International Services
International
Highlights
Summary of
NIH International Highlights July
- September 2002 Program
Developments Fogarty
International Center FIC
Advisory Board The
Fogarty International Center Advisory Board met in open
session on Tuesday September 10 at the Lawton Chiles
International House. Guest speakers, Dr. Wendy Baldwin,
NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research, and Dr. Richard
Mahoney, Arizona Biomedical Institute, gave presentations on "Intellectual
Property Rights and NIH-supported Foreign Entities" and
"Intellectual Property and Better Health; the Center
for Management of Intellectual Property for Health (MIHR)
Approach," respectively. Dr. Stephen
Straus, Director, NCCAM, and Dr. Yvonne Maddox, Deputy
Director, NICHD, joined the Board in an ex officio capacity. Multilateral
Initiative on Malaria(MIM) Plans
for the 3rd MIM Pan African Conference on Malaria
to
be held in Arusha, Tanzania, are nearly complete. Over
600 participants are expected, with more than half from
malaria-endemic countries. The MIM Secretariat has
raised support for 230 participants from malaria endemic
countries to attend. FIC, NIAID, and NLM are providing
significant support for the conference, along with European
science funding agencies and NGOs. The conference will
consider progress in key fields of research and will work to
enhance malaria collaboration between control experts
and researchers. Stockholm
University, Karolinska Institute, and the Swedish Institute
for Infectious Disease Control have been selected to serve as
Secretariat of the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM)
for 2003 to 2005. The transfer of the MIM Secretariat
will take place shortly after the Third MIM Pan-African
Malaria Conference, which will be held in November 2002 in
Arusha, Tanzania. To ensure that the transfer of the MIM
Secretariat was conducted in a democratic and transparent
manner, the current MIM Secretariat developed a voting
mechanism involving MIM's partners from the North and South. The
MIM co-sponsored a workshop on the diagnosis of placental
malaria in Cameroon in July/August for African researchers. MIM
is working with the International Committee Members of the
American Society of Hematology (ASH) to hold a workshop a
the next annual ASH meeting in Philadelphia (December 2002) on
training in hematological research techniques for
malariologists from malaria endemic countries working on
malarial anemia. The
pilot workshop for the African research leaders training
program in management and leadership will be held in Arusha,
Tanzania 6-18 October 2002. Dr. Martin Alilio, MIM
Conference Coordinator, visited the conference site in Arusha
during August 2002. Disease
Control Priorities in Developing Countries Project (DCPP) Editorial
meetings to review progress and choose chapter
lead/coordinating authors for the 73-chapter book were hosted
by co-editor Sir George Alleyne at the Pan American Health
Organization on June 10-11 and July 23. Co-editors
Drs. Breman and Jamison, usually accompanied by Drs. Keusch or
Hrynkow, have visited the Acting Deputy Director of NIH,
directors of 8 institutes (NIA, NIAID, NCI, NICHD, NIDCR,
NHLBI, NIMH, NCAAM), and the Director, OGC, to explain the
project and enlist their support for it. These visits
are a follow-up to a presentation of DCPP by Drs. Keusch and
Jamison to the Directors meeting and to the International
Representatives meeting, both held earlier this
year. Planning is continuing for a DCPP-sponsored
meeting on cost-effectiveness to be held in November 6-7 at
the FIC and for a MIM-DCPP workshop in the burden of malaria
to be held on November17 at the MIM Conference in Arusha,
Tanzania. GAIN Dr.
Keusch attended a meeting of the Global Alliance for
Improved Nutrition, September 5-6 in Geneva,
Switzerland. Dr. Keusch is the scientific advisor for
the GAIN Enabling Group, and this meeting convened to
select GAIN's first Executive Director. Ongoing
Dialogue with Visiting Fellows Dr.
Sharon Hrynkow, FIC Deputy Director, convened the third
consultation with Visiting Fellows from developing
countries and countries in transition on July 29 in the Stone
House. The meeting considered progress and comments on
establishment of the new Global Health Research Initiative
Program (GRIP) which provides support for NIH-trained
investigators to return home to the developing world; the
development of an intramural-extramural mentoring program; and
establishment of a Fellow-led working group to explore
priority issues in-depth. Meet
the Professor FIC
and ORWH hosted Dr. Carola Eisenberg, cofounder of Physicians
for Human Rights and former Dean at both MIT and Harvard
Medical School on September 9-10. Dr. Eisenberg is a
trained psychiatrist and native of Argentina. During her
visit she met with junior scientists from the developing world
and FIC staff to discuss her remarkable career path and
choices she made along the way. Multilateral
Activities WHO Dr.
Rachel Nugent will serve on the WHO International Reference
Group for the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and
Health. Dr. Brundtland charged the group to examine
risk factors affecting non-communicable disease burden globally. Dr.
Mark Miller, Director, Division of International Epidemiology
and Population Studies, served as consultant to the UNAIDS/
WHO Initiative for Vaccine Research Group on the factors
related to the introduction of HIV vaccines. The focus
of the meeting held on July 22-August 9, 2002 in Geneva, was
to outline a research agenda for introductions of vaccines
against HIV/AIDS. Also, as a member of the WHO
Product Development Group for Aerosol Measles Vaccine, Dr.
Miller attended a consultative meeting August 19-20, 2002 in
Geneva to advise the WHO's Initiative for Vaccine Research on
the studies required to safely and successfully make
respiratory vaccination a tool for use in the field. Dr.
Joel Breman, Division of International Epidemiology and
Population Studies and Scientific Advisor to the Multilateral
Initiative on Malaria, attended a meeting on Standardization
of Monitoring and Evaluation for Malaria Control on July
15-16. The meeting was held in Washington, D.C. and
sponsored by USAID and the Roll Back Malaria Project, WHO. Mr.
George Herrfurth coordinated the NIH review of the WHO
Essential Medicines List (EML) in August in preparation
for review of the list in early 2003 by the WHO Committee
on Essential Medicines. World
Summit on Sustainable Development Dr.
Nugent represented NIH at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg, August 26-September 4.
She made several presentations on the following topics: "Opportunities
for Research Training for Developing Country Scientists"
at the Science Forum, "Health, Environment and
Economic Development: A New Research Program," at the
WHO/South Africa Parallel Event on Health and Sustainable
Development, "Health Impact Assessment: Necessary Information for Decision-Making," at the Parallel
Event, sponsored by the International Environmental Impact
Assessment Association, and "Health and the
Media" at the Science Forum. Global
Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization Dr.
Dean Jamison, FIC Senior Fellow and Senior Editor, Disease
Control Priorities Project, co-chaired a meeting in Oslo,
Norway, August 22-23, on the "Economics of
Immunization." This meeting was the Global
Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. XIV
International AIDS Conference FIC
staff participated in several NIH-wide activities organized by
the NIH Office of AIDS Research at the XIV International AIDS
Conference in Barcelona Spain in July. Dr. Jeanne
McDermott gave a presentation on two new FIC programs, the International
Clinical, Operational and Health Services Research and
Training Award for AIDS and Tuberculosis (ICOHRTA AIDS/TB) and
the Global Health Research Initiative Program for New
Foreign Investigators (GRIP) as part of the satellite
session "NIH-Supported and Training Opportunities for
International Scientists in HIV/AIDS." Drs.
Bridbord, Gardner, and McDermott, and Mr. Bruce Butrum led one
of the six breakout groups which focused on FIC programs at a
skills-building workshop "Tips on Applying for an NIH
Grant: Program Opportunities and Grant Writing Skills."
During the conference, FIC hosted a reception and network
meeting for over 200 FIC-affiliated participants at the
conference. In addition, Drs. Bridbord and McDermott
participated in several meetings with other NIH
representatives and Chinese officials in preparation for the
upcoming Sino-U.S. Conference on Research and Training in
AIDS-Related Areas to be held in Beijing on November 1-3,
2002. Dr. Bridbord participated in a workshop, organized
by a number of Indian organizations, to discuss training and
capacity-building for HIV-related research and public health
in India. Finally, Ms. Natalie Tomitch participated in
an OAR-hosted satellite meeting with several Russian
researchers and policy makers to discuss the issue of
expanding U.S.-Russian collaboration in HIV/AIDS
research. An outcome of the discussion was consensus to
form a joint working group to formalize research collaboration
in prevention technologies, vaccines, and diagnostics for
HIV/AIDS and related conditions. Plans include a joint
conference in Russia in 2003. Mr.
George Herrfurth, Division of International Relations,
represented NIH at the State Department interagency meeting on
cloning July 22. The U.S. delegation, which will be
headed by the State Department and will include
representatives from HHS and the Department of Justice, will
participate in the meeting of the UN General Assembly from
September 23-27 in New York to review the merits of pursuing
negotiations of a global convention to prohibit human cloning. Mr.
George Herrfurth served as the NIH representative at the
August 15 meeting of the Biosafety Interagency Working
Group (IWG) convened by the State Department to review the
latest developments related to the anticipated entry into
force of the Biosafety Protocol to the Biodiversity
Convention. The IWG also reviewed the results of
recent negotiations associated with the UN Model Regulations
on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. Bilateral
Activities Norway:
Dr. Sharon Hrynkow, in her capacity as Vice Chair of the Norwegian
Research and Technology Forum in the U.S. and Canada,
participated in the Forum's Advisory Board annual meeting on
September 17 in Washington, D.C. She then chaired a
session on Enhanced Cooperation in Medical/Biotech
Research and Technology at the Forum's Annual
Research and Technology Seminar. The
Americas: Argentina:
Dr. Luis Salicrup represented FIC/NIH in several DHHS-wide
meetings chaired by the Department's Office of Global Health
Affairs to develop a Department-wide strategy in response to
recent requests to the Secretary's office from Argentina's
Minister of Health and Dr. Alfredo Solari, Senior Health
Advisor from the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB).
The objective of the strategy is to assist Argentina and
Uruguay to address their pressing health-related problems
during the current economic crisis in these countries.
As a first phase of the broader DHHS-wide strategy, Dr.
Salicrup traveled to Argentina on August 11-17 to hold
consultations in Buenos Aires, Cordoba, and Mendoza with
biomedical research centers and universities, and
representatives from the Argentinean Council of Science and
Technology (CONICET), the Ministry of Health, and the U.S.
Embassy on a proposed NIH strategy for supporting the Argentinean
biomedical research community during the crisis. Brazil:
Dr. Salicrup traveled to Rio de Janeiro on August 21-22
for a planning meeting with representatives from the Oswald
Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ) concerning the upcoming Pan
American Genetics Research Workshop to be held in Rio de
Janeiro, October 22-25. This workshop is organized by
FIC in partnership with NIAID, NIEHS, NCI, FIOCRUZ, the
Wellcome Trust, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
and the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). Canada:
Dr. Rachel Nugent, Program Officer in FIC's Division of
International Training and Research, was the Plenary speaker
at the National Forum to Identify Research Priorities for
the Environmental Influences on Health, sponsored by the
Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Ottawa, September
12-14, 2002. Uruguay:
On August 18-20, Dr. Salicrup met with representatives of the
Ministry of Health, the National Council for Innovation,
Science, and Technology (CONICYT), and the National
Directorate for Innovation, Science, and Technology (DINACYT),
the National University, and relevant research institutions in
Uruguay to discuss participation in the NIH-Uruguay Pan
American Fellowship Program and other NIH programs. Sweden:
Mr. Mark Pineda, FIC Program Officer for Europe, traveled
with colleagues from the NIH Office of Technology Transfer to
Goteburg, August 26-30 to explore possible collaboration on
stem cell research with scientists from Goteburg University. Russia:
Dr. Keusch participated in the tenth meeting of the U.S.-Russia
Health Committee, co-chaired by HHS and USAID, convened in
Washington, D.C. on July 31. The meeting focused on
current collaboration in access to quality health care,
infectious diseases, maternal and child health, and
cardiovascular disease. The Russian Minister of Health
and his delegation also spend a day at the NIH campus for
additional discussions with FIC on global health issues, with
NHLBI, and to visit the Vaccine Research Center. Joining
FIC for the global health discussion were representatives from
NHLBI, NIAID, NIAAA, NIDA, NIMH, NICHD, and OAR. Asia:
South Korea: Ms
Minnie Rojo, Director, Division of International Relations,
and representatives from NIH's Office of Intramural Research
and NIAID met with a delegation from the Korean Ministry of
Science and Technology (MOST) on September 11. The
purpose of the meeting was to discuss: (1) MOST's interest to
develop a "central coordinating mechanism" for NIH-Korea
collaboration and (2) a possible science roundtable in Spring
2003 to consider new research areas for future
collaboration. The Korean delegation, headed by Mr.
Sang-Won Kwon, Director of MOST's Technology Cooperation
Policy Division, included Mr. Jun Ho Shin, Deputy Director of
MOST's Technology Cooperation Policy Division; Dr. Jiyoung
Park, Senior Researcher in the Korea Institute of Science and
Technology Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP); and Dr. Sang-Seon
Kim, Counselor for Science and Technology at the Embassy of
the Republic of Korea in Washington. Taiwan:
On June 11, Dr. Allen Holt, FIC Program Officer for East Asia,
participated in a meeting of researchers from U.S. and Taiwan
biomedical research organizations to discuss bilateral
cooperation in the life sciences. The meeting, which was
convened by NIH, The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), and
the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative's Office (TECRO)
included representatives of NIMH, NIDA, NINDS, NHGRI,
NCI, NCCAM, NLM, the Office of Education, NHLBI, and FIC.
U.S. researchers and their Taiwanese counterparts presented on
existing areas of collaboration related to drug abuse and
rehabilitation, genomic, research, natural products, and
medicinal plants for drug development, bio informatics
training and research, clinical sciences training, asthma, and
epidemiology. New areas where collaboration appears
promising were also discussed. Papua-New
Guinea: University of Papua-New Guinea's (UPNG) Vice
Chancellor, Leslie Eastcott, and Professor Teatulohi Matainaho
of the Faculty of Medicine visited NIH August 19-21 for
meetings with the staff of the NCI Developmental Therapeutics
Program, NIAID, and FIC. Professor Matainaho, who has a
FIRCA award from FIC, is working with NIAID staff to complete
a CIPRA application. The UNPG Medical School has an
excellent record for training physicians from a number of
countries in the Western Pacific to enable them to return to
their home countries. Africa:
Cameroon: Dr.
Barbara Sina, Program Director, Division of International
Research and Training, participated in a Workshop on
Laboratory Methods for Studying Placental Malaria July
30-August 2 at the Biotechnology Center of the University of
Yaounde, Cameroon. The Workshop was organized by Dr.
Diane Taylor, Georgetown University, who has a FIC International
Maternal and Child Health Research Training program award,
in collaboration with Dr. Rose Leke at the University of
Yaounde. Malawi:
Drs. Breman, Bridbord, McDermott, and Sina met on August
12 at the FIC with Professor Cameron Bowie, Chairman,
Department of Community Health, College of Medicine,
University of Malawi, and Dr. Victor Mwapasa, Malawian trainee
in the International Training and Research Program in Emerging
Infectious Diseases linked to Michigan State University.
As Malawi is beginning a masters degree program and hopes to
establish a School of Public Health, the visit focused on
possible mechanisms to help develop and support this
initiative. Program
Highlights Tobacco FIC
will announce in September its first round of awards under the
International Tobacco and Health Research and Capacity
Building Program. In doing so, it will establish a
global network of tobacco research and control experts in the
United States and partner countries in low-and/or
middle-income nation(s). FIC's partners in this program
are: NCI, NICHD, NIMH, NINR, NIDA, and WHO's Tobacco Free
Initiative. The contact for the program is Dr. Aron
Primack, 301-496-1653. ICOHRTA
AIDS/TB FIC will
announce in September its first round of awards through the International
Clinical, Operational, and Health Services Research Training
Award for AIDS and Tuberculosis (ICOHRTA-AIDS/TB) Program.
This program provides extended support for training to foster
collaborative, multidisciplinary research in developing
country sites where AIDS, TB, or both are significant
problems. The first round of awards will be for planning
grants to foreign institutions to develop full applications in
partnership with U.S. or other developed country
partners. FIC partners in this program are: NCI, NIAID,
NICHD, NIMH, NINDS, NIAAA, NIDA, OAR, OBSSR, ORWH, and CDC.
The contact for the program is Dr. Jeanne McDermott at
301-496-1653. International
Bioethics Training Program With
the completion of additional competing awards this fiscal
year, FIC with the help of co-sponsoring ICs will be
supporting 14 active bioethics training and research capacity
building programs. FIC partners in this program are:
NIGMS, NCCAM, NHGRI, NIEHS, NICHD, NHLBI, and NIAMS. A
networking meeting of awardees under this program is scheduled
at the NIH on Monday, September 23. The meeting agenda
will be available at the September 17 meeting of the IC
International Representatives. International
Malaria Anemia Training Program FIC
will announce in September that it will make four awards under
the International Malaria Research and Training Program.
One award will be made directly to an institution in a
developing country, Colombia. These awards are directly
linked to NIAID and NHLBI research awards on malaria anemia. International
Collaborative Genetics Research Training Program FIC
will announce in September its first round of awards under the
International Collaborative Genetics Research Training
Program. The program provides training to contribute
to the capacity of developing country researchers and
institutions to conduct human genetics research relevant to
the health needs of their countries. FIC's partners in
this program are: NIA, NIDA, NIMH, NINDS, NIEHS, and NHGRI.
The contact for the program is Dr. Flora Katz, 301-496-1653. National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute The
Americas: The "Pan American Hypertension
Initiative" (PAHI), launched by NHLBI and PAHO has
been endorsed by eight 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. 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. The
ten PAHI partners have developed a joint blood pressure
measurement standard for use in future studies in the
Americas. This measurement standard will be published in
the PAHO journal over the signatures of the Directors of PAHO
and NHLBI. A follow-up meeting is being planned. Europe:
An International Position Paper on "Women's Health and
Menopause: A Comprehensive Approach" has been
developed in follow-up of the international conference held in
Washington in May 2001 on "Women's Health in
Menopause: New Strategies for Improved Quality of
Life." The document has been developed by NHLBI
in collaboration with the Giovanni Lorenzini Foundation in
Milan, Italy, and the NIH Office of Research on Women's
Health, and scientists from other NIH institutes. The
full report was published by NHLBI in July 2002. Chapter
13, Best Clinical Practices, was published in March 2002 and
has been widely distributed in the United States as well as
internationally. Also, the national and international
print and electronic media have called attention to the
report, which is the first of its kind. The document
covers a number of areas related to the health of women,
including cardiovascular disease, cancer, osteoporosis,
Alzheimer's disease, and the role of hormone replacement
therapy. Partners in the private sector have informed
the Institute that they have arranged for the International
Position Paper to be translated into ten languages. International
Conference: NHLBI's Office of Prevention,
Education and Control is sponsoring a conference on the "Scientific
Issues Important to the Future of Cardiovascular
Guidelines," to be held October 17-18, 2002 in
Bethesda. Participants from Germany, Australia, Denmark,
France, United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, and Italy are planning
to attend. Afghanistan:
The NHLBI has developed a proposal for training of Afghan
health professionals in blood resources management and
training. This is part of a DHHS US-Afghanistan
initiative. India:
Collaboration between NHLBI Nobel Laureate Dr. Marshall
Nirenberg and a scientist from India is continuing on drosophila
neuronal cell lineage. Japan:
A joint US-Japan Symposium on Cardiovascular Disease is
planned for February 2003 in Japan. The topics for
discussion will include: 1. The association of candidate genes
with CVD in the USA and Japan based in case-control and
population studies. 2. The role of gene-environment
interactions in CVD in the USA and Japan and their use in
targeted intervention strategies to reduce the risk of CVS in
both countries. 3. Comparative genetic studies of animal
models and population-based human studies. Russia:
Exchanges of scientists in basic research in cardiovascular
disease and in arrhythmia are continuing with visits of two
Russian scientists to the US, September-December. One
scientist will visit Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston,
Massachusetts. Another Russian scientist will work at
the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New
York. Two joint symposia are planned for 2003, one in
the United States on basic research and one in Russia on
cardiac arrhythmia. Also, the U.S. and Russian
coordinators have agreed to expand the collaboration to a
third area: Psycho-social Factors and Cardiovascular
Diseases, a joint symposium will be held in Russia in June
2003 on this topic. National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development New
Acting Associate Director for Prevention Research and
International Programs, NICHD Dr.
Danuta Krotoski has been appointed Acting Associate Director
for Prevention Research and International Programs (PRIP) at
NICHD. During the past five years she has served as the
Director of Fellowships and Workshops of the Human Frontier
Science Program in Strasbourg, France. Dr. Krotoski
initially came to the NICHD in 1988 as a health scientist
administrator in the Developmental Biology, Genetics, and
Technology Branch. In 1990 she joined the Fogarty
International Center, where she developed the Fogarty
International Research Collaboration Award (FIRCA) program and
a series of fellowship programs for Eastern Europe and Latin
America. Dr. Krotoski returned to NICHD in 1992 as a
branch chief at the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation
Research, remaining in this position until 1997. Dr.
Krotoski's scientific background is in developmental biology,
genetics, and neuroscience. Workshop
on Vitamin D Research The
NICHD, in co-sponsorship with the NIH Office of Dietary
Supplements and the Office of Research on Women's Health, is
organizing a workshop entitled "Vitamin D: Data Needs
and Strategies for Achieving Effective Public
Policy." The meeting will address current
concerns about vitamin D and related parameters with
particular attention paid to women of reproductive age and
infants. The goal is to determine data needs to support
evidence-based recommendations for improving vitamin D status
along racial and ethnic lines, and the apparent convergence of
several public health policies, e.g., concerns about UV
exposure and skin cancer, that inadvertently create a
potential public health problem. The workshop is
tentatively scheduled for January, 2003 and will be held in
the Bethesda, MD area. The NICHD contacts for the
workshop are Dr. Daniel Ration, Health Scientist
Administrator, Office of Prevention Research and International
Programs, and Dr. Karen Winer, Medical Officer, Endocrinology,
Nutrition, and Growth Branch, Center for Research for Mothers
and Children. Trans-NIH
Subcommittee and International Nutrition Research Meeting (SCINR) The
next meeting of SCINR will be held on Tuesday, September 17,
2002 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in room C, Natcher Building.
The focus of discussion will be on the World Summit on
Sustainable Development; the WHO/FAO Consultation Report
on "Nutrition and Prevention of Diseases" and
related activities; the WHO proposal on "Diet,
Physical Activity, and Health;" and a proposal for an
NIH conference on "Strategies for the Development of
Evidence-based Interventions to Address Micronutrient
Insufficiency in Resource-limited Settings." For
more information, please contact the SCINR co-chairs, Dr.
Rachel Nugent, FIC, and Dr. Daniel Raiten, NICHD. NICHD
Participation in DHHS/Office of Global Health Affairs Meetings NICHD
staff participated recently in two meetings convened by the
DHHS Office of Global Health Affairs (OGHA). This
included attendance at a meeting of the DHHS Interagency
Working Group on Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity and
the Impact on Chronic Diseases, on September 5, 2002, with
Dr. Derek Yach, Executive Director, Division of
Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health Cluste, WHO.
Dr. Yach provided an overview of WHO's vision for the
development process for the global strategy to be submitted to
the WHO Executive Board and World Health Assembly in
2004. NICHD staff also participated in an OGHA meeting
on September 11 that focused on infant feeding in the context
of HIV infection in the developing world. Africa:
Dr. John Robbins,
Chief, Laboratory of Developmental and Molecular Immunity, has
been invited to participate in the Technical Consultation
Meeting on WHO Strategy for the Prevention and Control of
Epidemic Meningococcal Disease in Africa. The
meeting will be held on September 21-26, 2002 in Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso, and organized by the WHO Department of
Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response. Asia: A
delegation of Chinese health officials from the Shanghai
Institute of Planned Parenthood Research (SIPPR) will
visit the NICHD on September 17, 2002. Dr. Robert Spirtas,
Chief, CRHB, NICHD, has organized a small meeting, which
likely will involve informal presentations on topics of mutual
interest by the SIPPR group, as well as NICHD CRHB
staff. Fogarty staff will also participate in the
meeting which will be held within the offices of the NICHD
National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research. In
its role as Secretariat, the NICHD will host the annual
meetings of two bilateral programs with India, from October
28-November 1, 2002, in Rockville Maryland. The Indo-U.S.
Joint Working Group (JWG) on Contraception and Reproductive
Health Research (CRHR) will meet on October 28-29. The
meeting of the Indo-U.S. JWG on Maternal and Child Health and
Human Development Research (MCHDR), will be held on October
31-November 1, 2002. A combined meeting of both groups
will also be held on October 30-31. Europe: Dr.
Michael Weinrich, Director, National Center for Medical
Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR), represented the NICHD as an
observer at the meeting of the U.S.-Russia Health Committee
that was held on July 31, 2002 in Washington D.C.
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy
Thompson led the U.S. delegation, which also included Fogarty
International Center (FIC) Director Dr. Gerald Keusch.
Priorities for Russian-U.S. collaboration relevant to the
mission of NICHD include research related to maternal and
child health, HIV/AIDS, and chronic disease prevention and
health promotion. Dr. Weinrich also attended the FIC-sponsored
luncheon on July 30 that was held in honor of the Russian
delegation at the Lawton Chiles International House. The
NCMRR supports collaborative activity with Russian scientists
in relation to prothetics research. Dr.
Peggy McCardle, Associate Chief, Child Development and
Behavior Branch, NICHD, presented at the 19th World
Congress on Reading that was held in Edinburgh, Scotland,
United Kingdom (U.K.), July 28, 2002, and then traveled to
London, England, U.K. to consult with researchers involved
with reading and bilingual dyslexia programs. Dr.
Stephen Suomi, Chief, Laboratory of Comparative Ethology,
NICHD, attended the 4th World Congress on Stress in
Edinburgh, Scotland, U.K., held on September 11-13,
2002. Dr. Suomi presented an invited symposium paper
entitled "Strategies for Coping with Social Stress in
Rhesus Monkeys." He also traveled to Rocamadour,
France, September 13-14, to consult with French scientists
regarding a collaborative project investigating the biological
basis of aggression in Barbary macaques and to visit the
prospective study population of free-ranging Barbary macaques
at the Rocamadour Nature Park. He also consulted on the
same collaborative project with investigators in Wuerzburg and
Trier, Germany, on September 16 and 17, 2002. Latin
America: Dr.
Lorette Javois, Health Scientist Administrator, Developmental
Biology, Genetics, and Teratology Branch, attended the 33rd
Annual Meeting of the South American Birth Defects Registry (Estudio
Collaborativo Latinamericano de Malformaciones Congenitas -
ECLAMC), in Sao Paolo, Brazil, August 10-13, 2002. She
also met with investigators from the University of Iowa
College of Medicine and foreign scientists in Brazil,
Argentina, and Chile to finalize protocols for their
collaborative Global Network on Women's and Children's
Health Research project. The investigators are using
cleft lip/cleft palate as a sentinel defect to study the
impact of birth defects in general on family health and to
carry out a direct intervention to decrease the recurrence of
cleft lip/cleft palate through folic acid
supplementation. Dr. Javois is the NICHD staff science
collaborator on this Global Network project. Following
her participation in the NICHD Aspen (Colorado) Conference
on Maternal-Fetal-Neonatal Reproductive Meeting on August
21-24, 2002, Dr. Linda Wright, Deputy Director, Center for
Research for Mothers and Children, NICHD, traveled to
Guatemala City, Guatemala. While there she conducted a
site visit to a Global Network research unit established by
the University of Colorado, Denver and the Center for Studies
of Sensory Impairment (CESSIAM). The purpose of the site
visit was to certify the project's readiness to begin a
randomized controlled trial to assess the health impact of low
phytate corn as compared to the typical regional corn consumed
by women prior to and during pregnancy. If the study
demonstrates that low phytate corn consumption can contribute
to improved birth weight, this evidence-based, relatively
inexpensive intervention can be made widely available to reduce
micronutrient deficiencies in communities where corn-based
diets prevail. Dr. Wright also was an invited speaker at
the 3rd International Symposium of Neonatology that was held
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 28 to September 1, 2002. The
fourth annual Lawton Chiles International Lecture on Maternal
and Child Health in The Americas was sponsored by NICHD, FIC,
and the Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and
Babies at the University of South Florida on Wednesday,
September 11, 2002 at the Lawton Chiles International House,
NIH. The guest speaker was Jaime E. Bernal, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Human Genetics, The Medical School Pontificia
Universidad Javierana, Bogota, Colombia. Dr. Bernal
presented a fascinating lecture on his long-term,
multidisciplinary, field research projects that have examined
the medical, genetic, and cultural diversity among mothers and
children in Colombia's Indian and Afro-Colombian
populations. Dr. Duane Alexander, Director, NICHD, gave
welcoming comments. Dr. Bernal was introduced by Dr.
Charlotte Catz, Clinical Research Coordinator, NICHD, and the
organizer of this lecture series. National
Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research The
Associate Director for International Health 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. The workgroup
met on August 20, to discuss a report on the topic by the WHO
Scientific Peer Review Group, and to discuss the role of the
U.S. Government and other member nations in setting WHO policy
on this subject. Staff
met with the American Dental Education Association and
the International Federation of Dental Education
Associations to discuss ways to maintain and capitalized
on the momentum generated at the meeting of African dental
education institutions, held in Cape Town, South Africa this
past April. At that meeting, participants elected to
launch an effort to form an African Dental Education
Association. One option being explored is for ADEA/IFDEA
to hire a short-term consultant from Africa to assist in
establishing the new organization. On
September 3, NIDCR hosted a group from South Korea seeking
information regarding water fluoridation. This group is
trying to initiate community water fluoridation in Korea, and
desired to learn more about the science supporting
fluoridation and grassroots political efforts to implement
fluoridation programs. Representatives from the Centers
for Disease Control Prevention and the American Dental
Association also participated in the meeting. Representatives
of the Ministry of Health of Israel, Dr. Rami Rahamimoff,
Chief Scientist, and Dr. Bracha Rager, former Chief Scientist,
met with the NIDCR Director and members of staff regarding
Israel's plans to develop a Medical Research Council
which would include dental research. Other topics
addressed during various meeting between September 6-13
included: *Potential
visiting fellows from Israel for clinical dental science
career development, as a pilot project in NIDCR's Intramural
program. *Participation
in a bilateral symposium on women's health, possibly focusing
on enhancing women's health in the context of cultural
diversity. *Potential
collaborative research in areas such as Sjogren's Syndrome and
CMV. Meetings with these
Israeli representatives were facilitated with staff of the FIC
as well as with the Office of Research on Women's Health. The
International Health Officer has been invited to serve as a
representative of the oral health research community on the American
Dental Association's new Committee on International Programs
and Development. The first meeting of this committee was
held September 9 in Chicago. NIDCR
is helping to co-sponsor the Third International Conference
on Smokeless Tobacco: Advancing Science & Protecting
Public Health, which is being held September 22-25, in
Stockholm, Sweden. A staff member will participate in
the conference, presenting information on the oral health
effects of smokeless tobacco use. NIDCR
staff meets on a regular basis with the Executive Directors
of the American Dental Association, the International Association
for Dental Research, the American Dental Education
Association, and the Chief of Oral Health for the Pan American
Health Organization. The purpose of these quarterly
meetings is to discuss international oral health issues and
initiatives. The IADR is hosting the next meeting at its
Alexandria, Virginia office on September18. The
International Health Officer will meet with representatives
from the World Health Organization and the International
Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Monitoring Systems (ICBDMS)
at the ICBDMS Annual Meeting in Atlanta on September 21.
The purpose of this meeting is to discuss a WHO proposal to
subcontract with ICBDMS to develop and maintain a central
global registry of clefts and a directory of cleft research
and treatment resources. This effort is part of the
NIDCR/WHO project to develop an international collaborative
network for research on craniofacial birth defects. Staff
will attend the annual meeting of the FDI International
Dental Federation, to be held in Vienna, Austria,
September 29-October 5. A meeting of WHO
Collaborating Centers in Oral Health will also be held in
Vienna on September 30. NIDCR is a WHO Collaborating
Center for International Collaboration in Dental and
Craniofacial Research. Dame
Margaret Seward, Chief Dental Officer of the UK, will visit
NIDCR October 15-17. Her U.S. counterpart, RADM Dushanka
Kleinman, is the US Chief Dental Officer and Deputy Director
of NIDCR. Following the
success of the workshop on bioethics in international
collaborative oral health research at the 2002 Annual
Meeting of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR),
plans are being developed with the collaboration of FIC
bioethics staff to hold a second hands-on workshop at the 2003
IADR meeting in Goteborg, Sweden. NIDCR
is planning to co-sponsor with the American Dental Education
Association the 2nd International Women's Leadership
Conference: Global Health Through Women's Leadership.
This conference was originally scheduled for last fall in
Vancouver, but was postponed following September 11. The
conference is now planned to be held in Goteburg, Sweden, June
20-23, 2003, in conjunction with the IADR meeting. NIDCR's
international research video, "Science Knows No
Country," has been close-captioned for the hearing
impaired. anyone wanting copies of the captioned video
can contact the NIDCR Office of International Health. The
Second Annual David E. Barmes Global Health Lecture is
scheduled for October 28, 2002. Professor Nevin
Scrimshaw has been selected as the honorary lecturer, and will
speak on nutrition and its impact on global health and
disease. The purpose of this memorial lecture is to
raise the awareness on campus about major cross-cutting issues
of global health. Fogarty International Center and NIDCR
co-sponsor this even, and this year, the lecture will serve as
the first event in Fogarty's year-long celebration of its 35th
anniversary. Office
of AIDS Research Caribbean:
The Office of AIDS Research (OAR) is continuing its practice
of asking the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (OARAC)
to consider international AIDS research issues. At
its next meeting on October 1-2, 2002, the OARAC will address "Research
Needs in the Caribbean Basin." The meeting will
be held in Building 31 C, Conference Room 6C10, from 9:00 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m. on October 1, and from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on
October 2. China:
In collaboration with the Fogarty International Center, the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, OAR is
co-sponsoring The Sino-U.S. Conference on Research and
Training in AIDS-Related Areas in Beijing, China,
November 1-3, 2002. The goal of the conference is to
increase the knowledge and understanding of HIV/AIDS-related
research needs and activities in China. The objectives
of the conference are to 1. Present the China Five-Year
HIV/AIDS Action Plan and describe expansion of research
activities to implement the Plan; 2. Describe current and
future HIV-related research and research training activities
in China; 3. Provide a forum for scientific exchange on
HIV-related research among Chinese and international
investigators, emphasizing China-U.S. activities; and 4.
Identify strategies to strengthen HIV-related research
capacity within China.
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