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Summary:
The Fogarty International Center (FIC) of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) fosters partnerships between
U.S. scientists and their counterparts in Russia and the Newly
Independent States (NIS) of the Former Soviet Union through
implementation of international agreements and a variety of
other activities which support international collaboration.
Each year, U.S. scientists, both at government-based and university-based
laboratories and institutions, undertake joint projects in
all areas of biomedical and behavioral science with their
colleagues from the NIS. Collaboration is carried out through
fellowships and exchanges, joint grant awards, and under the
auspices of high-level government commissions. The Fogarty
International Center facilitates these collaborative efforts;
supports research and research training programs to strengthen
cooperation; provides information on other NIH, U.S. government,
and non-government programs; establishes linkages between
U.S. and foreign scientists; and participates in bilateral
frameworks such as the U.S.-Russia Commission on Economic
and Technological Cooperation.
REGIONAL
U.S. Civilian
Research and Development Foundation for the Independent States
of the Former Soviet Union (CRDF)
The CRDF,
a non-profit, private foundation, was established in August
1995 by the U.S. government to facilitate scientific and technological
cooperation in the civilian sector between the U.S. and the
countries of the Former Soviet Union.
In 1996,
CRDF announced its Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences Program
to support collaborative research in this emphasis area. Based
on a $1 million contribution from NIH and supplemental funding
from the U.S. Department of Defense and the Government of
Ukraine, a total of 41 two-year awards were granted to U.S.-NIS
scientist teams. In addition, 20 travel and workshops awards
enabled U.S. and NIS researchers to meet and develop joint
proposals for submission to CRDF. Biomedical and behavioral
sciences-related topics included emerging and re-emerging
diseases, hypertension, clinical psychiatry, aging, and alcohol
abuse. The original contributions to support the program leveraged
additional support from several individual NIH Institutes
and Centers as well as the U.S. Department of State. A new
research grant competition is expected to be announced in
late May 1999. 
RUSSIA
U.S.-Russia
Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation
The U.S.-Russia
Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation (formerly
known as the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission) was established
in 1993 to promote cooperation between the U.S. and Russia
and to overcome barriers across a spectrum of sectors. NIH
is an active member of two committees under the aegis of the
Commission, the Health Committee and the Science and Technology
(S&T;) Committee.
The Health
Committee focuses on collaboration in priority public health
issues, such as infectious diseases, maternal and child health,
and access to quality health care. Several NIH institutes
have been active partners in the Health Committee in the research
aspects of substance abuse prevention, treatment and control
of infectious diseases (including HIV/AIDS), and maternal
and child health statistics. More recently, new collaborations
were established in the areas of mental health, micronutrient
malnutrition, and biomedical communications. In March 1999,
the S&T; Committee proposed to include infectious disease research
and research training to promote U.S.-Russian cooperation,
especially in the development and evaluation of new or improved
diagnostic tests, vaccines, and therapeutic agents that would
help address urgent public health needs in Russia.
UKRAINE
Gore-Kuchma
Commission
The Gore-Kuchma
Commission (GKC), established in 1996, has four committees
which focus on trade, energy and the environment, defense,
and sustainable economic cooperation. FIC has represented
NIH in the Science & Technology Working Group of the GKC.
Among the working group's objectives is the promotion of cooperation
in biomedical research as well as ongoing exchange of information
on respective programs, research capabilities, government
priorities, and opportunities for collaboration. NIH institutes
which have been especially active in pursuing collaboration
with their Ukrainian counterparts are the National Cancer
Institute (NCI), the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (NIEHS), and the National Institute of Mental Health
(NIMH). Efforts have focused on the health effects linked
to the Chernobyl disaster, and have included epidemiological
studies of thyroid cancer and leukemia, maternal and child
health, and children's mental and behavioral health.
GEORGIA
Collaboration
with the Georgian Ministry of Health
The Fogarty
International Center, working with several NIH Institutes
and the Georgian Ministry of Health (MOH), convened a multidisciplinary
workshop in November 1996 to explore the potential for increased
cooperation in the biomedical sciences. The workshop, attended
by directors and representatives of several NIH Institutes
as well as senior officials of the Georgian MOH, was supported
by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
(NIAID), the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI),
the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Institute
of Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Fogarty International Center (FIC),
and CRDF. Six priorities
were identified as potential emphasis areas for strengthened
U.S.-Georgian collaboration: tuberculosis, cancer, drug abuse,
immunodeficiency and AIDS, asthma and immunology, and biomedical
information systems and databases. In an ongoing effort, FIC
has continued to provide input to the Ministry of Health as
Georgia restructures its biomedical research system.
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