Intemational
Services
September 2002
IC
International Representatives Meeting
September 17, 2002
Summary
Introductions
of guests and new members:
Dr. Gerald Keusch, FIC Director who chaired the
meeting, introduced the guest speakers, Dr. Norman Neureiter,
Special Adviser to the Secretary of State on Science and
Technology; Dr. Philip Chen, Senior Advisor to the Deputy
Director for Intramural Research; RADM Richard Walling, Office
of Global Health Affairs, Office of the Secretary; and Mr.
Ross Cox, Office of Global Health, CDC. He welcomed Dr. Danuta Krotoski, who attended for NICHD, and
Dr. John Reed, who represented NIAID.
Dr. William Steiger, Special Advisor to the Secretary,
joined later in the discussions.
NIH
Involvement in International S&T Cooperation and its
Relevance to U.S. Foreign Policy:
Dr.
Norman Neureiter began his presentation noting that his
position of Special Adviser for Science and Technology was
created in response a recommendation from the National Academy
of Sciences (NAS). An
Academy report outlined the 16 stated goals of U.S. foreign
policy, and pointed out that 13 of them involved science,
technology, or health. The
NAS report stated that the State Department was not adequately
staffed or funded to deal with current S&T issues and to
consider them appropriately as part of the foreign policy
process. Dr.
Neureiter was asked to help State improve in this regard.
Dr.
Neureiter stated that the purpose of his visit was to think
about how the State Department relates to the NIH biomedical
community and how the partnership between the agencies could
be strengthened.
Specific
countries mentioned:
Pakistan:
President Busch and President Musharraf of Pakistan
recently renewed the dialogue between the science communities
of the two countries to build and strengthen cooperative
relationships. Dr.
Naim, Director of the National Research Council, visited
the U.S. and met with agency officials to explore
opportunities for collaboration and to build new
relationships. There
is a history of productive cooperative efforts, one of them
the Special Foreign Currency Program (funded by State) that
supported a large research program in Pakistan. He noted that one of the most successful programs in the
agricultural sciences led to the development of new varieties
of rice that has fed the population for the last twenty years.
Dr. Neureiter is working with USAID to use some of the
funds they received in support of the President’s new
initiatives in the S&T field in Pakistan, for either for a
workshop, a planning meeting, or to help develop new
agreements. In
the interim, he is trying to identify interest in the U.S.
research community for new collaborations.
He sees a great need for capacity building and
training. FIC is
working with the ICs, and when appropriate with Dr.
Zerhouni, to inform and guide the discussions.
Japan:
Dr. Neureiter identified Japan as an important U.S.
partner in Asia, and noted that Dr. Marburger, Science
Advisor to the President, will chair a bilateral meeting
within the next few months.
He discussed longstanding NIH-Japan efforts, and
particularly the U.S.-Japan Medical Sciences Program as a
model for cooperation. He
invited
Dr. Keusch and the IC reps to consider new ways to take
full advantage of the capabilities of both partners to respond
to the current medical and biomedical challenges.
S&T
at U.S. Embassies and at Main State
Dr.
Neureiter described the Department’s efforts to bring on
board detailees from technical agencies to spend 1-2 years in
different S&T offices within Main State in order to expand
the technical base. He
also referred to a short-term program to which 5 or 6
government agencies currently subscribe, that details
scientists for 1-3 months visits in response to specific
requests from U.S. embassies around the world.
This year, about 30 people from 5 different agencies
will be assigned to embassies abroad, in response to requests
from agencies for specific skill sets.
He noted that housing is provided by the embassies,
however, travel and salary is the responsibility of the host
institution.
Dr.
Neureiter concluded his presentation by emphasizing that the
State Department would welcome candidates from the NIH
community, and noted that this would proof there is
demonstrable benefit from having science capability in our
embassies abroad and in the Department.
Q&A:
To
the question of how the State Department felt about informal
agreements between NIH institutes and foreign agencies that
evolve from scientist-to-scientists collaborations, Dr.
Neureiter responded that at times, mostly for political
reasons or sometimes because it enables funding in another
country, it is beneficial to sign formal agreements.
This is often in the case of a deliverable resulting
from a presidential visit.
He noted that it was the responsibility of the
Department to assure that these bilateral agreements are doing
good things and not just do things to satisfy the agreement.
He recognized that in the case of Pakistan, it is a
politically driven initiative that is intended to rebuild
stability in that part of the world, but he declared that it
is essential to use good science to make this initiative a
reality. He noted
that such agreements should not be dismissed since they may
provide the basis for an agency to obtain Government support.
To
the question of which embassies required specific project
skills, Dr. Neureiter responded all embassies are periodically
polled to assure that assignments are made in response to a
particular request. He
promised to provide information on requests for NIH and CDC
expertise to FIC for distribution to the ICs.
In
reference to Pakistan, Dr. Keusch remarked that FIC
looked at Pakistan and the political realities in the region
to determine what opportunities there were from a diplomatic
point of view. FIC
has examined the small portfolio of NIH grants with Pakistani
institutions as well as three FIC training programs that are
currently active in Pakistan to evaluate if there was
opportunity to enhance the activities with Pakistan, along the
lines of the MECC and the NCI program with Northern Ireland,
Ireland and UK and the U.S.
Dr. Keusch remarked that NIH has strong and expanding
investments in India, despite several suspensions of
activities due to sanctions.
However, there is little activity with Pakistan,
particularly after USAID withdrew its support.
Dr. Neureiter added that sanctions against India have
been lifted and that the current Administration is placing a
high priority on its relationship with India and that State
has $1.4 million per year to support workshops and other
activities.
Dr.
Keusch inquired if there is opportunity for new activities
in the region beyond India and Pakistan, into the neighboring
countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
Dr.
Neureiter responded that State is in the process of signing an
agreement with Bangladesh that will focus on the arsenic
problem, which affects 70 million people in the country.
Dr. Keusch proposed to meet with the IC reps to explore
institute interests in collaborating with Pakistan.
He also announced that USAID will invite agencies,
including CDC, to meet in early January in Islamabad to
discuss the possibility of future science collaborations.
Mr. Ross Cox interjected that CDC has currently
two staff members assigned to WHO offices in Pakistan to
assist with immunizations issues, mainly polio.
He also noted that over the past year, CDC has sent
staff to Afghanistan to work primarily through UNICEF, and
currently has seven staff members assigned to the WHO office
in New Delhi and three more working in global AIDS and TB, as
well as one person at the ICDDR in Bangladesh and two in
Nepal.
Dr.
Neureiter applauded the group’s willingness to come together
on a regular basis to discuss the international activities of
their institutions and examine any foreign policy impact.
Dr. Keusch extended an invitation to Dr. Neureiter to
join the bi-monthly meetings on a regular basis.
Report
of Visit to Uruguay
and Argenti
na
Dr.
Luis Salicrup, FIC Program Officer for the Americas and
the Caribbean, reported on his recent visit to Argentina and
Uruguay in response to FIC/NIH and HHS interest in promoting
greater collaboration in the health area and in response to
the economic crisis. Prior
to the visit, FIC had met with senior visiting scientists from
Argentina to hear their views and recommendations on potential
areas of collaboration. In
discussions with officials at the 15 institutions recommended
by the group and officials from the Ministry of Health and the
Council of Science and Technology, the most urgent request was
opportunities for training of their senior scientists, the
need for equipment, reagents and access to scientific
journals, as well as funding for participation in symposia and
workshops, particularly for grant writing. In
order to implement the NIH strategy, FIC will need to work
with OIR and other NIH ICs to determine the most feasible
mechanisms for facilitating the immediate collaboration with
Argentina. Dr.
Salicrup shared a list of activities that are being planned,
or currently underway, to begin implementing the strategy:
1)
At FIC’s request, the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) has agreed to allow Argentineans to
compete in the NIH-PAHO Pan American Fellowships Program.
Final selection of 2003 fellows will occur this fall.
2)
In light of Argentina’s financial crisis, FIC
opened eligibility to the Global Health Research Initiative
Program (GRIP) re-entry grants to Argentinean scientists.
FIC will continue along this line in the next
competition of the program.
The GRIP
provides $50,000 for partial salaries and research projects to
promote re-entry of NIH-trained foreign scientists into their
home countries. This
program is part of a broader NIH effort to enhance research
infrastructure in developing countries, to stimulate research
on a broad array of high priority health issues in these
countries, and to advance NIH efforts to address health issues
of global importance.
3)
FIC will provide travel awards to a group of
Argentinean senior and junior researchers to enable them to
participate in the 2nd Pan American Symposium on
Molecular Genetics Research to be held in Brazil from October
22-25, 2002.
4)
FIC and
OIR has been working with those Argentinean intramural
scientists on the NIH Argentina Task Force, on identifying the
most feasible ways to enhance collaboration between NIH labs
and specific labs in Argentina. In that regard, enclosed is a
partial list of NIH laboratories that are willing to
participate in collaborative activities with research centers
in Argentina. We would like to give priority to those
universities and research centers that I visited in the cities
of Mendoza, Cordoba and Buenos Aires included those
recommended by the NIH Task Force and CONICET. These
collaborations may include training of post-doctoral fellows;
short-term visits (six months or less) of senior Argentinean
scientists to NIH intramural labs, loan and donation of
equipment and reagents; and services.
On Uruguay, while there has not been a history of
collaboration with NIH and research institutions in Uruguay,
there is great enthusiasm to initiate partnerships. In a
first ever meeting in Uruguay of the Ministry of Health, the
Council of Science and Technology, and research centers, it
was decided to send qualified postdocs from Uruguay to NIH for
training, and to use funds from an emergency IMF loan to
support research activities. FIC also opened the Global
Research Initiative Program for New Foreign Investigators
(GRIP) re-entry program to visiting fellows from Uruguay in
response to the crisis and will make one award to a Uruguayan
scientist in its first round. Dr. Keusch will meet with
the Intramural Office to discuss follow up actions.
IC
Survey on a New Middl
e
East Initiative
Dr.
Keusch invited Dr. Steiger to comment on the
Secretary’s request to explore NIH interest in developing a
new initiative for expanding cooperation in the Middle East
region. Dr.
Steiger noted the Secretary’s great interest in
international research and his particular enthusiasm for the
Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC), for which he serves ex
officio as chairman. MECC,
organized by NCI, has been very successful in building
collaborative relationships between researchers from Israel,
Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
The idea for a new initiative evolved from discussions
the Secretary had with Ministers from the region at the MECC
Board meeting, when they expressed an interest to expand the
collaborative efforts beyond cancer.
Dr. Keusch reported that several ICs had identified
areas of interest and that FIC had discussions with NCI
regarding their new programs in tobacco research.
He suggested that FIC meet with the ICs and the Office
of Global Health to work out the details.
Dr. Steiger proposed that RADM Richard Walling, who has
the lead for the Middle East region in OGHA, work with NIH to
develop a list of priorities that the Secretary can present to
the ministers sometime in early 2003.
NIH Visa Issue
s
Dr.
Philip Chen, Acting Chief for the International Services
Branch, spoke briefly on the changes following the September
11 event that affect the visa process for the more than 2500
international postdocs and research fellows working in NIH
labs. He noted
that INS will soon implement the new Student and Exchange
Visitor Information System (SEVIS) that will track
international students and exchange visitors.
He also remarked that the visa process will be more
time consuming. A
copy of his presentation is attached.
Dr.
Luis Salicrup noted that Cuba was on the list of countries
terrorist countries for which no visas were issued and asked
how this will affect activities sponsored by PAHO in Cuba.
Dr. Bill Steiger, speaking for the Department,
stated that following consultations with the Department of
State and the White House, current policy does not allow HHS
employees to travel to Cuba for any purpose, including for
conferences sponsored by PAHO.
Report on
Upcoming China Meeting
Dr.
Bridbord, Director of the Division of International
Training and Research, announced a major meeting on HIV/AIDS
organized by FIC, OAR, NIAID, NIMH and NIDA in Beijing,
November 1-3. The
purpose of the meeting is to bring together the NIH and other
U.S. government supported research and training programs in
HIV/AIDS in China, with the goal to increase research
collaboration and help build research capacity in China.
Invited are representatives of FIC’s AIDS
International Training Research Program, key U.S.
collaborators of NIH supported HIV/AIDS research programs, as
well as former trainees under the FIC programs who have
returned to China.
Next
Meeting:
November 12.
Attendance:
Dr. Gerald
Keusch, Director, FIC; Ms. Minnie Rojo, Director, Division of
International Relations, FIC; Ms. Chris Keenan, Executive
Secretary, FIC; IC Reps: Dr. Zakir Bengali, CSR; Ms. Karen
Kun, NCCAM; Dr. James McKearney, NCI; Dr. Ruth Hegyeli, NHLBI;
Ms. Marta Campbell, NIA; Ms. Peggy
Murray, NIAAA; Dr. Danuta Krotoski, NICHD; Mr. Frank Holloman
for NIDCD; Dr. Lois Cohen and Dr. Kevin Hardwick, NIDCR;
Dr. Charles Edmonds for NIGMS; Dr.
Juan Ramos, Dr. David Lozovsky, and Dr. Donna Mayo, NIMH; Ms.
Patricia Turner and Dr. Yuan Liu, NINDS; Ms. Julia Royall, NLM;
Dr. Mary Frances Picciano, ODS; and FIC staff Ms. Nalini Anand,
Mr. Kevin Bialy,Dr. Ken Bridbord, Ms. Jennifer Cabe, Mr.
George Herrfurth, Dr. Karen Hofman, Dr.
Allen Holt, Dr. Flora Katz, Dr. Linda Kupfer, Dr. James Lavery,
Ms. Judy Levin, Ms. Sonja
Madera, Mr. Michael McDowell, Dr. Kathy Michels, Dr. Rachel
Nugent, Mr. Mark Pineda,
Dr. Joshua Rosenthal, Dr. Barbara Sina, Ms. Marcia Smith, and
Ms.
Natalie Tomitch.
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