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. Eve Slater recently stepped down as DHHS Assistant Secretary for Health.
Dr. Richard Carmona, the U.S. Surgeon General, is serving as Acting Assistant Secretary for Health.

Dr. Bernard A. Schwetz has been named by HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson to serve as Acting Director of the HHS Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP).  Dr. Schwetz was Senior Advisor for Science at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a Distinguished Scientist at the University of Maryland, College Park.  From January 2001 to February 2002 he was the FDA Acting Deputy Commissioner.

Dr. Raynard S. Kington is the new Deputy Director of the NIH.  Dr. Kington was previously NIH Associate Director for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research and Director of the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research.  He also served as Acting Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism from January 2002 until September 2002. Dr. Kington replaces Dr. Ruth Kirschstein, who had served as Deputy NIH Director since 1993, as well as Acting NIH Director from January 2000 to May 2002.  Dr. Kirschstein is now Senior Advisor to the NIH Director. 

Mr. Robert Eiss who left the Fogarty International Center in 2000 for a position at the White House Office of Drug Control Policy, is returning to FIC as Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives.  In this capacity, he will lead the development and implementation of such initiatives and will, initially, guide the production of a comparative analysis of the U.S. health research infrastructure, with particular focus on NIH intramural and extramural mechanisms, and that of other nations, as a means to identify recommendations for strengthening domestic and international biomedical research activities.

FIC BUDGET

NIH FY 2004 Budget Request:  The President’s FY 2004 budget request for the NIH is $27.743 billion, an increase of $776.0 million or 2.9 percent over the FY 2003 appropriated level of $26.967 billion.  Within this level, the budget request for the AIDS program is $2.870 billion, an increase of $123.0 million or 4.5 percent over the FY 2003 level of $2.747 billion.  The budget request includes a major increase for biodefense efforts and $35 million to support initial projects of Dr. Zerhouni’s NIH Roadmap Initiative to spur efforts in New Pathways to Discovery, Multidisciplinary Research Teams of the Future, Re-engineering the Clinical Research Enterprise, and other areas.

FIC FY 2004 Budget Request:  The FY 2004 budget request for the FIC is $64.266 million, an increase of $2.073 million or 3.3 percent over the FY 2003 level of $62.193 million.  Within this level, the non-AIDS budget is $41.526 million, an increase of $.704 million or 1.7 percent.  The AIDS budget is $22.740 million, an increase of $1.369 million or 6.4 percent.  The increase in the non-AIDS budget will provide for program expansions/new research initiatives in the following areas:

• Pilot International “Glue” Grants

• Using Mathematical Modeling to Identify New Health Strategies
• Improve Health and Medical Reporting in Low-Income Nations

Focus on Global Health through the Gender Lens

Addressing the Growing Burden of Ill Health due to Trauma and Injuries

The FY 2004 Congressional Justification can be found on the FIC web-site at:  http://www.fic.nih.gov/about/2004cj.html

Congressional Hearings:  

Dr. Elias Zerhouni, Director, NIH testified on behalf of the FY 2004 President’s budget before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on April 2 and the afternoon of April 8 and before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the morning of April 8.  Each IC Director submitted a written opening statement to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee.  Dr. Keusch’s statement can be found on the FIC web-site at: http://www.fic.nih.gov/about/2004statement.html.

  FIC THIRTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY EVENTS

The third and fourth lectures in FIC’s year- long 35^th Anniversary Global Health Lecture Series took place in April.  Dr. Alan Lopez, Professor of Medical Statistics and Population Health and Head, School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Australia spoke on “Global Health Priorities:  Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors” on April 8; and Professor Sir David Weatherall, Regius Professor of Medicine and Director of the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Emeritus, spoke on “Genomics and Global Health” on April 15 as part of the NHGRI Symposium, “From Double Helix to Human Sequence – and Beyond.” 

The remaining lectures in the series are as follows:

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”

The FIC 35^th Anniversary Symposium, “Global Health:  A Challenge to Scientists,” will begin on the afternoon of May 20, following the meeting of the FIC Advisory Board.  The agenda for the symposium is attached to this report.

  PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES

PROGRAMS

FIC has converted several programs from the Request for Application (RFA) format to the Program Announcement (PA) format. A PA is used by an NIH institute or center to announce an interest in building or enhancing its research program in a particular area. The PA typically is an ongoing solicitation, accepting applications for multiple receipt dates, for up to three years. The PA specifies the scope and objectives of the research of interest, application requirements and procedures, and review criteria to be applied.

FIC programs that have been converted to the PA format are:  The AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP); The Global Infectious Disease Research Training Program; and the Global Health Research Initiative Program for New Foreign Investigators (GRIP).

FIC has had a strong response to recent RFAs and PAs.  The number of applications for funding under new and continuing programs is as follows:

• AITRP  -  31 applications 
  
• Brain Disorders: Research Across the Lifespan  -  133 applications
  
• Global Infectious Disease Research Training Program  -  38 applications
  
• GRIP  -  33 applications
  
• Health, Environment and Economic Development  -  80 applications
  
• International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups Program  -  32 applications
  
• Stigma and Global Health Research Program  -  107 applications

FIRCA Evaluation:  

Phase I of the evaluation of the Fogarty International Research Collaboration Award, a grant program begun in 1992, is complete.  Phase I consolidated all FIRCA data into an integrated database, verified the data collected, and developed and tested a survey that will collect new data for the Phase II Outcome Evaluation proposed for FY 2003-4.  Initial Phase I findings show that between 1992 and 2001, 485 FIRCAs were awarded to researchers in 60 countries -- 21% went to the Russian Federation and an additional 21% went to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland.  The data show that, over time, awards to these countries have decreased while those to Latin America have increased, and that fields of study have changed.  Increasing numbers of grants now are focusing on genetics and more multidisciplinary grants are being funded. 

Phase II of the evaluation will collect additional data to determine impact and outcomes in the area of capacity building in developing countries and, for this purpose, will look at the careers and publications of FIRCA- sponsored foreign collaborators.

AITRP Evaluation

FIC has received funding from the NIH Office of Evaluation to begin a Phase I Feasibility Study of the AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP).   AITRP is one of FIC’s longest standing programs (15 years) and one that serves as a model for many other FIC training programs.  Phase I of this evaluation will involve collecting data on institutions, investigators, trainees, topics of study and other areas into an integrated database, and determining what new data will need to be collected for an outcome evaluation. 

Network Meetings:  FIC and NIH partners convened a network meeting of grantees and trainees under the AITRP, February 22-23 in Bethesda, Maryland.  Network meetings are held in order to share information among investigators, trainees and funding agencies on experiences, issues of concern or opportunity, and to discuss possible future collaborations between and among groups. 

INITIATIVES

Fogarty Scholar-in-Residence:  FIC has named Professor Sir David Weatherall, Emeritus Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, a Fogarty Scholar-in Residence.  This program supports eminent scientists from around the world to visit the NIH campus to advance critical lines of medical research and to spark innovative thinking and approaches in priority research areas.  During his stay at NIH Sir David will confer with scientists from the NIH institutes sponsoring him, NIDDK, NIEHS and NHGRI, and will work closely with colleagues across the NIH to explore the opportunities for the global community offered by recent advances in genetic technology.  Professor Weatherall is one of the outstanding clinician scientists of his generation.  He pioneered studies in molecular genetics, hematology, pathology and clinical medicine.  The results of his laboratory and clinical work over the past decades in the area of thalassemia and other blood disorders helped to explain the molecular pathophysiology and causes of the phenotypic variability of these disorders.  His work has led to significant improvements in the clinical management of inherited blood disorders and has drawn attention to the challenge of caring for thalassemia sufferers who now survive beyond childhood. 

FIC-NIEHS Agreement

FIC has entered into an agreement with the National Institute of Environmental Sciences (NIEHS) to bolster international efforts in the environmental sciences.  Under the agreement, in FY 2003 NIEHS will work closely with FIC on a range of activities of mutual interest, including consideration of gender issues in global health, support for the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria, and strengthening of medical journals in the developing world.

Disease Control Priorities Project (DCPP)

The DCPP secretariat, housed at FIC, has been working to plan and implement a program of consultations related to chapter development for the second edition of Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries (DCP-2).  These include a DCPP consultation on tropical infectious diseases, which was held in Rio de Janeiro from 28 April to May 1, and an upcoming workshop on implementation successes that will be held in Cuernavaca, Mexico in June.  The Cuernavaca consultations will include the first meeting of the DCP-2’s Advisory Committee to the Editors, of which Dr. Jaime Sepulveda, Director of the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, is chair.  The secretariat also is running two DCP-2 author workshops in May, one on discounting and one on research and development.  In addition, a DCPP meeting on cardiovascular diseases was held in Toronto in March, and another on health systems functions at the World Bank in April.  A listing of DCCP activities, reports, presentations, and other information can be found at the DCCP website:  http://www.fic.nih.gov/dcpp/index.html.

NIH Workshop on Using Research to Report on Public Health and Medicine in Latin America:  

FIC, NCI and NIEHS are planning a symposium to provide journalists the opportunity to share experiences and ideas about reporting on a broad range of global health topics using the results of medical research.  The goals of this workshop are to:  

1)   Act as a forum for journalists from low- and middle income countries in Latin America to exchange ideas with U.S. counterparts on how to cover major public health stories;

2)   Provide an opportunity for journalists to interact with scientists working on major communicable and chronic diseases affecting populations in their regions;

3)   Assess the resource needs and barriers faced by journalists in covering public health stories; and

4)   Build a network among journalists for potential future collaborations and information exchange. 

The workshop will take place at the Stone House on the NIH campus during the early fall of 2003, and will be followed by a meeting of health editors.  Similar symposia for journalists from other regions of the world, including Southeast Asia and the subcontinent, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Russia and the newly independent states (NIS) will be held at some time in the future.

Colloquium on Career Paths for Women in the Health Sciences:  A View from Low- and Middle-Income Countries

FIC, ORWH, and NIEHS are planning a Colloquium on Career Paths for Women in the Health Sciences, which will be held September 29-30.  The meeting is intended to gather scientists and key individuals from government and non-profit funding agencies (NIH, NSF, CIHR, EU Office on Women, Wellcome Trust, Howard Hughes), from the developed world, and from developing country organizations that support the careers of women health scientists in their respective regions to discuss the experiences, needs and priorities of women health scientists in the developing world.  The meeting will focus on identification of best practices and potential funding collaborations and programs that would benefit women scientists in low- and middle- income countries.

Gender and Global Health

FIC and the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) supported an International Symposium on “Global Impact on Women and Children,” held February 16-21, 2004 in Bangkok, Thailand.   The FIC Deputy Director worked with the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, ORWH and other partner agencies to organize major sessions and to solicit feedback from participants on gender and global health issues.  This feedback, combined with results from additional consultations that will be held in summer 2003 will inform FIC’s plans to enhance efforts to highlight gender issues in program activities.

REGIONAL ACTIVITIES 

Egypt
At a meeting of the U.S.-Egypt Joint Fund in April, participants reviewed 18 proposals for biomedical research projects submitted in response to the seventh annual call for applications to the Joint Fund.  The annual meeting of the Joint Board will take place May 20-22, at which time the Board will make funding decisions and set priorities for the upcoming year. 

Mexico
The Mexican Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) has announced its decision to partner with FIC on all FIC research training programs.  This new relationship, the details of which are still being finalized, will increase the number of Mexican scientists trained in U.S. laboratories in areas of global health import.  It is the first time that any country has signaled its intent to join FIC programs across the board.  This new partnership could serve as a model for the development of similar partnerships in capacity building with other countries in Latin America and around the world.

Grantsmanship Workshop for Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Scientists
FIC, in partnership with the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, NIMH, NCCAM, NICHD, NCI, NIEHS, CONACYT and the Mexican Institute of Public Health (INSP), is organizing a workshop at INSP in Cuernavaca to enhance grant writing skills. This workshop, to be held July 1-3, will enable participants from more than 15 LAC countries to learn how to compete more effectively for NIH funding.

Brazil
The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ) recently joined NIH as a partner in the Pan American Fellowship Program (PAF), which supports scientists from Latin America and the Caribbean for post-doctoral training at NIH, 50% of the funding from the foreign partner and 50% from NIH.  FIOCRUZ has agreed to provide support for five-ten Brazilian post-docs at NIH over the next five years.  Four new Pan American Fellows from Colombia, Argentina, Guatemala and Venezuela will start their post-doctoral training this fall in intramural laboratories at NIMH, NINDS and NIA.

Italy
DHHS Secretary Tommy Thompson and Dr. Girolamo Sirchi, the Italian Minister of Health, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between DHHS and the Italian Ministry of Health to facilitate increased cooperation in the areas of biodefense, oncology, and rare diseases.  The MOU notes that mechanisms for increasing cooperation in these areas can include exchanges of scientists, organization of meetings and scientific conferences, and coordinated scientific programs and research projects.  The MOU also allows for the future addition of other areas for cooperation, as may be identified by both parties.  FIC is working closely with the Office of the Secretary and NIH partners to identify appropriate initial activities under this agreement.

Spain
Secretary Thompson and Ms. Ana Pastor Julián, Spanish Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs, signed a joint statement April 24 agreeing to strengthen U.S.-Spain cooperation in public health and biomedical research.  The mechanisms of cooperation include exchange of information and scientists, organization of meetings and workshops, research projects using available resources, and potential inclusion of developing country scientists in joint efforts.

ACTIVITIES OF FIC STAFF MEMBERS

Dr. Gerald Keusch met with Ambassadors posted to Washington from African countries on January 14 to discuss the global AIDS pandemic, including research and training needs as well as current opportunities to support treatment and prevention.

Dr. Keusch participated in the International Food and Nutrition Forum, held at the National Academies of Science, January 29 in Washington.

Dr. Keusch, NIH Director Dr. Elias Zerhouni, Dr. Sharon Hrynkow and Ms. Minnie Rojo met on February 24 with Dr. Peter Gruss, President of the Max Planck Society of Germany to exchange ideas on strengthening the collaboration between the two institutions.  The meeting focused on linking the strengths of the Max Planck Institutes in physical sciences with NIH’s strengths in the life sciences. 

Dr. Keusch and Dr. Hrynkow participated on February 24 with the leadership of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) at the launch of a new CSIS-Howard Hughes initiative on biotechnology. 

Dr. Keusch made a presentation “Research Agencies Consortium for Global Health Research” at a meeting of the Heads of International Research Organizations (HIRO), March 3 at NIH.  His publication in Nature on this topic has been provided to the Advisory Board.

Dr. Keusch was the moderator of a panel on “Setting Priorities: Looking Beyond Bioterrorsm,” at the 12^th Annual Conference on Global Health Challenges in World Cities of the International Health Medical Education Consortium, held March 7 in New York.  Dr. Keusch also was a panel member for “Rethinking Health: Innovative Approaches and Partnerships.

Dr. Keusch participated as a panel member at the Duke Center for Genome, Ethics, Law, and Policy discussions on the Nuffield Council Report on the Ethics of DNA Patenting and the TB Alliance’s effort in drug/vaccine development.  The meeting took place March 19 in Raleigh Durham, North Carolina.

Dr. Keusch, Dr. Hrynkow, and Dr. Pierce Gardner met with Dr. Steven Schoenbaum of the Commonwealth Fund to discuss that organization’s  international activities and opportunities for collaborative activities, March 25 at NIH.

Dr. Keusch participated in a National Academy of Sciences Roundtable on Science and Sustainable Development, March 20-21 in Washington.  Dr. Keusch is a member ex officio of this Roundtable, which is working to chart a long-term science and technology agenda for the transition to sustainability.

Dr. Keusch, Dr. Hrynkow and Dr. Luis Salicrup met on March 28 with representatives of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research to discuss ongoing collaborative research and training programs and to explore synergies for expanded future FIC/CIHR cooperation.

Dr. Keusch presented a seminar April 1 on International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  He spoke on “Building International Research and Capacity Building Programs.” 

Dr. Keusch represented the NIH on the Committee of Interested Parties for the Center for Management of Intellectual Property in Health Research and Development April 7-8 in London, England.

Dr. Keusch and Dr. Salicrup met on April 17 with Dr. Mirta Roses, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to review current FIC/PAHO collaborations and discuss possible new areas for cooperation.

Dr. Keusch met with Dean Gerald Fishbach and other leaders to discuss global health initiatives at the Columbia University Department for Health and Biomedical Sciences, April 18 in New York.

Dr. Keusch attended the International Food and Nutrition Forum at the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C.  This forum provided the opportunity to discuss the World Health Report 2002: Reducing Risks, Promoting Health Lifestyles that was released by WHO in October, 2002.

Dr. Keusch, Dr. Luis Salicrup, Dr. Mark Miller and DCCP Secretariat Staff attended the Disease Control Priorities Project workshop entitled “Tropical Infectious Diseases” at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation April 28-May 1 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Dr. Keusch spoke about the burden, successes, economics, scientific questions and controversies at the session defining priorities in tropical infectious diseases.

Dr. Keusch gave a keynote address May 9 on Global Psychiatric Research at the Harvard Medical School’s 6^th Annual Conference on Health and Social Change in Asia, “Global Psychiatry:  Innovative Services, Research, and Policy.”

Dr. Keusch gave the commencement address at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, May 17 in New Orleans.  

Dr. Keusch, Dr. Hrynkow, Ms. Judy Levin and Dr. Rachel Nugent met with the Agriculture and Science Counselor of Israel May 5 at NIH to discuss NIH efforts in bioterrorism and other potential areas for joint collaboration.

Dr. Joel Breman served on panel addressing smallpox vaccination issues at the Greater Washington Infectious Diseases Society Annual Symposium, March 22 in Bethesda.

Dr. Breman gave an invited lecture entitled “Smallpox and bioterrorism:  clinical features and prevention” at the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology meeting, March 22 in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Breman chaired a meeting of the Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries Project (DCPP) editors meeting April 11 in Bethesda.   In addition, he co-organized the DCPP-initiated “Tropical Communicable Diseases Workshop” at the Foundation Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, and gave a talk entitled “Conquering malaria”.  This meeting brought together 16 DCPP chapter lead/coordinating authors focusing on tropical infectious diseases. 

Dr. Breman participated in a meeting of the USG Interagency Working Group on Bioterrorism Preparedness, subgroup on modeling smallpox spread April 25 in Bethesda.

Dr. Kenneth Bridbord and Ms. Natalie Tomitch participated in an international workshop hosted in Russia by St. Petersburg State University January 21-23.  The meeting, which focused on the establishment of a new school of public health at the university, brought together representatives of eight U.S. universities, all of which are FIC grantees, and universities and institutions from Western, Central and Eastern Europe.

Dr. Pierce Gardner represented FIC at a CDC meeting of the planning committee for the "4th International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases" to be held in Atlanta February 29-March 3, 2004.

Dr. Gardner attended the 12^th annual meeting of the International Health Medical Educators Consortium March 6-8 in New York City, where he gave a presentation on “Creating an International Health Workforce” at the plenary session and conducted two workshops on FIC training programs at New York University School of Medicine.

Dr. Gardner attended an NIAID– sponsored meeting on Medical Chemical Defense Research, held March 19 in Bethesda. 

Dr. Gardner presented a review of FIC programs and opportunities to the post-doctoral community at Rockefeller University, April 6 in New York City.

Dr. Gardner attended a Workshop on Expanding AIDS Treatment, Care and Prevention in Resource-Poor Settings: Moving from Models to Implementation, on April 13-18 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  The workshop was hosted by GHESKIO, Zanmi Lasante, Partners in Health, Harvard Medical School Division of AIDS, and Weill Medical College of Cornell University.  Participants also visited the rural treatment/care center in Cange, and Dr. Gardner made a site visit to the GHESKIO research/clinical facility which has been selected as a site for the FIC/Ellison Clinical Research Training Program.

Dr. Karen Hofman participated in a planning meeting for the Global Forum for Bioethics in Research (GFBR), February 24 in Paris.  The next Global Forum, on the topic of Intellectual Property Rights, will be hosted by INSERM and will take place at UNESCO headquarters in Spring 2004.

Dr. Sharon Hrynkow chaired a panel on “Health and Biotechnology” in a workshop on “S&T in Support of U.S. Policy in Central Asia,” hosted by the AAAS on February 6 in Washington, D.C.  The panel focused on major regional public health priorities, current infrastructure and activities, and future strategic directions for research collaboration with Central Asia.

Dr. Hrynkow participated in the search committee meeting February 7 in Washington to select the DHHS Health Attaché in India.  Dr. Altaf Lal, a CDC employee who had trained early in his career in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases at NIAID, was ultimately selected for this position.  Dr. Hrynkow also chaired the search committee for the Director of the NCCAM Office of International Research.

Dr. Hrynkow joined a consultation convened by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Center for Global Security Research on February 25 in Washington on “Excluding Foreigners: Are we Shooting Ourselves in the Foot?”

Dr. Hrynkow led FIC and NIH discussions in February and March with Drs. Miriam Stewart and Betsy McGregor of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in preparation for a conference on Global Health and Gender held in Bangkok and on development of a research agenda in gender and global health.

Dr. Hrynkow met on March 3 with Christine Chirol of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) to discuss the Global Forum on Bioethics Research that will be held in Paris in 2004.

Dr. Hrynkow chaired the regular meeting of Visiting Fellows from the Developing World on March 6.  Among the topics of discussion was establishment of an NIH Alumni Association in pilot countries as one means of overcoming Fellows’ isolation on returning to their countries. 

Dr. Hrynkow represented NIH in an interagency discussion with Surgeon General Richard Carmona and Dr. Bill Steiger on the topic of Post-war Iraq, March 19 in Washington, and has been asked by Dr. Zerhouni and Dr. Keusch to continue in this capacity for subsequent discussions.

Dr. Hrynkow and Dr. Pierce Gardner participated in a brainstorming session hosted by the Institute of Medicine on a proposal to establish a U.S. Global Health Service Corps, May 7 in Washington.

Dr. Hrynkow chaired on May 16 the U.S.-Israel Working Group to prepare for the U.S.-Israel Binational Symposium on Women’s Health.  The U.S. team, including representatives from the Office of the Secretary, ORWH, NIDCR, NHLBI, NICHD and FIC, met with counterparts from the Israeli Ministry of Health to finalize details on topics for the Symposium as well as logistics.

Dr. James Lavery gave a presentation on how to develop procedures for ethics review of collaborative research between Moi University and Indiana University at a meeting February 3-4 in Eldoret, Kenya.

Dr. Lavery met with the Tanzanian Country Team for the WHO Health Research Systems Initiative February 6-7 in Dar es Salaam to discuss implementation of activities related to health and bioethics that he and others developed for WHO. 

Dr. Jeanne McDermott  represented FIC at the International Pre-eclampsia Summit in Seattle Washington on April 4-6.  The Summit was organized by the Pre-eclampsia   Foundation and funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dr. Mark Miller participated in the  WHO Product Development Group for the development of an aerosol measles vaccine, Feb 19-20 in Geneva, Switzerland.Dr. Miller was a member of the working committee for the HHS Workshop on Summary Health Measures, March 26-28 in Alexandra, Virginia.

Dr. Miller gave a talk on “Disease Control, Elimination, Eradication, Extinction” at the Disease Control Priorities Project (DCPP) Tropical Infectious Diseases workshop April 28 - May 1 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Dr. Rachel Nugent participated in the annual meeting of the Global Development Network January 17-21 in Cairo, Egypt.  She organized a panel of presenters on “Health, Environment and Equity,” and coordinated the review process for research medal awards for developing country researchers.

Dr. Nugent presented a paper, “Agriculture and Food System Policies to support a Global Strategy on Nutrition,” at the PAHO Regional Consultation on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases, April 22-25 in Costa Rica. 

Dr. Nugent met with program officials of the Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC) April 30-May 2 in Ottawa to plan an external review of the IDRC’s program on Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health.  She will be one of two external reviewers of the interdisciplinary research program in developing countries.

Dr. Aron Primack met on March 27 with CIHR representatives Astrid Eberhart and Remi Quirion about mutual interests in Tobacco control programs.

Dr. Primack met on April 18 with the honorable Dr. Mrigendra Pandey, Member of the State Council of Nepal, to discuss FIC programs, including Tobacco Control.  Dr. Pandey was the Nepalese Representative to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Dr. Primack met with JSPS staff April 30 in Washington, DC to discuss the JSPS Program and FIC involvement in the program.

Dr. Joshua Rosenthal presented a paper on Prior Informed Consent and Negotiating Agreements with Indigenous Peoples: a tale of two ICBGs at a special conference on Biodiversity, Biotechnology and Traditional Knowledge, April 4-5 at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis Missouri.

Dr. Rosenthal presented a paper on International guidelines on access and benefit-sharing for genetic resources and associated indigenous knowledge in the development of herbal medicines at a conference on Medicinal Plants sponsored by the Association of Applied Biologists in London, England, on April 23.

Dr. Luis Salicrup gave a lecture, “Partnerships and Strategic Alliances for Biomedical Research,” and participated in a panel on international opportunities for biomedical research and training at a meeting of the Collaborative Psychiatric Genetics Research Network in Latin America, which was held in San Antonio, Texas, March 13-14.  The goal of this NIMH- organized meeting was to enhance research collaborations in psychiatric genetics research between U.S. researchers and scientists in Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Venezuela, and Chile. 

Dr. Salicrup represented FIC at the annual meeting of the U.S.-Mexico Science Foundation, held April 10 in Washington.  Participants identified new priorities, including cooperative research and capacity building activities related to infectious disease, environmental health and drug abuse.

Dr. Salicrup represented FIC at the second interagency meeting held at the State Department to continue planning for a summit between President Bush and President Lula, the newly elected President of Brazil, which will be held prior to the end of 2003.  In addition, on May 1 Dr. Salicrup met with the Vice-president and other senior officers of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) to discuss the possible establishment of an NIH Alumni Association in Brazil, under the auspices of ABC and in partnership with the NIH Alumni Association, and the Association of post-doctoral students from developing countries.  

Dr. Salicrup traveled to Argentina May 3-5 to meet with the president, and other senior officers of the Argentinean Council of Science and Technology regarding issues related to the NIH strategy for supporting the Argentinean biomedical research community during the current economic crisis.  This initiative will include the donation of equipment and reagents, short-term visits of senior Argentinean scientists to NIH, training of Argentinean Post-docs in various NIH intramural labs, and travel awards for Argentinean researchers to participate in specific FIC workshops.

Dr. Barbara Sina gave a presentation on the International Bioethics Training Program at the AITRP network meeting on February 22 in Washington, and at the 3^rd Annual Medical Research Summit March 7 in Washington.

Dr. Sina represented NIH at a meeting of the WHO/TDR Scientific Working Group on Malaria March 24-28 in Geneva, Switzerland.  The meeting focused on the WHO/TDR five-year planning process. 

Dr. Sina attended the first meeting of all the ICER Clinical Research Management Program partners, which was held in association with the NIAID annual international Centers of Tropical Disease Research Meeting on May 12.  

Ms. Natalie Tomitch participated in an interagency meeting convened by the State Department to discuss the future of S&T cooperation with Croatia and Hungary following the closure of the respective S&T joint funds.  

Ms. Tomitch met with representatives of the Russian Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology January 28 in Moscow to discuss approaches to expanding research collaboration in follow-up to a bilateral S&T meeting that was held in December, 2002.

Ms. Tomitch joined NCI staff in a State Department briefing on NCI collaboration with Belarus on Chernobyl-related health effects and the possible implications for the projects of a reorganization of the research institute structure in Belarus.

Ms. Tomitch gave a presentation on current nutrition-related priorities, needs and opportunities, and NIH-supported nutrition research in the NIS and Central and Eastern Europe at the March 25 meeting of the trans-NIH Sub-committee on International Nutrition Research.

Ms. Tomitch provided an overview of FIC’s international research and training opportunities at NIDA’a annual Grant Process Session for Hubert H. Humphrey and INVEST Fellows.

Ms. Tomitch participated in a conference and roundtable discussion, April 22 in Seattle on “U.S.-Russian Biotechnology Cooperation: Partnerships for a Global Economy.”  The conference was sponsored by the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) and the Seattle-based Foundation for Russian American Economic Cooperation.

Return to Minutes of the May 20, 2003 Advisory Board Meeting