin Hardwick provided an overview of international dental public health research issues, and Lois Cohen discussed the International Collaborative Studies of Oral Health Outcomes. On February 26, Lois Cohen met with the Chief Scientist from the Ministry of Health of Israel. Discussions focused around collaborative research opportunities in the Middle East. OIH staff met with representatives of the Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures (OSAP) on April 20. This organization works to provide training and education in the areas of infection control and occupational safety in the dental clinic setting. OSAP, with support from CDC, is holding a global summit on dental infection control in Orlando, Florida, June 16-17. Lois Cohen was invited to present a lecture in honor of Dr. Leo Sreebny at the School of Dental Medicine, SUNY at Stony Brook. She will present a lecture on “Oral Health in the Global Community.” Lois Cohen is continuing to serve on the DHHS Data Council workgroup on health systems performance, which is examining issues related to measuring performance of health systems on an international basis. In addition to DHHS agencies, USAID and the World Bank are included as working members of this group. NIDCR is working with the Fogarty International Center to organize a David E. Barmes Lecture in Global Health, in memory of Dr. David Barmes, who passed away January 13. The lecture is scheduled for the afternoon of October 22, 2001, and is intended to be of interest to a broad multi-disciplinary, trans-NIH audience. NIDCR continued its work with a contractor to produce a video showcasing the Institute’s international research agenda and international oral health research opportunities. The film will be used to promote interest among the scientific community in these areas of global need. Film crews have traveled to Niger to film noma research activity there, and to the Philippines to document cleft lip and palate field research by NIDCR investigators. In April, a draft version of the film was shown to NIDCR staff, who provided comments and suggestions. The film is scheduled to be premiered at the Barmes Lecture in Global Health in October. National Institute of General Medical SciencesStructural Genomics The NIGMS organized the Second International Structural Genomics Meeting on April 4-6, 2001 at the Airlie Center in Virginia, USA to continue the structural genomics project, an international effort to determine the three-dimensional shapes of proteins, building on the information of the genome sequencing projects and recent successes of structural biology and computational model building. The meeting was co-sponsored by NIGMS with the Wellcome Trust/UK and RIKEN/MEXT/Japan. At this meeting, the Task Force discussed these reports as well as other scientific issues facing this field. The structural genomics community, with participants from four continents, passed an international collaborative agreement at the conclusion of the meeting. The NIGMS Protein Structure Initiative is a national support program in this emerging field of structural genomics. Background information and other information can be found on the NIGMS Web site at: http://www.nigms.nih.gov/funding/psi.html .
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