Intemational
Services
International
Highlights
Summary of NIH
International Highlights
November 2001 –January 2002
Program Developments
Fogarty International Center
In
conjunction with World AIDS Day, the Fogarty International
Center announced the new International Clinical,
Operational, and Health Services Research Training Award for
AIDS and Tuberculosis (ICOHRTA-AIDS/TB).
This new capacity building program will provide
extended support for collaborative, multidisciplinary,
international clinical research training in developing
countries where AIDS and tuberculosis are significant
problems. FIC
worked closely with the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development, National Institute on Drug
Abuse, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute
of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Office of AIDS Research,
Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research, and Office
of Research on Women's Health, and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop this effort. The ICOHRTA-AIDS/TB complements the international research
and prevention efforts of the co-sponsors, for example NIAID's
Comprehensive International Program for Research on AIDS (CIPRA),
the NIMH Collaborative HIV/STD Prevention Trial, the NICHD
African Partnerships Program, and the CDC Global AIDS Program.
Planning grants will be given in FY 2002, and the first
full program awards will be made in 2003.
The current combined financial commitment from FIC and
its partners is approximately $20 million over the first five
years of the program.
Dr. Gerald Keusch,
Director, FIC, presented a paper at the “Pan-American
Health in the 21st Century: International
Cooperation and Development of Human Capital” conference,
sponsored by the Mexican National Institute of Public Health,
the Association of Schools of Public Health in Latin America
and the Caribbean, North America, and Europe, and the
Rockefeller Foundation. The
goal of this meeting was to develop an agenda for action and
associated priorities in public health education, by defining
the objectives and modalities of organized international
cooperation to reduce poverty and improve equality in health.
The meeting was held December 6-8, 2001 in Cancun.
Dr.
Keusch and FIC staff contributed several working papers to
the WHO Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, including on
the topic of IPR, global public goods for health, and the
culture of ethical conduct.
Papers may be viewed at http://www3.who.int/whosis/menu.cfm?path=whosis,cmh&language=english.
Dr. Keusch represented FIC/NIH at the 15th meeting
of the Indo-U.S. Vaccine Action Program Joint Working Group in
New Delhi, December 9-11.
The JWG discussed the new strategic plan and reviewed the reports of the three expert
advisory groups in TB, HIV/AIDS, and malaria.
On December
3, Dr. Keusch was a guest on "Talk to America," a
Voice of America (VOA) daily international call-in talk show,
broadcast live on radio, TV, and the Internet.
It has a daily worldwide audience of approximately 80
million people. Dr.
Keusch gave an overview of FIC and NIH efforts to improve
global health by supporting research and building research
capacity internationally.
In addition, as
part of its effort to commemorate World AIDS Day, VOA invited
Dr. Keusch to participate in an interview on “Scene Setter
for Word AIDS Day: Global Fight Against AIDS.”
The show was taped on November 29.
FIC Deputy
Director, Dr. Sharon Hrynkow, joined by representatives of
ORWH and OIR, hosted a special session on “Challenges and
Opportunities at NIH for Scientists from Developing
Countries” on December 11 in the Stone House.
This meeting, a follow-on to a consultation held in
March, provided an opportunity to inform the scientists of
activities and programs that may help advance their careers
upon return to their home institutions and enhance their
experience on campus. Mr. Jim Alexander, Office of Education, and Dr. Kenneth
Bridbord, FIC, made presentations on specific opportunities. In addition, Dr. Hrynkow announced the soon to be released
“Global Health Research Initiative Program for New Foreign
Investigators” (GRIP), a mechanism that will provide support
to NIH-trained foreign investigators upon their return home.
Dr. Hrynkow gave a presentation on the GRIP to the
Career Development Subcommittee of the Coordinating Committee
on Research on Women’s Health on December 13.
Dr. Hrynkow and
NICHD’s Gray Handley briefed the US-designate
representative to the UNICEF Executive Board on NIH domestic
and international programs on children and women’s health on
January 7.
Dr.
Hrynkow participated in the Selection Committee interviews of
the 20 finalists for the George Mitchell Scholarship.
The U.S.-Ireland Alliance, a non-partisan, non-profit
organization, established the Scholarship to educate future
American leaders about Ireland and to consolidate and further
the existing relationships between the U.S. and Ireland.
Each year 12 scholarships are awarded.
Bilateral
meetings
Norway/Germany:
FIC and IC neuroscience staff met with the Norwegian
Science Counselor posted in D.C. and representatives of the
Norwegian university system to discuss closer collaboration
between U.S. and Norwegian scientist in the neurosciences.
FIC also met with representatives from the Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) on December 7.
In addition to discussing mutual research
collaborations, this was also an opportunity to introduce Dr.
Walther Klofat, who will head of the new DFG Liaison Office in
Washington.
Vietnam:
The first meeting of the U.S.-Vietnam Joint
Intergovernmental Committee on Scientific and Technological
Cooperation met in Hanoi, November 14-16.
This committee was established by a bilateral agreement
signed in December 2000.
The U.S. delegation was led by Dr. Norman Neureiter,
S&T advisor to the Secretary of State.
Dr. Allen Holt represented NIH in the Committee meeting
and sessions of the Public Health Working Group.
It was agreed that the joint committee will review and
assess the progress of cooperative S&T activities; define
new areas for bilateral S&T cooperation; and discuss other
issues related to S&T cooperation and implementation of
the agreement. The
joint committee is scheduled to meet each year, alternatively
in Vietnam and the U.S.
The Public Health Working Group made cooperation in
HIV/AIDS epidemiology, prevention, treatment and preparation
for vaccine trials its top priority, citing a range of
cooperation in this field already underway between academic
institutions and government research institutes in both
countries. The
Working Group recommended stronger cooperation in research
related to maternal and child health, including vaccines;
nasopharyngeal, hepatic and pediatric cancer; emergency
services; tropical diseases; metabolic diseases; traditional
medicine; and toxicology.
Progress in cooperation in a study of the human health
and environmental effects of dioxin was cited and the leaders
in these efforts for both countries were commended. The Working Group identified public health genetics,
bioethics in human subjects research, technology transfer
(particularly in vaccinology), mental health and clinical
research as promising areas for future collaboration.
The Vietnam Education Fund, established by Congress, will
channel $5 million annually from 2002 to 2016 into programs of
graduate science and technology education, enabling Vietnamese
to study in the United States and U.S. faculty to teach in
Vietnam. CDC
recently signed an agreement with the National AIDS Standing
Bureau of Vietnam for a $2 million annual program in HIV/AIDS.
Africa:
Dr Pierce Gardner, Senior Advisor for Clinical
Research and Training, FIC participated at the 9th
Symposium of the Harvard AIDS Institute "HIV Vaccines for
Developing Countries: Establishing Networks for HIV Vaccine
Trials in Southern Africa," held in Gaborone, Botswana,
November 27-30. He
presented a paper "Capacity Building for HIV/AIDS
Research in Developing Countries," in which he
highlighted the recent program announcement of the
International Clinical, Operational, and Health Services
Research Training Award for AIDS/Tuberculosis (ICOHRTA-AIDS/TB).
On December 1, he attended World AIDS Day observances,
including the dedication by President Mogae of a 25,000 sq.
ft. state-of-the-art HIV reference laboratory and training
center which will support HIV vaccine trials and clinical
research.
Dr. Gardner also visited the Africa Center for Health and
Population Studies in Mtubatuba, South Africa to review the
FIC supported programs in Maternal and Child Health,
Information Technology, and the ABC program.
The Africa Center has established a well demographed
population of 80,000 people in the KwaZuluNatal area and is
conducting detailed field epidemiology studies and training
programs related to AIDS and issues related to breast feeding.
Japan:
The Osaka University-NIH Forum on Immunity and
Inflammation was held in Wilson Hall on January 8.
The President of Osaka University, Professor Tadamitsu
Kishimoto, and Dr. William Paul, NIAID, were the lead
organizers. FIC’s
Deputy Director served as moderator for one of the sessions.
Russia
and NIS: Within
the U.S. Civilian R&D Foundation’s (CRDF)
2001 Cooperative Grants Program competition, CRDF
received a total of 1,630 proposals in all areas of science
and engineering, an increase of 30% over submissions received
in 2000. Of
these, 370 were in biomedical and behavioral sciences.
All proposals were sent out for external review to at
least two experts, and then brought before a
discipline-specific review panel that evaluated and ranked
each proposal. Several
high-ranking projects were selected for funding in the
priority areas identified by several ICs at the beginning of
the competition: bioengineering (5), alcohol research (1), and
medical rehabilitation research/development of prosthetic
devices (1). As a
result of the review, 37 proposals in biomedical and
behavioral sciences have been selected for funding, with an
average award size of $60,000 for a two-year period.
The country breakdown is: Russia (22), Ukraine (8),
Armenia (4), Georgia (1), Kazakhstan (1), and Uzbekistan (1).
In
summary, the $1.4 million contributed by NIH institutes with
FY 2002 funding has enabled CRDF to leverage funds from the
U.S. Department of State and other agencies in order to fund
approximately $2.3 million in awards (another $1.4 million
from NIH was committed for FY 2003).
An additional 107 biomedical proposals were rated highly by
the panels, but there were insufficient funds to support them
at that time. There is an opportunity for ICs
which did not contribute to the aggregate NIH pool for CRDF
this year to review the list of projects and determine their
interest in contributing funding for CRDF to support and
administer any specific meritorious projects.
Dr.
Rachel Nugent of
the Division of Training and Research (DITR)
participated in the 3rd annual meeting of the Global
Development Network (GDN) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
December 9-13. The
GDN is a worldwide network of researchers on economic
development that was created to build research capacity and
knowledge about subjects of importance to the developing
world. FIC has spearheaded the inclusion of health research
and policy into the GDN activities.
The meeting included panel presentations on local
health care delivery, a research award competition on
HIV/AIDS, and FIC-organized workshops on health, environment
and economic development and health and economics research.
Dr.
Jeanne McDermott, FIC/DITR,
attended the 6th International Congress on AIDS
in Asia (October 5-10, 2001) and the Global Research
Network (GRN) Meeting (Oct 11-12, 2001) in Melbourne
Australia. She
participated on a panel at the AIDS meeting, sponsored by the
GRN, and discussed funding opportunities within NIH for
researchers interested in HIV/AIDS and drug use.
Dr.
Aron Primack, FIC/DITR, participated as panel member at
the WHO Non-Communicable Disease meeting December 10 -13 in
Geneva. The
meeting was attended by about 150 people from all over the
world to help set priorities and write a "white
paper" with these findings to the Director General.
Dr. Jim Lavery of FIC’s Division of
Advanced Studies and Policy Analysis (DASPA) organized and
chaired a symposium on international research ethics at the
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene meeting in
Atlanta GA, November 14.
Dr. Lavery also gave
a keynote presentation at the Department of Defense Human
Subjects Research Review Board Conference: Ethics of DOD
International Research in Frederick MD, November 19-20, and
assisted in the planning, organizing, and case study
preparation.
Additional presentations by
Dr. Lavery: Toward cultures of ethical conduct: A proposal
for progress in international collaborative research
(University of Toronto, Joint Centre for Bioethics, November
21; and Is the Declaration of Helsinki truly applicable in
the developing world? (Public Responsibility in Medicine
and Research (PRIM&R) Annual Meeting, Boston MA, Dec 2);
and chaired several sessions on international research ethics
at PRIM&R conference workshops.
Dr. Lavery represented FIC/NIH
at a meeting of the Strategic Initiative for the Development
of Ethics Review Capacity (SIDCER), held in Bethesda December
5-10.
FIC/DASPA
staff participated in a preliminary meeting organized by the
Office of Refugee Health together with representatives from
other HHS agencies, the World Bank and other international
organizations to discuss U.S. response to issues of Global
Burden of Preventable Injuries including road traffic
accidents, drowning and burns.
UN
General Assembly Human Cloning Resolution: FIC/DIR and OD
Office of Science Policy representatives attended intra- and
interagency meetings, respectively, on December 7 and 11 to
discuss a UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution on Human
Cloning which is set for adoption this December. Among other things, the Resolution calls for the
establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee process at the UN in 2002
for the purpose of considering an international convention
against the reproductive cloning of humans.
The first meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee will be from
February 25 to March.
National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development
Indo-U.S.
Joint Program on Maternal and Child Health and Human
Development Research.
This new program was officially launched in New Delhi, India,
December 12-14, 2001, with the first meeting of the Joint
Working Group (JWG) on Maternal and Child Health and Human
Development (MCH) Research, and a workshop on low birth
weight. Dr.
Yvonne Maddox, Acting Deputy Director, National Institutes of
Health (NIH) and Deputy Director, NICHD, and Dr. Robert
Goldenberg, Chairman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
University of Alabama at Birmingham, serve as co-chairs of the
U.S. contingent of the JWG-MCH. Dr. Goldenberg also represented the NIH on behalf of Dr.
Maddox, who was unable to attend the meeting because of other
pressing duties. Other
NICHD staff participants included Dr. Gilman Grave, Chief,
Endocrinology, Nutrition, and Growth Branch, Center for
Research for Mothers and Children, Mr. Gray Handley, Associate
Director for Prevention Research and International Programs (PRIP),
and Dr. Daniel Raiten, Health Scientist Administrator, PRIP.
Mr. Handley and Dr. Raiten, who serve on the U.S.
Secretariat, helped to plan and coordinate the meeting and
associated workshop. The
JWG finalized the terms of program administration and reviewed
38 pre-proposals received in response to a published program
announcement. Eleven
pre-proposals were selected for further development.
DHHS International Health
Attaché in Southern
Africa: In response to a request from the Office of the Secretary, Department of
Health and Human Services (DHHS), the Institute will assign
Mr. Gray Handley, Associate Director for Prevention Research
and International Programs, to the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria,
South Africa, where he will serve in the newly created
position of Health Attaché and Regional Representative of the
Public Health Service. This
detail is for two to four years and will begin in February,
2002. In this position, Mr. Handley will facilitate DHHS-supported
activities in South Africa and other countries in southern
Africa. He will
assist the National Institutes of Health (NIH) intramural and
extramural programs, extramural grantees and contractors, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug
Administration, and other DHHS programs.
Upon completion of this assignment, Mr. Handley will
rejoin the NICHD.
NIH
Sub-Committee on International Nutrition Research:
The NIH Nutrition Coordinating Committee (NCC) has
established a new trans-NIH Sub-Committee on International
Nutrition Research (SCIN).
Dr. Daniel Raiten, NICHD, and Dr. Rachel Nugent,
Fogarty International Center, will serve as co-chairs of the
SCIN, and Dr. Pamela Starke-Reed, National Institute of
Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, will act as
liaison from the NCC to the sub-committee.
The goal of the SCIN will be to inform and coordinate
international nutrition research and training-related
activities at the NIH. The
subcommittee will include representatives with a background in
nutrition research and international health from across the
NIH Institutes and Centers. SCIN members plan to conduct an inventory of current NIH
international nutrition efforts, identify potential areas of
programmatic activity, and assess how NIH might expand its
role as a scientific resource in this area to the
international health community.
Partnerships
for HIV/AIDS Research in African Populations:
In co-sponsorship with the National Institute of Mental
Health, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine, and the Fogarty International Center, the NICHD
released the Partnerships for HIV/AIDS Research in African
Populations (HD-02-003),
on November 6, 2001. The
deadline for applications is April 16, 2002.
Scientific review will occur in June/July 2002, with
Council review set for September 2002.
This RFA will support resource-related grants to
develop research infrastructure and to strengthen the capacity
of African scientists to conduct behavioral and social science
research relevant to HIV/AIDS prevention and care needs of
women, children, and families in Africa.
The RFA encourages research partnerships between
skilled African investigators and U.S. and/or other developed
country scientists. It
will also support developmental studies that address and take
into consideration local African needs, challenges,
priorities, and realities.
It can be accessed at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HD-02-003.html.
The RFA was developed in response to the
recommendations that emerged at the March 2001 Botswana
“Consultation to Explore a Research Agenda to Improve the
Care and Management of Mothers and Children Affected by
HIV/AIDS in Africa.” Hard
copies of the Botswana Consultation Report, Research
for HIV/AIDS Care, are available from the NICHD Office of
Prevention Research and International Programs.
National
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
The
Americas: The Pan-American Hypertension Initiative (PAHI),
launched by NHLBI and PAHO, has been endorsed by seven
international scientific organizations.
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 PAHO Headquarters on September 29, 2000.
The resolution gives increased attention to CVD in
future public health strategies in the Americas, with
particular emphasis on hypertension.
A joint blood pressure measurement standard has been
developed with partners in the Americas, and tested by PAHO in
its public health programs in Costa Rica.
A meeting with PAHO and country representatives was
held in April 2001 at NIH to discuss further joint plans for
implementing the PAHI initiative in the region. A follow-up meeting in FY 2002 is being planned.
Europe:
NHLBI participated in an international conference held in
Washington in May 2001 on "Women's Health in Menopause:
New Strategies for Improved Quality of Life." The conference covered 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 by participants in the
meeting.
Italy:
NHLBI
is co-sponsoring a US-Italy Joint Symposium of prominent US
and Italian scientists in March 2002 on Pathophysiology and
Therapeutic Approaches for Vascular Remodeling. This
is a cutting edge topic in international research, aimed at
exploring new strategies for prevention and treatment of
cardiovascular diseases. The
meeting will be held at the Carter Presidential Center in
Atlanta, Georgia, in conjunction with the annual meetings of
the American College of Cardiology.
National
Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
NIDCR
staff attended the second global summit on dental infection
control in New York City, November 29-30.
This meeting was sponsored jointly by the CDC and the
Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures (OSAP), an
organization that works to provide training and education in
the areas of infection control and occupational safety in the
dental clinic setting. Staff
participated in a research working group, which helped
establish research goals and implementation steps for OSAP,
and continued development of an infection control research
agenda.
NIDCR
staff participated in the World Health Organization (WHO)
Meeting on Registry of Craniofacial Anomalies, held in
Bauru, Brazil, December 4-6, 2001.
This meeting was part of a broader project to develop
an international collaborative network for research on
craniofacial birth defects. Discussions
during the three-day workshop included the global epidemiology
of craniofacial birth defects, global coverage of existing
registries, mechanisms of data collection, confidentiality and
ethics, research potential of registry data, and the
development of a common set of shared data for inclusion in a
centralized, publicly-accessible data base.
This meeting brought together representatives of
several different registries and groups of registries,
including the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects
Monitoring Systems (ICBDMS), the European Registration of
Congenital Anomalies and the Latin American Collaborative
Study of Congenital Malformations.
Representatives from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention also attended to discuss birth defects
ascertainment and registration in the US.
Also present were representatives from developing
countries that are in various stages of birth defects registry
design and implementation, as well as people with computer and
database design skills.
The
Associate Director for International Health presented a
lecture to oral medicine residents and faculty on December 11, at
the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Her talk was entitled, “Building
Global Partnerships For Research: the Role of the National
Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.”
NIDCR’s
International Health Officer
was a guest lecturer as part
of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences’
graduate level International Health course.
The lecture, “International Dental Public Health,”
was given on December 10 to students in the University’s
Masters of Public Health program.
NIDCR’s
international video, “Science Knows No Country,” won
the top award in the "Dentistry" category for the
Freddie's – the International Health and Medical Media
Awards.
National
Institute on Mental Health
On
November 5 and 6, 2001, a NIMH-Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) meeting was held at PAHO headquarters. A
conference report with recommendations is expected to follow.
On
November 7, 2001, the WHO World Health Report with an emphasis
on Mental Health was released.
National
Library of Medicine
In
December NLM staff traveled to Accra, Ghana, to meet
with researchers from Noguchi Memorial Research Institute and
Navrongo Health Research Center regarding their use of the
vsat system NLM installed at both sites as part of the
Multilateral Initiative on Malaria.
The MIMCom system is helping scientists gain access to
medical literature and databases through NLM's Pub Med as well
as to each other for the purpose of constructing proposals and
writing papers.
Information
Items:
U.S.
graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are eligible to
apply for either the laboratory internship (July 11- September
13) or the lecture course (July 23-August 2) sponsored by the
Japanese Brain Science Institute to train advanced students in
brain function. Applications
must be completed by February 28, 2002.
Application forms may be accessed at http://summer.brain.riken.jp/.
E-mail inquiries may be sent to info02@summer.brain.riken.go.jp
Updated May 2003
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