Intemational
Services
September 2001
IC
International Representatives Meeting
September
26, 2001
Summary
In
attendance: Dr.
Nada Vydelingum, CSR; Dr. Juan Ramos, NIMH; Dr. Federico
Welsch, NCI; Dr. Christopher Schonwalder, NIEHS; Dr. Karl
Western, NIAID;
Dr. Elliot
Siegel, NLM; Ms. Patricia Turner, NINDS; Ms. Ellen Owens, NIA;
Mr. Gray Handley, NICHD; Dr. Richard Nakamura, NHGRI; Dr.
Jerry Robinson, NICRR;
Ms.
Linda Cook, NINR; Ms. Joyce Rudick, ORWH; Dr. John Norvell,
NIGMS; Dr. Ruth Hegyeli, NHLBI; Dr. Lois Cohen, NIDCR; Dr.
Joana Rosario, NCCAM; Dr. Philip Chen, OIR; Dr. Gerald Keusch,
FIC; Dr. Sharon Hrynkow, FIC; Ms. Minnie Rojo, FIC; and Ms.
Chris Keenan, FIC
Also
participating: Dr.
Jostein Mykletun, Embassy of Norway; Dr. Luis Salicrup, FIC;
Dr.
Timothy Quick and Ms. Monique Mosolf, USAID; Dr. Jay Mcauliffe,
CDC; Dr. Jack Chow, Ms. Lisa Cardy, and Ms. Judith Hofman,
Department of State; Dr. Dan Raiten, NICHD; Dr. Pamela
Starke-Reed, NIDDK; Dr. Paul Coates and Dr. Mary Frances
Picciano, ODS; Dr. David
Lozovsky, NIMH;
Dr. Kevin Hardwick and Dr. Ruth Nowjack-Raymer, NIDCR; Mr.
David Pugach (for NIAMS); Dr. Pierce Gardner, FIC; Ms. Natalie
Tomitch, FIC; Dr. Allen Holt, FIC; Dr. Aron Primack, FIC; Dr.
Ken Bridbord, FIC; Dr. Barbara Sina, FIC; Dr. Jeanne
McDermott, FIC; Ms. Irene Edwards, FIC; Mr. Eric Dakake, FIC;
Ms. Yveline Pierre-Louis, FIC.
Dr.
Hrynkow welcomed Dr. Jostein Mykletun, Science
Counselor at the Embassy of Norway, and the representatives
from CDC, USAID and the Department of State, who have been
invited to attend the meetings on a regular basis.
Dr. Keusch welcomed
Dr. Jack Chow, a former FIC employee, now at the
Department of State. Dr.
Keusch remarked that the September 11 events make it clear
that helping to improve health on a global level, and using
research toward that end, are critical to building
relationships and sharing knowledge and expertise with people
around the world.
Dr. Chow
reported that Secretary of State Powell has appointed him to
be the new Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health and Science.
Dr. Chow sees this as a unique opportunity to channel
State’s energy through diplomacy to attaining global health
objectives. He
reported that State is working hard to establish the Global
Fund for HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria and, with help from our
allies and participants in the Consortium, is working out the
details such as governance, operations, setting priorities in
terms of geography and disease, the division of resources for
prevention, treatment and care, a national strategy for
recipient countries, and the distribution of funds down to the
community level.
Dr.
Hrynkow provided an overview for the main topic of the
meeting’s discussion, nutrition, and introduced Dr.
Pamela Starke-Reed, Deputy Director, Division of Nutrition
Research Coordination, NIDDK, who provided background on the
establishment of her division and the NIH Nutrition
Coordinating Committee (NCC).
The NCC is made up of representatives from the ICs, as
well as CDC, FDA, USDA, DoD, and the HHS Office for Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion and is involved in activities
that are trans-NIH, trans-DHHS, and trans-federal.
She emphasized the need for forming a separate group to
examine international nutrition research.
Dr. Keusch explained that while there is much activity
on the international level in the nutrition field, there is
little appreciation for the overall scope and depth, and that
there is a need to identify gaps in the research agenda.
Dr. Keusch and Dr. Van Hubbard, chair of the NCC,
will contact IC Directors to solicit designees to join the
sub-group.
Dr.
Luis Salicrup, FIC Program Officer for the Americas,
reported on the FIC-Office of Dietary Supplements co-sponsored
workshop on micronutrients, held in June in Guatemala.
This workshop served as a forum to identify research
priorities and foster collaboration on this topic.
UNICEF, USAID, NIH ICs, and the Micronutrient
Initiative based in Canada participated in this workshop.
In addition to heightening awareness on the issue,
outcomes of the workshop include support from Latin American
research councils for specific joint activities and small
grant applications to FIC.
Dr.
Keusch added that one important element of the workshop’s
organization was to ensure junior scientists from the region
were included. This
highlighted the import of nutrition research to young
scientists and provided opportunity to demonstrate the
significance of this field in global health.
This broad approach gave the conference an
epidemiological context as well as a biochemical context.
Dr.
Timothy Quick from the Office of Global Health, presented
an overview of the USAID activities in nutrition.
Nutrition is part of the USAID Child Survival program,
with a yearly budget of $280 million.
To reduce child mortality, USAID places a high priority
on nutritional interventions.
55% of mortality is linked to micronutrient
deficiencies, particularly vitamin A.
The program focus is on providing vitamin A supplements
to children between 6 months to 5 years of age on a biannual
basis. UNICEF and
other bilateral agencies are involved in this effort.
Emphasis is also on reaching more adolescents and women
of reproductive age. USAID
will contribute
$4 million to the Gates Nutrition Initiative.
Dr.
Jay Mcauliffe reported that CDC nutrition is handled by
the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity located in the
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health
Promotion and the nutrition lab operated by the National
Center for Environmental Health.
In FY2000, CDC spent $5 million on micronutrient
research. CDC
efforts focus on assessment, monitoring, and evaluation.
It has Cooperative Agreements with UNICEF, WHO, and
USAID and currently has collaborations with 8 countries.
The CDC is developing an international iodine reference
network and communication technology for public health
communication programs specifically for micronutrients.
CDC did not receive funding for FY2001 but will
continue to fund current nutrition activities from internal
funds.
Dr.
Keusch gave a short overview and status of the GAIN, the Gates
Foundation-funded “Global Alliance to Improve Nutrition.”
Dr. Keusch serves as the scientific representative to
the “enabling group” of representatives from international
organizations, industry, foundations, and bilateral groups
that are forming the GAIN and developing an RFA.
Dr. Keusch thanked Gray Handley and Dan
Raiten of NICHD, and Paul Coates, Director ODS, for
their assistance in the early phase of the GAIN. FIC has set up a listserve to reach a wide constituency to
consider the improvement of nutrition, and the role of
fortification and other tools, as part of the process to
develop the RFA and program to support GAIN activities.
Dr.
Schonwalder observed that NIH appears to be under-represented
in the international nutrition activities presented by USAID
and CDC. He proposes a coordinated policy for basic research needs and
an accounting of all activities supported with USAID funding.
Dr. Keusch responded that the director of CDC, Dr.
Koplan, will attend the FIC Advisory Board meeting in
February of 2002 to talk about the CDC global health agenda
and how it relates to NIH’s activities.
Dr.
Hrynkow summarized the discussions and highlighted the
excellent suggestions for the new sub-group, like looking at
career paths for junior scientists; considering new kinds of
interagency cooperation; considering the involvement of
international organizations like IARC, UNICEF, and the World
Bank who have substantial nutrition portfolios; considering
how to model the impact of micronutrient interventions on
public health; and developing an inventory of international
research activities in the field of nutrition.
Announcement:
Dr.
Cohen announced the NIDCR-FIC hosted inaugural David
Barmes Lecture on “Ethical Issues on the Biomedical
Frontier,” to be held at NIH on October 22.
The
meeting convened at 2:35 PM.
Updated May 2003
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