Intemational
Services
International Highlights
Summary of NIH International
Highlights
September
26, 2001
Program
Developments
Fogarty
International Center
Stigma
Research Agenda
FIC
and partners across NIH as well as a range of other U.S. and
private agencies, hosted a conference September 5-7 that
focused on stigma and its impact in advancing medical
research, access to health care, participation in clinical
trials and other topics of concern in this country and in the
developing world. The
conference helped to define stigma as a concept, illustrated
its corrosive nature and highlighted how it contributes to
public health problems. It
also pointed out critical areas of research from the etiology
of stigma to culturally and nationally appropriate
interventions. In
addition to the 250 conference participants, including 90 from
developing countries, the proceedings were watched over the
world wide web by thousands of people each day.
The FIC, in collaboration with its NIH partner
institutes and other groups, expect to prepare an RFA for a
Stigma Research Program to be issued in FY 2002.
International
Tobacco and Health Research and Capacity Building Program
FIC,
in cooperation with NCI, NICHD, NIDA, NIMH, and NINR, as well
as the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative, issued a comprehensive
Request for Applications (RFA) on June 25 that targets the
needs of the developing world and the research interests of
the NIH related to tobacco control. The RFA targets 5 key
research areas including epidemiological and surveillance
research, susceptibility and risk, biobehavioral and social
research, intervention research and policy-related research.
Grantees will be required to include a significant
capacity and infrastructure-strengthening component in their
programs. The
due date for receipt of applications is October 26, 2001.
Multilateral
Initiative on Malaria (MIM)
The
Pasteur Institute hosted a MIM meeting of sponsoring agencies
and African scientists on September 24 in Paris.
The meeting focused on support of the Arusha
conference, as well as critical program activities and it
provided a forum to consider passing on the Secretariat
activities to another agency in late 2002.
Division
of International Relations
The
Middle East: FIC/DIR
met with scientists from the Ministries of Health in Oman and
the United Arab Emirates to discuss
these countries’ interest in developing a relevant
research agenda for their region’s priority health concerns.
The Americas:
FIC/DIR
represented NIH at the WHO XXXVI Meeting of the Advisory
Committee on Health Research (ACHR) for the Americas in
Kingston, Jamaica, July 9-11.
Recommendations regarding priorities for health and
biomedical research topics and possible strategies to advance
research initiatives, activities, and partnerships were
discussed and presented by ACHR members to PAHO’s director.
Following
the ACHR meeting, FIC/DIR staff also participated in the XVIII
Meeting of the Interciencia Pan American Association in
Salvador, Brazil on July 12-16.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the status of
current policies and available infrastructure pertaining to
science and technology research in the Americas. FIC/DIR staff
provided an overview of NIH’s
current activities in the region and discussed possible
future collaborative research and training initiatives between
NIH and relevant Latin American and Caribbean agencies.
On
August 6-9, FIC/DIR represented NIH on a panel on
international opportunities for biomedical research and
training, which included representatives from the Wellcome
Trust, PAHO, United Nations Universities Fund and others, at
the XXV Meeting of the Latin American Network of Biological
Sciences (RELAB) in Santiago, Chile.
FIC/DIR staff
also participated in the meeting of the planning committee
which was set up to organize the regional symposium on
“Mental Health in the Americas: Partnering for
Progress" currently scheduled for November 5-6, 2001 in
Washington, D.C. The planning committee meeting held in Pachuca, Mexico on
June 15-18 and co-sponsored by the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) and the National Institute of Mental
Health (NIMH), was designed to elaborate the objectives and
expected outcomes of the symposium. As such, the discussions focused on identification of
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 possible new initiatives.
On
July 12, FIC/DIR conducted a presentation to health
researchers and other professionals from the U.S., Bolivia,
and Argentina on NIH programs and opportunities for
collaboration, including FIC’s training and research
programs, in a workshop held in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
and Russia and NIS: DIR participated in meetings at NIH with representatives from the Croatian
Ministry of Health and the Kazakh Ministry of Education,
Science, and Technology.
The primary purpose of these meetings was to discuss
areas of mutual interest and priority, and opportunities for
expanding collaboration with FIC and NIH more broadly.
During
the period since the last Advisory Board meeting, DIR
participated in a meeting with a large group of public health
professionals, epidemiologists,
educators, NGO directors, and policymakers from
Ukraine, Russia, and five New Independent States of Central
Asia, as part of U.S. Department of State's International
Visitors Program. The
purpose of the NIH visits was to share information regarding
current U.S.-based research, as well as relevant programs and
research and training opportunities available through NIH.
Primary areas of interest represented by the different
groups included women's health and the twin epidemics of
HIV/AIDS and substance abuse.
DIR
is continuing to coordinate input from other ICs for the NIH
contribution to the current competition of the U.S. Civilian
R&D Foundation (CRDF).
Thus far, FIC has received a total commitment of $2.8
million from NIH’s various Institutes and Centers for FY2002
and 2003 combined to support CRDF’s Collaborative Grant
Program in the biomedical and behavioral sciences.
This program allows joint teams of U.S. and former
Soviet Union (FSU) scientists and engineers to apply for one-
to two-year support for cooperation in any area of civilian
research and development in the natural sciences, mathematics,
engineering, and biomedical and behavioral sciences.
The average award size has been $40,000 per year, with
at least 80% of the funds supporting project-related expenses
of the FSU team. Since
1996, CRDF has effectively leveraged additional funds to
support more than 140 joint projects.
The program also has stimulated new collaborative
relationships between NIH-supported investigators and their
counterparts from countries not previously engaged through
normal NIH mechanisms, including Armenia, Georgia, and
Kazakhstan, as well as new collaborations in Ukraine and
Russia.
DIR
staff participated in NIH’s input to the meeting of the
U.S.-Hungary and U.S.-Slovenia Joint S&T Boards, as well
as a subsequent workshop which focused on expanding U.S.-CEE-EU
collaboration. The
meetings were held in Budapest and Ljubljana, respectively,
September 6-12, 2001.
Japan:
FIC participated in meetings at NIH with a large delegation headed by Mr.
Koji Omi, Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy
on September 10. Following
a very productive discussion of NIH organizational issues with
NIH Acting Director Dr. Ruth Kirschstein; Deputy Director for
Extramural Research, Dr. Wendy Baldwin; and Fogarty staff, Dr.
Gallin, led the Japanese delegation through a tour of the
Clinical Center. Mr.
Omi and his colleagues concluded their visit to NIH with
productive discussions on structural genomics with Dr. Norvell,
Director of the National Institute of General Medical
Sciences.
India:
DIR staff worked throughout the last several months on preparations for
the U.S.-India S&T Forum, originally scheduled for
September 21 and the first meeting of the U.S.-India Joint
Working Group on HIV/AIDS scheduled for October.
Both high-level meetings have been postponed due to the
recent terrorist activities in the U.S.
Western
Europe: DIR coordinated and participated in the NIH visit of the newly appointed
HIV/AIDS Coordinator for the Foreign Office in the U.K. Mr.
Haydon Warren-Gash. The
visit focused on discussions with FIC and NIH's Office of AIDS
Research regarding NIH's current HIV/AIDS research and
policies. DIR
also arranged meetings for a group of Innovation and
Technology Promoters from the U.K. to meet with technology
transfer personnel at the National Human Genome Research
Institute. Preparations
were also underway for the upcoming visit to NIH of the
Director of the French Institute of Health and Medical
Research (INSERM), Dr. Christian Brechot, who expressed
interest in discussing potential NIH-INSERM collaborative
activities. However,
the visit was postponed due to the tragic events of September
11, 2001.
FIC
Personnel Changes
Joel Breman
has taken on new responsibilities as Senior Scientific Advisor
in the FIC Division of International Epidemiology and
Population Studies (EPS).
In his new capacity, he will lead the Disease
Control Priorities in the Developing World Project (DCPP).
The DCPP will link the FIC, NIH, World Bank and other
organizations in several actions, with a major goal the
publication of a second edition of “Disease Control
Priorities in Developing Countries.” He will continue to
direct the Center’s International Training and Research
Program in Infectious Diseases (ITREID) and the Actions for
Building Capacity in Support of the NIAID ICIDR Program (ABC),
in collaboration with DITR.
Mr.
Michael McDowell
joined
the Center as a Senior Policy Advisor in the FIC Division of
Advanced Studies and Policy Analysis and in the OD and will
take the lead in fostering Center initiatives related to
science and the media.
Ellis
McKenzie joined the FIC in July as Staff Scientist in the
FIC Division of Epidemiology and Population Studies (EPS) to
continue his work on population-biology
of malaria and other global health treats.
Rachel
Nugent has moved from
the FIC Division of Advanced Studies and Policy Analysis (DASPA)
to the Division of International Training and Research (DITR),
where she will continue to provide technical expertise on a
range of policy issues, including IPR and global public good,
sustainable development and economics, as well as serve as
Program Director for Medicine and the Media.
Aron Primack is the new
Program Director for the International Tobacco and Health
Research and Capacity Building Program and the Environment and
Occupational Health Programs and he will develop program
initiatives related to chronic disease.
National Institute on
Child Health and Human Development
Formation
of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)
The
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently convened and
chaired two meetings to establish a new global initiative
focused on the reduction of micronutrient deficiencies in
developing nations. A
planning group for the initiative includes representatives of
six “stakeholder” groups: donor agencies, including USAID;
foundations and private supporters; multilateral agencies;
implementing organizations, including NGOs; industry and
industry associations; and the scientific community.
Dr.Gerald Keusch, Director, Fogarty International
Center, and Associate Director for International Research, NIH,
represents the scientific community.
The initial planning group meeting for GAIN was
attended by NICHD
Associate Director for Prevention Research and International
Programs Gray Handley, on behalf of Dr. Keusch,
Conference
on Natural Products in Microbicides and Contraceptives
The
Contraception and Reproductive Health Branch, Center for
Population Research, NICHD, sponsored a conference at NIH on Natural
Products in Microbicides and Contraceptives: Current State of
Knowledge on September 10, 2001, followed by a working
group meeting on September 11.
Topics included a focus on spermicidal and
non-spermicidal plant products; antimicrobial plant products;
mineral microbicides; and challenges in identification and
testing of natural products as potential microbicides,
spermicides, carriers for vaginal products, or systemic
contraceptives. Presenters
and working group participants included representatives from
the NIH Office of AIDS Research, NIAID, NCI, NICHD, NCCAM. FIC,
U.S.AID, the World Health Organization, the Center for
Population Research in New Delhi, India, the National Hospital
for Women and Children in Abuja, Nigeria, CONRAD, U.S.
Pharmacopeia, industry and universities.
Hungary
and Slovenia - Dr. Louis Quatrano, Director of the Behavioral
Science, and Rehabilitation Engineering Program, National
Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, NICHD, represented
the NIH as part of the U.S. delegation to the meeting of the
U.S.-Hungary Science and Technology Joint Board that was held
in Budapest, Hungary on September 6, 2001.
The Joint Board meeting was followed by a one-day
conference to explore opportunities available for Central
European countries for research and development cooperation
with both the U.S. and the European Union Science Program.
Dr. Quatrano also attended the meeting of the
U.S.-Slovenia Joint Board that was scheduled immediately
afterwards in Ljubjana, Slovenia.
India
- The
first meeting of the Indo-U.S. Joint Working Group (JWG) on
Maternal and Child Health and Human Development (MCH)
Research, scheduled to be held in New Delhi, India, on
September 25-27, 2001, has been postponed.
It is anticipated that the meeting will be rescheduled
sometime during the fall or winter, 2001.
Dr.Yvonne Maddox, Acting Deputy Director, NIH, and
Deputy Director, NICHD, and Dr. Robert Goldenberg, Chairman,
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Alabama
at Birmingham, serve as the U.S. co-chairs of the MCH JWG.
Other U.S. JWG members include Dr. Anne Willoughby,
Acting Director, Center for Research for Mothers and Children,
NICHD, and Council member Dr. Satish Kalhan.
A workshop on “Low Birth Weight: Prevalence, Causes,
and Possible Solutions” will be held in conjunction with the
JWG meeting.
Africa
- Partnerships
for HIV/AIDS Research in African Populations RFA (HD-013-01). The
NICHD, in co-sponsorship with the National Institute of Mental
Health, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine, and the Fogarty International Center, plans to issue
this RFA by early October 2001.
The purpose of this RFA is to support resource-related
grants to develop research infrastructure and strengthen the
capacity of African researchers to conduct behavioral and
social science research relevant to the HIV/AIDS prevention
and care needs of African women, children, and families. This
RFA will encourage research partnerships between skilled
African investigators and U.S. and/or other developed country
scientists that will result in the increased HIV/AIDS research
capacity of the African scientific community.
The RFA also will support developmental and/or
exploratory studies that address and take into consideration
local African needs, challenges, priorities, and realities.
The RFA has been developed in response to 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 in Africa.”
Uganda -
The 3rd Conference on Global
Strategies for Prevention of HIV Transmission from Mothers to
Infants was held from September 9 to 13, 2001, in Kampala,
Uganda. Included among the conference participants were Drs. Lynne
Mofenson and Jennifer Read, Medical Officers, Pediatric,
Adolescent, and Maternal AIDS Branch, Center for Research for
Mothers and Children, NICHD and Gray Handley, Associate
Director for Prevention Research and International Programs,
NICHD.
Vietnam - Dr. Feng-Ying Lin, Division of Epidemiology,
Statistics, and Prevention Research, and Loc Trinh, Laboratory
of Developmental and Molecular Immunity, NICHD traveled to Ho
Chi Minh City and Dong Thap Province, Vietnam, from July 22 to
August 6, 2001. The purpose of their visit was to review the progress of the
Phase III efficacy trial of Vi conjugate vaccine for typhoid
fever and discuss and finalize plans for the crossover
vaccination and safety, immunogenicity, and dosage study of
Vi-rEPA vaccine in two to five year olds.
National Institute on
Drug Abuse
Scientists
from 25 countries, the World Health Organization, and AIDS
2002 Barcelona participated in the sixth NIDA International
Forum, Building
International Research on Drug Abuse: Children and Youth at
Risk, convened from June 14 through 16, 2001, in
Scottsdale, Arizona, immediately before the Annual Scientific
Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence.
Through plenary sessions, oral and poster
presentations, and small group discussions, participants
exchanged information about advances in drug abuse research
from the fields of basic science, epidemiology and prevention,
and pharmacological and behavioral treatment.
Presenters included NIDA Director Dr. Alan I. Leshner,
Dr. Vincent Smeriglio and Dr. Jagjitsing Khalsa, CAMCODA; Dr.
Elizabeth Robertson, DESPR; Dr. Glen Hanson, DNBR; Dr. Frank
Vocci, Dr. Joseph Frascella, and Dr. Ivan Montoya, DTRD; Dr.
Cindy Miner, OSPC; and Dr. Sharon Hrynkow, NIH Fogarty
International Center.
NIDA
co-sponsored a symposium at the 9th International Conference on AIDS, Cancer, and Related Problems,
convened from May 27 to June 1, 2001, in St. Petersburg,
Russia. The
annual meeting is the largest conference in the former Soviet
Union dealing with AIDS.
The NIDA symposium was cochaired by Drs. Henry (Skip)
Francis and Peter Hartsock, CAMCODA, and featured
presentations by Dr. Francis; Dr. Hartsock; Dr. Steven W.
Gust, International Program; and Dr. Jerry Flanzer, DESPR.
NIDA also supported the participation in the conference
of several grantees, including Dr. D. Paltiel from Yale
University, Dr. M. Brandeau from Stanford University, Dr. D.
Owens from VA Hospital, Stanford University, Dr. A. Wilson
from the University of Minnesota, and Dr. G. Zaric from the
University Of Western Ontario.
During the conference, the NIDA representatives also
visited research projects in St. Petersburg funded by NIDA
under the 1996 Exchange of Letters between NIDA and Pavlov
State Medical University, and Dr. Gust began planning a NIDA-funded
symposium for 2002 that will be a follow-up to the 1999
bi-national workshop held in St. Petersburg on “Drug Abuse
and Infectious Disease Prevention Strategies.”
Three
scientists have been selected as INVEST Research Fellows for 2000-2001: Dr. Zhao Min, China; Dr.
Patricia Obando, Costa Rica; and Dr. Tatiana Tsarouk, Russia.
Each will spend a year in the United States working
with a NIDA-supported scientist and receiving training in U.S.
drug abuse research methods and the National Institutes of
Health grant application process.
Dr. Min will work with Dr. Howard Liddle, University of
Miami Center for Treatment Research on Adolescent Drug Abuse,
focusing on multidimensional family therapy and research on
the relationship of parental psychopathology and treatment
outcomes. Dr.
Obando will work with Dr. Edward L, Murrelle, Virginia
Commonwealth University, Richmond, to study the role of gender
in drug abuse, family disintegration, and cognitive
dysregulation. Dr.
Tsarouk will work with Dr. Elaine Thompson, University of
Washington, to examine the effect of adolescent depression on
drug abuse; learn advanced methods of data management and
analysis; and receive training in the NIDA-supported
intervention Reconnecting Youth.
INVEST Research Fellows also participate in an
orientation program at NIDA and receive travel support to
attend scientific meetings.
Fellows and their mentors jointly develop a
collaborative research proposal for implementation in the
Fellows’ home country.
The 2000-2001
NIDA Hubert H. Humphrey
Drug Abuse Research Fellows have completed their professional
affiliations with NIDA grantees. Ms. Elvia Amesty, Venezuela, was affiliated with Dr. Lana
Harrison at the University of Delaware Center for Drug and
Alcohol Studies, where she concentrated on improving her data
analysis skills by working with the Cross-National Study of
Youth Drugs-Violence Nexus and on gaining experience with
research on the validity of self-reported drug use in
population surveys. Mr.
Vedran Mardesic, Croatia, worked with Dr. Martin Y. Igucchi,
The RAND Corporation Drug Policy Research Center, Santa
Monica, California, focusing on drug policy and trends,
prevention, treatment, data systems, and modeling and
forecasting. Dr.
Olga Vassioutina, Russia, worked with Dr. Sherry Deren,
National Development and Research Institutes Center for Drug
Use and HIV Research, New York City, participating in training
courses, collecting materials on drug use and harm reduction
that are suitable for translation into Russian, and learning
how to utilize the findings of statistical analyses to develop
meaningful and innovative interventions.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Meeting
Summary
United
States-Eastern Europe Regional Meeting on
Methamphetamine and Ecstasy Research
This volume
summarizes the oral presentations and includes the agenda and
participant list from the March 2000 meeting cosponsored by
NIDA and the Hungarian Ministry of Youth and Sports to
exchange information about the growing abuse of
methamphetamine and MDMA (Ecstasy) by young people and the
potential for research cooperation in this area.
Meeting
Summary
Street
Children and Drug Abuse: Social and Health Consequences
This volume
provides summaries of oral presentations, panel discussions,
and workgroup reports; participant recommendations; the
agenda; and the participant list from the September 2000
meeting cosponsored by NIDA and the World Health Organization
to discuss the numerous challenges, including substance abuse,
that face the world’s vulnerable children and youth.
Copies of
these meeting summaries are available from IQ Solutions at INVEST@iqsolutions.com
or from Linda Barber at lbarber@nida.nih.gov.
These reports will be available on the NIDA website, www.drugabuse.gov
in the near future.
NIDA
INVEST Program
The 2000-2001
INVEST Research Fellows attended an orientation program at
NIDA headquarters to learn how the Institute administers its
research programs and to meet with Institute staff.
The 2001 WHO/NIDA/CPDD International Traveling Fellows
and the 2001-2002 NIDA Hubert H. Humphrey fellows were
announced. The
2001 WHO/NIDA/CPDD International Traveling Fellows are Dr. Hem
Raj Pal, India, and Dr. Fernando Wagner, Mexico.
The 2001-2002 NIDA Hubert H. Humphrey fellows are Dr.
Monica Beg, Bangladesh; Dr. Petra Exnerova, Czech Republic;
Ms. Olga Toussova, Russia; and Dr. Svitlana Pkhidenko,
Ukraine.
National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
The
Americas - The APan American Hypertension Initiative@ (PAHI),
launched by NHLBI and PAHO has been endorsed by six
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 CVD increased attention in future public
health programs in 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.
A follow-up meeting in FY 2002 is being planned.
Europe
- NHLBI participated in an international conference held
in Washington in May 2001 on A Woman'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 A Women's Health in
Menopause@ is being developed by participants in the meeting.
China
- A US-PRC 20th Anniversary Celebration was
held in China in June to recognize
twenty years of successful joint collaboration in
cardiopulmonary epidemiology. Topics for new directions in joint research were explored
during a joint symposium on Future Directions in
Cardiovascular and Cardiopulmonary Research in the 21st
Century.
Russia
- A US-Russia Joint Symposium on Basic Research in
Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Diseases was held in Moscow
September 10-12, 2001. An eight member US delegation participated with Russian
counterparts in presentations on the molecular and cellular
biology of the vascular and pulmonary systems.
The purpose of the meeting is to develop new
opportunities for joint research by US and Russian scientists,
using the latest medical technology.
National
Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
NIDCR
and the Fogarty International Center are co-sponsoring the
David E. Barmes Lecture in Global Health, in memory of Dr.
David Barmes, who passed away January 13.
Dr. Arthur Caplan, Director of the Center for Bioethics
at the University of Pennsylvania, will be the honorary
lecturer, and will speak on “Ethical Issues on the
Biomedical Frontier.” NIDCR’s
international video, “Science Knows No Country”, will be
officially premiered before the lecture.
The event will be held on October 22, at 3:30 pm in the
Natcher Auditorium. A
reception will be held following Dr. Caplan’s talk. All NIH staff and visitors are invited to attend.
Collaboration
with International Organizations
NIDCR has
partnered with the WHO Collaborating Center for Education,
Training and Research in Oral Health, located at Malmo
University in Malmo, Sweden, to help support the upgrade and
ongoing management of the WHO Oral Health Country/Area Profile
Program (CAPP). The CAPP is an Internet-based presentation of the oral health
epidemiology, oral health services and other related
information for each country in the world.
The CAPP project helps meet the growing international
need for oral health related information and data made
available globally. Government bodies, universities, dental
professional organizations, companies and individuals benefit
from this oral health database, with its current updates and
standardized oral health data on-line.
In addition, discussions have begun regarding the
incorporation into CAPP of registry and other research data
from the WHO-NIDCR craniofacial anomalies initiative.
NIDCR has funded the second year of a five-year Memorandum of
Agreement (MOA) with WHO (through the PHS Office of
International and Refugee Health) to provide support for
planning, protocol development and database development for
international collaborative biomedical, epidemiological and
behavioral research in the area of craniofacial birth defects,
including cleft lip and palate.
The goal of this initiative is to bring together international
researchers through collaborative partnerships, and to develop
global consensus on craniofacial birth defect research
directions and common research protocols.
NIDCR staff participated in
the Annual Meeting of the Continental European Division of the
International Association for Dental Research, held in Rome,
Italy, September 5-8.
NIDCR’s International Health Officer has been asked to serve
on the Dentistry Overseas Steering Committee.
This committee, managed by the American Dental
Association, provides guidance regarding oral health
activities of Health Volunteers Overseas, a private nonprofit
organization dedicated to providing training and education to
health care providers in developing countries.
Other
NIDCR staff
met with Dr. Ron LaPorte of the University of Pittsburgh, who
discussed his work to develop a global lecture library.
This electronic library is designed to be a
clearinghouse for the best lectures and slide presentations
from scientists worldwide. To date, Dr. LaPorte’s group at
the University of Pittsburgh’s WHO Collaborating Center has
created a global “Supercourse” consisting of 4,600
faculty from 110 countries and 3,500 different institutions.
This global faculty has contributed over 430
state-of-the-art lectures for use by everyone, worldwide at no
cost. Dr. LaPorte
stated his interest in obtaining electronic lectures covering
the overall purpose of the Institute, as well as any lectures
detailing the most recent advances in oral and craniofacial
research.
On
July 30-31, NIDCR hosted an International Conference on
Treatment of Salivary Gland Disorders: Alternative Approaches.
This conference was jointly sponsored by the
NIDCR, the Office of Rare Diseases, the National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), the Office of
Research on Women's Health (ORWH), the Office for Women's
Health, Department of Health and Human Services, and Laclede,
Inc. The major goals of this conference were to review the
state of science in treatment of xerostomia with alternative
approaches, to create opportunities for research
collaborations and interactions among the participants, and to
discuss the future directions and initiatives for basic
research and clinical studies in the field.
Researchers from Mexico, Sweden, Finland, the
Netherlands, China and Japan, as well as from the US,
participated in the conference.
National
Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Plans are
progressing for a regional workshop on clinical research
methodology, grant writing, and grant management skills to be
held in Singapore, November 13-14, 2001.
NCCAM, the National University of Singapore, and the
Johns Hopkins Singapore are sponsoring this workshop.
Workshop announcements have been generated through US
and Singapore-based journals and websites.
The Office of
International Health Research has applied to WHO for
re-designation as a WHO Collaborating Center in Traditional
Medicine. Dr. J.
Rosario will replace Dr. S. Straus as Director of the
Collaborating Center.
She also attended two consultation meetings of the WHO
Traditional Medicine Program in Canada. The first meeting was
focused on review of draft monographs on selected medicinal
plants, and the second on quality control methods for finished
herbal products.
National
Institute of Mental Health
Division of
Services and Intervention Research (DSIR) has been working
with WHO in preparation of an application to continue the
cooperative agreement they have with NIMH/NIDA/NIAAA. The
application asking for support for a multisite international
study on detection and treatment of depression and substance
abuse in primary care settings is expected to be submitted for
peer review in late October.
NIMH is co-sponsoring a
major meeting with Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) to
be held at PAHO headquarters on November 5-6. This meeting
will bring together representatives from all member states to
discuss the mental health needs in the Americas and ways to
develop collaborative partnerships to address those needs.
DSIR collaborated with the
FIC in implementing the ICOHRTA research training grant
program (RFA TW01-003) and contributed to the co-funding of
five grants with mental health components.
The Economics Program of the DSIR plans to participate in
network meetings organized by FIC for the Principal
Investigators and Project Officers of the ISHED (RFA
TW01-001.) The
meetings will be held on November 9, 2001, in Bethesda and on
December 11-12, 2001, in Brazil.
The Economics Program is
assisting the Mental Health Economics Section of the World
Psychiatric Association in organizing its third regional
meeting entitled “Financing Mental and Addictive Disorders
in Central and Eastern Europe” to be held on November 23-25,
2001, in Romania. Dr. Agnes Rupp plans to chair this meeting.
Genetics Research Branch of
the Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science is
sponsoring a Meeting on Collaborative Genetic Research of
Mental Disorders in Latin America to be held on September
26-27 in San Antonio, Texas, with participants from the
U.S.A., England, Mexico and seven Latin American countries
(Argentina, Brazil, Chili, Columbia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and
Peru.
Dr. Stephen Koslow, Associate Director of NIMH for
Neuroinformatics, participated in the EU-US Meeting on Data
basing the Brain (July 2001, Oslo, Norway.) In August, Dr.
Koslow gave lectures on Neuroinformatics: Human Brain Project
in Dalian University, Dalian, China, and in the General
Hospital in Beijing. On September 22-26, 2001, Dr. Koslow will
speak at the 1st World Congress on Neuroinformatics
in Vienna, Austria, and on October 4-5 he will chair the 5th
meeting of the Neuroinformatics Working Group of the Global
Science Forum in Stockholm, Sweden.
Dr. Ellen Stover, Director,
Division of Mental Disorders, Behavioral Research, and AIDS (DMDBA),
and Dr. Wayne Fenton, Deputy Director, DMDBA, moderated
sessions at an International Meeting on Stigma and Global
Health: Developing a Research Agenda, which was held September
5-7 in Bethesda, Maryland.
Dr.
Ellen Stover and Dr. Willo Pequegnat have been part of the
planning committee for the AIDS Stigma Track which will be a
part of the Human Rights, Health and Law Conference in honor
of Jonathan Mann which will be held from September 29 to
October 1 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Stover is
scheduled to give a talk and Dr. Pequegnat will chair a
session and act as a rapporteur in the development of a
research agenda.
The
Steering Committee of the NIMH Collaborative HIV/STD
Prevention Trial held meetings in Uganda and Zimbabwe in July
and Bethesda in September.
Pre-baseline data on behavioral risk and STD/HIV
prevalence in the participating countries were presented.
Drs. Ellen Stover and Wayne Fenton also site visited
Uganda.
DMDBA is working with the Office of
International and Refugee Health to help develop a blood
safety initiative for China.
Office
of AIDS Research
The
Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (OARAC) meeting will
be held November 7-8, 2001.
The meeting topic will be research on the use of
antiretroviral drugs in resource-poor settings around the
world.
OAR coordinated NIH support for a Infectious Diseases Society
of America (IDSA) conference to develop an HIV/AIDS
Therapeutic Research Agenda for Resource Limited Countries.
The conference will be held on October 24, 2001, in
conjunction with the annual IDSA meeting in San Francisco.
The purpose of the conference is to bring together
international experts to develop a research agenda that will
identify the questions that need to be answered as the
scientific and medical communities and nations of the world
move forward to implement HAART therapy in resource-poor
countries.
The OAR also coordinated NIH support for the XII International
Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Africa
(ICASA), which will be held December 9-13, 2001, in
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Regional AIDS conferences are held every two years in
Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The chosen theme is "The Communities Commit
Themselves." More
information on this conference can be found at the following
website: http://www.cisma2001.bf.
Center
for Scientific Review
CSR hosted one visitor from Japan and two from the
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS is based in
DC). Professor Shinichi Yamamoto is Director of the Research Center for
University Studies, University of Tsukuba.
Besides his interest in our peer review system at NIH,
Dr. Yamamoto was interested in the broad aspects of research.
I have included a synopsis of his objectives below.
Dr. Allen Holt from the FIC program that covers a wide
section of health related sciences in Asia was also present.
The
two observers from JSPS were Drs. Yasushi Mitsukuri and
Yoshiaki Mori.
The
meeting ended with a tour of the referral office led by Dr.
Janet Newburg
CSR
hosted two groups in June:
Two visitors from New Zealand:
Dr. Valda McCann and Professor Hill with the Marsden
Fund (organization funding biomedical research in New
Zealand); and two officials from the European Commission's
Directorate-General for Research Europe:
Mr. Graham Stroud, head of the unit, and Mrs. L. Van
den Brande, selection and guidelines.
Updated May 2003
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