Report of the Director
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Public Health Service
National Institutes of Health
John E. Fogarty International Center
for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences

Contents

DHHS, NIH, and FIC Personnel Announcements

FIC Budget

FIC Programs and Initiatives

FIC Network Meetings

Regional Activities

Activities of FIC Staff Members

DHHS, NIH and FIC PERSONNEL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Dr. Jong Wook Lee is the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board’s nominee to take over as director-general of the organization, succeeding Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland.  Dr. Lee will assume the position at WHO in July if his nomination is approved by delegations from the 192 member states at the World Health Assembly in Geneva in May.  Dr. Lee, a 19-year veteran of WHO, is currently director of the Stop Tuberculosis Partnership, a coalition of international partners.

Dr. Mirta Roses Periago is the new Director of the Pan American Health Organization  (PAHO), succeeding Dr. George Alleyne.  She was elected for a five-year term at a summit of health ministers from North, South and Central American and Caribbean nations in September.  Dr. Roses most recently served as PAHO Assistant Director in charge of all technical cooperation programs as well as the Organization’s Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Coordination Program.  Dr. Roses, who is from Argentina, is the first woman to hold the post of PAHO Director.

Dr. Mark McClennan became Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration in November 2002.  Dr. McClennan, a physician and economist, previously served as a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisors.  He was an associate professor of medicine and economics before joining the Bush administration in 2001.  Dr. McClennan replaced Dr. Lester Crawford, who had been serving as Acting FDA Commissioner and who remains at FDA as Deputy Commissioner.

Dr. Jesse Goodman became Director of the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) on January 15.  He replaces Dr. Kathryn Zoon, who took up a new position at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).  Prior to coming to CBER, Dr. Goodman served as chief of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota.  His   expertise in this area will be valuable to CBER as the Center shifts its focus from product reviews to bioterror issues.

Dr. Duff Gillespie retired in September from the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he was Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Global Health Bureau.  Dr. Gillespie, a leader in the fields of international family planning and reproductive rights and an original member of the Advisory Committee for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation Population Program, joined the Foundation in January as a Visiting Scholar.

Dr. Greg Koski, Director of the HHS Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), returned to Harvard University at the end of November.  Koski was the first director of the new Office, which was established to replace the NIH Office of Protection from Research Risks.  Under Koski’s directorship, OHRP launched a quality improvement program, commissioned an IOM committee to create uniform national accreditation standards for human research protection programs, initiated a simplified process for filing of federal- wide assurances, and expanded its oversight activities.

Dr. Ruth Kirschstein will become Senior Advisor to NIH Director Elias Zerhouni.  Currently NIH Deputy Director, Kirschstein will step down from this position when a successor is chosen.  Kirschstein joined NIH in 1957.  She was Acting NIH Director from July 1993 until November 1993, between the departure of Dr. Bernadine Healy and the appointment of Dr. Harold Varmus, Deputy Director from 1993 to 1999, and Acting Director from 2000 to 2002, following the departure of Harold Varmus.

Dr. Wendy Baldwin, Deputy Director NIH for Extramural Research (DDER) since 1993, left the NIH in January to become Vice President for Research at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.  Dr. Baldwin, who had been at NIH since 1973, spent 20 years at NICHD before becoming DDER.  Dr. Belinda Seto is serving as Acting DDER until a new Director is identified.  Dr. Seto has been Deputy Director and Senior Advisor in the Office of Extramural Research since 1994.

Mr. Stephen Benowitz, who has been director of strategic management planning at NIH and who has previously served as NIH’s Director of Human Resources, will head the Office of Personnel Management’s Human Resources Products and Services Division.  Among other services, he will be in charge of federal retirement and health insurance programs.

Dr. Margaret Chesney has been named the first Deputy Director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM).  Prior to joining NCCAM, she was Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, where she was co-director of the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies and director of the behavioral medicine and epidemiology core of the UCSF Center for AIDS Research.  Most recently, she was also a senior visiting scientist in the NIH Office of Women’s Health, in the Office of the NIH Director.  She served as a member of the FIC Advisory Board from 1998-2002.

Dr. Alan Guttmacher, became Deputy Director of the National Institute of Human Genome Research in September, succeeding Dr. Elke Jordan, who retired in July and is now Associate Director for Scientific Initiatives at the Foundation for the NIH.

Mr. Robert Hosenfeld is the new Director of the NIH Office of Human Resources.  He comes to NIH from the Department of the Interior where, most recently, he was responsible for human resources programs at the U.S. Geological Survey.

Dr. Thomas Insel became Director of the National Institute of Mental Health in November, replacing Dr. Steven Hyman, who left the post in October 2001 to become Provost of Harvard University.  Dr. Insel was previously a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Founding Director of the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Dr. Ting-Kai Li took up the position of Director of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in November. He replaces Dr. Enoch Gordis, who retired in January 2002, and Dr. Raynard Kington, who had been serving as Acting Director since that time.  Dr. Li comes to NIH from The Indiana University School of Medicine, where he was Distinguished Professor, Departments of Medicine, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and where he also served as Director of the Indiana Alcohol Research Center.

Mr. Christopher McCabe joined the staff of the Immediate Office of the NIH Director in September as an advisor for special initiative and external affairs activities.  In this capacity, he will focus on improving NIH’s relationships with states, especially the so- called “have-not” states that receive relatively smaller amounts of NIH funding.

Dr. Nora Volkow has been named Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and is expected to assume this position in April.  Dr. Volkow is currently Associate Director for Life Sciences at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Director of Nuclear Medicine at BNL, and Director of the NIHA-DOE Regional Neuroimaging Center at BNL.  She is also Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Associate Dean of the Medical School at SUNY-Stony Brook.  Dr. Volkow replaces Dr. Glen Hanson, who has been serving as Acting Director since December 2001.

Ms. Judy Levin has been named Program Officer for Africa and the Middle East in the FIC Division of International Relations (DIR).  Ms. Levin had served in DIR as Program Specialist for the region since May 2000.  Prior to coming to NIH, she was Program Director for International Development and Training with the Institute for Intercultural Relations through the Arts and has served as a Consultant to non-profit organizations and private foundations.

Dr. Andrea Egan, who had served as Coordinator of the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Secretariat since September 1999, left FIC February 7 to take up a new position as Malaria Action Coalition Manager at Management Sciences for Health in Arlington, Virginia.  The MIM Secretariat was transferred to Sweden on January 1, 2002. 

FIC BUDGET

Fiscal Year 2003

The NIH is currently operating under a Continuing Resolution that runs through

February 7, 2003 at the FY 2002 funding level.  The following chart summarizes congressional actions as of January 27, 2003:

The NIH President’s Budget was amended in January 2003 to reflect the transfer of funds from the Institutes/Centers to the NIH Buildings and Facilities Account to complete the funding for the construction of the Porter Neuroscience Research Center.

The Senate has passed an Omnibus Appropriations bill that contains funding for NIH.  The details of the bill are not available yet.  The Senate will now go to conference with the House to finalize a FY 2003 Appropriations bill.

Fiscal Year 2004

The President submitted the FY 2004 budget to the Congress on February 3, 2003.

  FIC THIRTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY EVENTS

The first two lectures in FIC’s year-long 35^th Anniversary Global Health Lecture Series took place in October and January.  Dr. Nevin Scrimshaw, Institute Professor Emeritus at MIT and Senior Advisor to the Food and Nutrition Programme of the U.N. University, spoke on “Determinants of Global Health: Nutrition, Immunity and Infection” on October 28; and Dr. D.A. Henderson, Distinguished Service Professor at Johns Hopkins University and Director of Research and Development for the Office of Public Health Preparedness, spoke on “Dreams and Realities in Disease Eradication” on January 28. 

The remaining lectures in the series are as follows:

April 8 – Allen Lopez, Ph.D.   “Global Health Priorities:  Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors”

April 15 – Sir David Weatherall  “Genomics and Global Health” (A lecture in the NHGRI Symposium, From Double Helix to Human Sequence – and Beyond)

June 12 – Gail Cassell, Ph.D.  “Global Health Inequities and the Critical Role of Public/Private Partnerships:  Challenges and Opportunities”

September 22 – Arthur Kleinman, M.D.  “The Global Epidemic of Mental Health Problems in Developing Countries:  Depression, Suicide, and Violence”

  PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES

PROGRAMS

AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP)
A Program Announcement for the AITRP appeared in the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts in October.  The program will now be competed yearly and will accept applications in March of 2003, 2004 and 2005.  The AITRP is supported by FIC, in cooperation with NCI, NHLBI, NIAID, NIDCR, NIMH, NINR, NIAAA, NIDA, OAR and ORWH.

International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups
The International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups Program (ICBG), which supports integrated natural products drug discovery, biodiversity science and conservation research announced its next round of competition in October. Applications are due February 17 for FY 03 awards.  The current Request for Applications (RFA) encourages analysis of microbial and marine biodiversity and enhancement of research and training elated to the development of botanical treatments of globally important diseases.  The RFA was issued with the co-sponsorship of NIAID, NCI, NHLBI, NIMH, NCCAM, NICHD, NIDA, ODS and the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Agriculture.

International Collaborative Genetics Research Training Program
FIC and seven NIH partners announced in October six new research and training grants to support international collaborations in human genetic sciences.  In addition to training in genetic sciences, each of the six new projects will address the ethical, social, and legal implications of performing research in low- and middle- income countries.  FIC led the development of this program in close collaboration with its NIH partners, NHGRI, NIMH, NINDS, NIA, NIDA and NIEHS, and the WHO.  The combined financial commitment from FIC and its partners is approximately $2.3 million for the first year of these five-year awards.  Total support will be approximately $11.5 million over the next five years.

Global Infectious Diseases Research and Training Program
FIC received 38 letters of intent for the Global Infectious Diseases Research and Training Program.  These included 21 for full applications, 13 planning grant applications from developing country institutions, and 4 applications for supplements.  The deadline for receipt of applications was January 24.

International Clinical, Operational and Health Services Research Training Award for AIDS/TB (ICOHRTA-AIDS/TB)
FIC issued a Request for Applications in early January for Phase II of the ICOHRTA-AIDS/TB.  This program will increase research training across the span of clinical science and public health practice and involve a wide range of health professionals in developing countries where HIV/AIDS, TB, or both are significant problems.  Co-sponsors of this program are: NIAID, NICHD, NIDA, NIMH, NINDS, OAR, CDC, and USAID.  The application receipt date is June 10, 2003.

Brain Disorders in the Developing World:  Research Across the Lifespan

In partnership with NIMH, NINDS, NEI, NIA, NIAAA, NICHD, NIDA, NIEHS, the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Neuroscience, Mental Health and Addiction and the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico, FIC announced an RFA for developing collaborative research and capacity building projects on brain disorders throughout life, relevant to low- and middle-income nations.  The application receipt date is March 11.  The first phase of the program will consist of two-year planning/development grants that will provide support for the planning and preparation of a more comprehensive grant that involves collaboration between developed and developing country investigators and which incorporates both research and capacity building.

Network Meetings

FIC and NIH partners convened network meetings of grantees and trainees under the International Bioethics Training and Research Program, September 23-25 in Bethesda; the Malaria Research Training Program November 18 in Arusha, Tanzania; and the International Training and Research in Environmental and Occupational Health Program December 5-6 in Seattle, Washington.  Network meetings are held in order to share information on experiences and discuss possible future collaborations.

INITIATIVES

Fourth Global Forum on Bioethics in Research
FIC and other NIH institutes and centers partnered with PAHO and other science and public health agencies in the organization of the 4^th Global Forum on Bioethics in Research, which was held in Brasilia, Brazil October 29-30.  The Forum brought together clinicians, scientists, other health professionals, science administrators, lawyers, and ethicists to share views on critical ethical issues in human clinical research conducted in the developing world.  Participants focused particular attention on the use of genetic technologies.  The fifth forum will be organized by INSERM and held in May 2004.

Sex, Gender and Global Health
FIC is cooperating with the Institute of Gender and Health of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the NIH Office for Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) to look at global health issues through the lens of sex and gender and to determine if programs, initiatives, and interventions should be tailored to become more effective in addressing chief determinants of health outcomes.  Current plans include a year-long examination, through multiple activities, of a research agenda on sex, gender and global health, including biological considerations and predispositions to disease due to genetic factors, social and economic constructs that impact health outcomes for both sexes and the effects of global health and globalization. The next activity will be a CIHR/FIC/ORWH-sponsored meeting on the Impact of Global Issues on Women and Children, scheduled for February 16-21 in Bangkok.   Additional meetings will take place at Yale and Harvard, and in Ottawa at which researchers and health professionals will consider potential priorities for research topics and will finalize a set of recommendations on research priority areas.   

Gates Foundation “Grand Challenges” in Global Health
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced on January 26 that it is giving $200 million to establish the Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative, a major new effort and partnership with NIH.  The initiative will identify scientific challenges in global health and increase research on diseases that cause millions of deaths in the developing world.  As a partner in the initiative, NIH will identify activities that are appropriate for government funding.  Dr. Harold Varmus, President of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and former Director of the NIH, will chair a board of preeminent scientists who will guide and direct the initiative.  The three NIH representatives on the Board are NIH Director, Dr. Elias Zerhouni; FIC Director, Dr. Gerald Keusch; and NIAID Director, Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Meet the Ambassador
FIC hosted Ambassador Prudence Bushnell, former U.S. Ambassador to Kenya and Guatemala, at NIH in October.  Ambassador Bushnell, now Dean of the Department of State’s National Foreign Affairs Training Center Leadership School, discussed leadership and gender issues at a special session attended by IC International Representatives and FIC staff.  She provided her personal perspective on the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, which occurred while she was the Ambassador, and its impact on U.S. personnel in Kenya.  As part of her visit to NIH, Ambassador Bushnell also met with Dr. Ruth Kirschstein, NIH Deputy Director, and Dr. Vivian Pinn, NIH Associate Director for Women’s Health.

Intellectual Property Rights
Dr. Gerald Keusch and Dr. George Rupp, President of Columbia University, convened a group of senior academic leaders and university technology transfer managers on December 11 to discuss the balance between Bayh-Dole rights to inventions and obligations as institutions of higher education to generate knowledge and disseminate it as widely as possible.  The group focused on biomedical research, patents and licenses as related to global health disparities and access to drugs and building capacity in technology transfer in middle- and low-income countries related to global health.

Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries Project (DCPP)
The DCPP secretariat co-chaired three meetings of the DCPP Board of Editors between September 27 and February 7, hosted by the World Bank, FIC, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.  In addition, the DCPP held a meeting at the Stone House in November to address cost-effectiveness and other economic issues and co-sponsored a workshop on the burden of malaria at the Third Pan-African Malaria Conference held in Arusha, Tanzania in November.

DCPP is working closely with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, representing the Inter-Academies Medical Panel (IAMP), a coordinating group of Academies of Medicine from around the world.   IAMP will serve as an Advisory Group to the DCPP Editors and as a resource for performing the formal reviews of the 75 chapters of the DCPP publication.  Lead/coordinating authors have been chosen for almost all chapters, and several workshops are scheduled for 2003 to focus on infectious and non-infectious diseases and economic issues.  Members of the DCPP Secretariat team have, with the FIC Director or Deputy Director, met with 12 NIH institute and center directors and NIH Associate Directors to explain the DCPP project and to enlist their support for this endeavor.

  Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM)

Third Pan-African Malaria Conference
In its role as Secretariat of the MIM, FIC convened the Third Pan-African Malaria Conference in Arusha, Tanzania from November 17-22.  Over 1200 scientists and control experts, more than half from Africa, attended the Conference, which was the largest conference on malaria ever held.  Conference participants focused on recent developments in malaria research, bridging the gap between the research and control communities, promoting the exchange of scientific ideas within Africa, and highlighting research capacity needs and opportunities.

Training Workshops
The MIM Secretariat at FIC introduced a new training program in leadership and management for directors of research institutes in Africa and held a two-week pilot training workshop in Arusha, Tanzania in October for 19 research directors and potential directors. In addition, collaborating with the American Society of Hematology (ASH), MIM held a training workshop in hematological research techniques for malariologists from malaria-endemic countries at the ASH annual meeting in December.  This workshop was part of a continuing effort to build research capacity and collaboration in malarial anemia.

MIM Review Findings
In preparation for transferring responsibility for the MIM Secretariat and to provide an overview of how MIM is addressing the needs of the malaria research community in Africa, an independent panel chaired by Enriqueta Bond, President of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, conducted a review of MIM from September 30-October 4, 2002.  The Review Panel found MIM to be a healthy, growing group of four component organizations and found the work of the four components impressive, especially in bringing African scientists together through improving communication and building a science-focused network.

In the Panel’s view, there are two paths that MIM should follow:  (1) develop MIM’s operational systems and organizational capacity so that they are solidly built and smoothly functioning, and (2) simultaneously further the development of African research capacity and research infrastructure so that African scientists can become full partners and collaborators in research and control efforts focused on malaria.  The Panel made the following recommendations:

• Refine and clarify MIM’s vision, goals and objectives for the next five years, and develop strategic plan to fulfill them.

• Enhance communication and coordination between MIM’s four component organizations.

• Strengthen the MIM organizational structure by creating an Advisory Board, increasing the tenure of the MIM Secretariat, and planning for the transfer of Secretariat responsibilities to African institutions.

• Plan strategically to augment and secure MIM’s long-term resources and funding.

Transfer of MIM Secretariat
The MIM Secretariat, which rotates among MIM partners, was initially at the Wellcome Trust in the United Kingdom and has been at FIC since 1999.  In accordance with the rotation among members, the Secretariat moved to Sweden in January to be run jointly by Stockholm University, the Karolinska Institute and the Swedish Institute for Infectious Diseases.  The Swedish secretariat is dedicated to working with African nations to plan for future transition of the next MIM Secretariat to Africa.

World Summit on Sustainable Development
FIC staff participated in the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa in September.  The WSSD brought together 40,000 people to discuss issues of sustainable development.  Health was one of the five major themes of the Summit discussions, and medical research was prominently featured in the U.S. positions at the meeting as well as in outreach materials.  FIC’s newly launched Health Environment and Economic Development (HEED) program was discussed at the meeting and was enthusiastically endorsed as the kind of program key to achieving the goals of the Summit.

  REGIONAL ACTIVITIES 

Latin America and the Caribbean

Brazil
FIC, in partnership with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation of Brazil (FIOCRUZ), NIAID, NIEHS, NCI, PAHO, WHO-TDR, The Wellcome Trust, HHMI, the American Society for Microbiology and the European Molecular Biology Organization, convened the Second Pan-American Symposium on Molecular Approaches to Disease October 22-25 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  The goal of the meeting was to identify priorities for collaborative research and training in the fast-moving fields of genetics and genomics as a way to reduce the disease burden in the Americas.

FIOCRUZ recently joined NIH as a participant in the Pan-American Fellowship Program (PAF).  The PAF brings postdoctoral scientists from Latin America and Caribbean to train in NIH intramural laboratories.  Fifty percent of the support for the fellows comes from the foreign partner and 50% from NIH.  FIOCRUZ will provide matching funds for 5-10 Brazilian scientists over the next five years.

Mexico
The Mexican Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) recently joined FIC and the CIHR as a partner in the recently announced RFA on Brain Disorders in the Developing World: Research Across the Lifespan, and will fund successful applications from Mexican institutions. 

Egypt
A workshop to explore the use of compounds derived from marine invertebrate/algal sources with potential to lead to novel treatments of human and animal diseases now prevalent in Egypt was held at the Suez Canal University in Ismailia, Egypt in December. The workshop was held under the auspices of the U.S.-Egypt Joint S&T Board and was organized by FIC in collaboration with NCI.  Six scientists from U.S. universities and a senior scientist from NCI’s Natural Products Branch were joined by 100 Egyptian scientists active in the field.

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo has received 114 proposals in response to the seventh annual call for applications under the U.S.-Egypt Joint S&T Fund Program.  NIH will lead the review of 16 of these proposals.  Funding for the Joint Fund has been increased by $1 million in the 2002-2003 funding cycle.  FIC will work to build on the marine products workshop held in Ismailia, Egypt (see above).

China
Participants from China and the United States, including FIC staff, attended the Sino-U.S. Conference on Research and Training in AIDS-Related Areas, which was held in Beijing in November.  The conference was co-sponsored by the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the NIH.  Plenary sessions described current research and training activities supported by the Chinese government, NIH, other U.S. agencies and international donors. 

ACTIVITIES OF FIC STAFF MEMBERS

Dr. Gerald Keusch received the 2002 Bristol Award of the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) at the IDSA Annual meeting October 24 in Chicago.  The Bristol Award is granted in recognition of a career that reflects major accomplishments and contributions to the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge about infectious diseases.  Dr. Keusch was honored for his long-term commitment to excellence in research, teaching and clinical practice and for fostering research training among young scientists in the United States and developing countries.

Dr. Keusch was elected in October to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Keusch participated in a workshop at the Yale University Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, September 25 in New Haven, Connecticut. The workshop, entitled “Access to Essential Medicines and University Research: Building Best Practices” focused on developing models that define specific intellectual property management strategies that universities can adopt to promote access to medicines in developing countries.

Dr. Keusch represented FIC/NIH at a meeting of the Centre for the Management of Intellectual Property in Health and Research and Development (MIHR) at the Rockefeller Foundation, September 26-27 in New York City.

Dr. Keusch attended the meeting of the IOM’s Board on Global Health, of which he is a member, October 1-3 in Washington, D.C.  Topics discussed included the global AIDS epidemic; international health policy; research and development for new vaccines; preparedness for pandemics; and modeling the spread of agents of bioterrorism.

Dr. Keusch made several plenary presentations at the week long Global Forum on Health Research meeting held November 11-16 in Arusha, Tanzania.  Among the topics presented were the global burden of mental and brain disorders and approaches to address them, and new ways to partner globally to tackle health research priorities, the latter as follow-up to the recent report from the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health.

Dr. Keusch attended the Annual Board Meeting of the International Nutrition Foundation, November 25 in Boston.

Dr. Keusch attended the Fall meeting of the Tropical Medicine Interest Group of the Wellcome Trust.

Dr. Keusch participated in a Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainablility organized by the National Academies on December 12.  The program works with the public sector, other units within the Academies, and the general public to energize, stregthen, and, in some cases, create strategic connections between scientific research, technological development, and efforts to achieve sustainable improvements in  human well being.

Dr. Keusch, in his capacity as scientific advisor for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Enabling Group, attended a meeting of the incoming Board of Directors December 16-17 in Seattle. GAIN will work to improve nutrition of the world’s poor through food fortification and other strategies.

Dr. Martin Alilio took part in the organization of and participated in the Third Pan-African Malaria Conference, November 17-22 in Arusha, Tanzania. 

Ms. Nalini Anand attended a meeting on “Impact of Intellectual Property Rules on Consumer Health Services,” organized by the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue Committee on Intellectual Property, November 1 in Washington.

Dr. Joel Breman participated in an IOM/NAS meeting on the "Economics of Antimalarial Drugs, " September 11-12 in Washington.

Dr. Breman gave the keynote address titled "Smallpox 2002:  from global eradication to bioterrorism threat," September 17 at the Georgetown University School of Medicine symposium on bioterrorism preparedness.

Dr. Breman participated in the meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), October 23-27, in Chicago at which he organized a symposium on international health,  “Ancient Scourges and Modern Maladies in the Americas.”  In addition, as a member of the International Affairs Committee of IDSA, he presented an update on FIC activities and program perspectives.

Dr. Breman gave a presentation entitled "New perils, old scourges: the global burden of infectious diseases" as part of the Global Health Issues Seminar Series at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine on November 1.

Dr. Breman gave a presentation on the objectives and planned conduct of the DCPP program to a special session at the Global Forum for Health Research, annual meeting November 9-14.in Arusha, Tanzania.  He also chaired a session on "Research capacity strengthening: framework for monitoring/evaluation."

Dr. Breman organized, and gave opening and closing remarks at the workshop entitled "The Intolerable Burden of Malaria:  What's New, What's Needed," November 17 in Arusha, Tanzania.  This all day pre-MIM Conference activity included 18 speakers and was attended by over 200 scientists and decision makers from Africa and elsewhere.  The workshop was co-sponsored by MIM and DCPP and the presentations will be included in a forthcoming supplement to the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Dr. Breman participated in the MIM Conference, November 17-22 in Arusha, Tanzania, as Senior Scientific Advisor, MIM, and member of the Scientific Program Committee.

Dr. Breman attended the Conference on United States-Panama Scientific Collaboration December 6-8 in Santiago, Panama, and gave a keynote address "Tropical Diseases Research in Panama:  Historical Perspectives and Current Opportunities."  One of the goals of the meeting was to strengthen the linkages between the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory and the Santiago medical community with U.S. geographic and tropical diseases research centers at the George Washington University, University of Texas, Galveston, and Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Breman participated in the DHHS/FIC- hosted Smallpox Modeling Working Group for the Secretary’s Advisory Council on Public Health Preparedness December 16-17 and January 17 at NIH.

Dr. Breman, as a member of the WHO International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication, participated in the "Interagency Coordination Group for Dracunculiasis Eradication" and the Gates Guinea Worm Committee meetings January 28 at the World Bank.

Dr. Kenneth Bridbord and Ms. Natalie Tomitch participated in a meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, to help plan for a new school of public health at St. Petersburg State University.  U.S. and Russian scientists attended the meeting, including representatives of eight U.S. universities that receive FIC support for activities in Russia and the NIS.

Dr. Bridbord and Dr. Jeanne McDermott represented FIC at the annual program directors meeting of the NIH Centers for AIDS Research, November 13-15 in Seattle, Washington.

Mr. Bruce Butrum organized and conducted the first FIC Grants Administration Outreach Workshop on September 25 and 26.  The Workshop was held to coincide with the annual FIC Bioethics Network Meeting in Bethesda.  FIC staff invited Grants Administrators and Investigators to two half-day meetings for presentations on the NIH grants process, post-award issues, and financial and administrative issues.

Mr. Butrum gave a presentation on “Funding Opportunities at NIH” at the International Society of Research Administrators’ Meeting, October 28-30 in Orlando Florida.

Dr. Andrea Egan participated in the workshop on leadership and management for African malaria research leaders October 6-18 in Arusha, Tanzania.

Dr. Egan took part in the organization of and participated in the Third Pan-African Malaria Conference November 17-22 in Arusha.

Dr. Egan organized and participated in a workshop on hematological research techniques for malariologists at the ASM annual meeting, December 3-5 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Pierce Gardner represented FIC at a meeting on the Global Health Security Initiative, which was convened by CDC in September at the request of the Office of the Secretary, DHHS, to work with WHO and PAHO to develop an initiative for strengthening a global health security network.

Dr. Gardner attended the OECD/Gulbenkian Foundation Workshop on Biotechnology for Infectious Diseases, October 7-10 in Lisbon.

Dr. Gardner participated in a WHO Technical Consultation meeting on strategies for prevention and control of epidemic meningococcal disease in West Africa, October 20-27 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Dr. Gardner gave a presentation on a new propspective FIC/Ellison Foundation initiative to enhance early career opportunities for U.S. students in the medical professions to participate in clinical research in developing countries to the Global Health Committee of the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) at the ASPH annual meeting, November 10 in Philadelphia.

Mr. George Herrfurth represented FIC/NIH at the WHO Meeting of Interested Parties (MIP) October 7-11 in Geneva, Switzerland.  The MIP is held annually to enable Member States that contribute voluntary resources to exchange views and evaluations of the usefulness and productivity of a particular part of the WHO’s work.  The 2002 MIP reviewed activities in health, poverty reduction and development, tackling risks to health; scaling-up the response to communicable diseases; women and children’s health; health systems and surveillance, and health technology and pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Herrfurth represented FIC/NIH at an interagency meeting chaired by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy November 21 to discuss U.S. participation in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Global Science Forum (GSF).  He presented three new proposals for possible collaboration with the GSF: 1) health, environment and economic development, 2) international studies on health and economic development, and 3) hypertension and obesity.

Dr. Karen Hofman attended a Consultative Meeting and Workshop for Strengthening African Medical Journals October 14-16 at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.  The purpose of the meeting was to generate ideas to identify and support a plan of action to strengthen and promote high quality and good publishing practices in African medical research journals.

Dr. Hofman attended the 4^th Global Forum on Bioethics, October 29-30 in Brasilia, Brazil.

Dr. Hofman represented FIC at the conference “Bridging the Research Gaps in Global Tobacco Control,” hosted by Research for International Tobacco Control (RITC), November 4-6 in Ottawa, Canada.

Dr. Hofman attended a planning meeting for the NHGRI conference “Beyond the Beginning:  The Future of Genomics II, November 18-20 at the Airlie Conference Center in Airlie, Virginia.

Dr. Allen Holt represented NIH at the second meeting of the Governmental Committee for S&T Cooperation between Vietnam and the United States, November 25-26 at the Department of State.  A representative of the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Health noted that Vietnamese Government priorities for cooperation in the coming year include toxicology, bioethics, diabetes, food safety, reproductive health, and public health genetics.

Dr. Sharon Hrynkow and Dr. Luis Salicrup traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in October for the FIC-led 2^nd Pan American Symposium on Molecular Approaches to Disease, conducted jointly with FIOCRUZ.  The goal of the meeting was to identify priorities for collaborative research and training in genetics and genomics as a way to reduce the disease burden in the Americas.

Dr. Sharon Hrynkow represented FIC at a Rockefeller Foundation sponsored meeting on “Mapping Public Health Capacity in and for Africa: Interpreting the Findings,” November 16 in Arusha, Tanzania.  The objective of the meeting was to explore the establishment of a school of public health in Africa, building on existing frameworks.

Dr. Hrynkow participated at the Global Forum on Health Research and the 3^rd MIM Pan African Conference, November 17-22 in Arusha, Tanzania, where she led a special session on career development issues for women in science in Africa.

Dr. Hrynkow represented NIH at the U.S.-Russia S&T meeting held December 5 at the State Department.  The U.S. delegation was led by Dr. John Marburger, Science Advisor to the President. Priority topics raised by Dr. Hrynkow included infectious diseases, including BT agents, and ecological factors involved in emergence of infectious diseases, neuroscience, and training of young scientists.

Dr. Hrynkow participated in a meeting on gender and globalization organized by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) December 8-9 in Ottawa.  CIHR plans to hold a series of symposia in 2003 that will address gender and health issues in the global context and has invited NIH to provide guidance and input.  FIC will participate in a related meeting in Bangkok in February.

Dr. Hrynkow convened a meeting of DHHS and NIH partners January 6 at NIH to consider overall objectives, potential topics and logistics for a bilateral symposium on women’s health to be held with counterparts from Israel.  The U.S. side will propose broad topics of disease prevention and health promotion and will suggest two focal areas – the impact of interpersonal violence on women’s health, and CVD as related to HRT, for which international collaborative research projects could result.   Meetings with representatives of the Israeli Ministry of Health will take place in February or March.

Dr. Hrynkow and Dr. Aron Primack met on January 6 with a small group of Visiting Fellows on campus from low- and middle-income countries to discuss current re-entry strategies, formation of an NIH alumni association on return home, and ways to improve communication among fellows. 

Dr. Hrynkow chaired a panel on health and biotechnology at the AAAS Symposium  “Science and Technology in Support of U.S. Policy in Central Asia,”  February 6 in Washington. 

Dr. Dean Jamison attended the partners’ meeting of the Global Alliance on Vaccine and Immunization (GAVI) in Dakar, Senegal and the PAHO Centennial Conference on Immunization, both in Washington in November.

Dr. Jamison and Dr. Karen Hofman participated in a meeting of book editors and chapter coordinators for the 2^nd edition of Disease and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa, which will be funded by the Africa region of the World Bank.  Dr. Jamison is the coordinator for the chapter on Macroeconomics and Health, and Dr. Hofman is the coordinator for the chapter on developmental disabilities. The meeting was held December 4-6 in Durban, South Africa.

Dr. Jamison attended a meeting December 23 at the UCSF Institute on Global Health regarding the DCPP.

Dr. Richard Krause attended the 15^th Lancefield International Symposium on Streptocci and Streptococcal Diseases, October 7-11 in Goa, India, where he delivered the opening plenary lecture on “Fifty Years of Streptococcal Research:  Then and Now.”  

Dr. Krause attended the U.S. Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program’s Seventh International Congress on Emerging Infectious Diseases at the end of October in Shanghai, China.

Dr. Krause  attended the Joint Meeting Group of the Indo-U.S. Vaccine Action Program, January 29-30 at NIH.

Dr. Linda Kupfer designed and implemented an external review of the MIM that took place September 30-October 4 at NIH.  Results of the review were reported at the MIM Conference in Arusha, Tanzania in November.  The report can be found at http://mim.nih.gov.

Dr. Kupfer presented a paper entitled “Strategies to Prevent Brain Drain” at the Global Forum for Health Research meeting in Arusha, Tanzania in November.

Dr. James Lavery attended the 4^th Global Forum on Bioethics in Research, October 29-30 in Brasilia, Brazil.

Dr. Lavery gave a talk entitled “Standards in International Research Ethics, the On-going Challenge for U.S. Institutional Review Boards” at the Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (Prim&R) meeting November 18 in San Diego.

Dr. Lavery presented a paper at the VI International Congress on Bioethics, in Brasilia.

Dr. Ellis McKenzie gave talks at: an inter-agency conference at NSF on infectious disease and homeland security; a conference on operational modeling and biodefense, at the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (University of Minnesota); a meeting in Stone House of the health ministers from the G-7 countries and Mexico; a modeling meeting in London for the G-7 countries and Mexico; a Canadian-biodefense-plan modeling workshop in Ottawa; a workshop titled "The intolerable burden of malaria:  what's new, what's needed" associated with the MIM conference in Arusha, Tanzania.

Dr. McKenzie organized and participated in the first meeting of the Smallpox Modeling Working Group for the Secretary’s Advisory Council on Public Health Preparedness, and follow-up conference calls, and coordinated related contracts for the modeling groups involved.

Dr. Kathleen Michels presented information on ongoing Indo-U.S. research collaboration and funding opportunities for training and research within NIH at the NIMH-sponsored Indo-U.S. symposium on international research collaboration in all areas of brain/neurological sciences and disorders.  The symposium was held November 1 at NIH.

Dr. Mark Miller was elected to the Scientific Advisory Council of the Albert Sabin Vaccine Institute and presented a paper on “Measles Control with Aerosol Vaccines” to the board.

Dr. Miller presented three papers related to the Division of Epidemiology and Population Studies’ (EPS) work on influenza at the First European Influenza Conference October 20-23 in Malta.  A satellite session was held for collaborators on the Multinational Influenza Seasonal Mortality Study initiated by EPS.

Dr. Miller attended the Global Forum for Health Research annual meeting October 20-23 in Arusha, Tanzania, where he chaired a scientific session on international collaborations in health research and participated in a meeting to discuss challenges facing the new director general of WHO.

Dr. Miller participated in the DHHS/FIC- hosted Smallpox Modeling Working Group for the Secretary’s Advisory Council on Public Health Preparedness December 16-17 and January 17 at NIH.

Dr. Miller represented FIC at the Interagency Infectious Disease Working Group January 17 at the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Rachel Nugent attended the annual meeting of the Global Development Network (GDN), a co-funding partner of the International Studies in Health and Economic Development program. She organized a panel on health, environment and development at the meeting and coordinated the expert review of the awards on health and environment for the GDN.  The meeting was held January 17-21 and in Cairo.

Mr. Mark Pineda participated in overlapping meetings of the Indo-US. Joint Working Groups (JWGs) on Contraception and Reproductive Health Research and Maternal and Child Health and Development Research, October 28-November 1 in Rockville, Maryland.

Dr. Aron Primack gave a presentation November 20 at the American Anthropology Association national meeting on FIC grant availability, with a focus on the tobacco initiative. 

Dr. Primack organized a grant writing workshop and mock peer review panel for NIH intramural visiting fellows from developing countries, December 12 at NIH.

Dr. Primack served as a representative member of the Interagency Committee on Smoking and Health (ICSH) chaired by Surgeon General Carmona and was an observer to the ICSH Cessation Subcommittee.

Dr. Primack gave several lectures on tobacco and global health and FIC programs and activities to MPH and medical students at the U.S. University for the Health Sciences.

Ms. Minerva Rojo represented FIC in discussions with a delegation of Korean stem cell researchers who visited NIH for two days.  The meeting, which was organized by FIC, resulted in an agreement to launch collaborations between several NIH intramural laboratories and MizMedi Hospital in Korea, using MizMedi’s single cell line, which is currently on the NIH stem cell registry.  Discussions also focused on future research and training, including possible NCRR support for the development of a regional stem cell research training center in Seoul.

Ms. Natalie Tomitch represented NIH at the State Department interagency meeting on October 29 in preparation for the U.S.-Russia S&T Joint Committee Meeting, which was held in early December. 

Ms. Tomitch, joined by staff of the NIH Office of AIDS Research (OAR) and the Office of International and Refugee Health, represented NIH at an interagency meeting convened by the State Department on the status of the HIV epidemic in Russia and the NIS, December 9 at the State Department.

Return to Minutes of the February 11, 2003 Advisory Board Meeting