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Thursday, May 29, 2003


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Charles C.J. Carpenter, M.D. Receives John E. Fogarty Recognition Award For International Health

Bethesda, Maryland — Charles C.J. Carpenter, M.D., Professor of Medicine and formerly Physician-in-Chief at Brown University's Miriam Hospital, is the recipient of a special John E. Fogarty Recognition Award for his career in research to address the major disease problems of developing countries and his involvement in training scores of researchers in international health.

Given in conjunction with the commemoration of the 35th Anniversary of the John E. Fogarty International Center (FIC) at NIH, the award honors the late John Fogarty, who represented his Rhode Island District in the U.S. House of Representatives for 26 years, and whose vision of scientific collaboration and training in the United States extended to international research on the diseases that disproportionately impact populations in developing countries.

In 1962, Carpenter started the Johns Hopkins Cholera Research program in Calcutta, India, where he demonstrated the value of antibiotics and defined the fluid requirements essential for the treatment of cholera, including the potential for oral rehydration therapy. "The friendly competition between Chuck Carpenter's group in Calcutta and a group in Dhaka, Bangladesh that was working concurrently on the same strategy spurred clinical trials and the rapid application of the methodology, one of the most cost-effective life- saving strategies to be developed in modern times," says FIC Director Gerald T. Keusch, M.D. "The advances made in developing countries on oral rehydration therapy were quickly adapted around the world, benefiting rich and poor alike," he added.

The award recognizes Carpenter's lifelong achievements in global health. At Johns Hopkins he built an infectious disease program focused on enteric pathogens; during his tenure at Case Western Reserve Medical School he developed the first Division of Geographic Medicine within a Department of Medicine in the United States, a model for many U.S. academic institutions. Since moving to Brown University in 1986, he has focused on the global AIDS epidemic. He has directed the Brown University International Health Institute since 1995, and has worked with colleagues in the Philippines and India to prevent the spread of HIV in those nations. He is the director of The Lifespan/Tufts/Brown Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), a joint research effort between Tufts and Brown Universities and their affiliated hospitals and centers, which is based at The Miriam Hospital. The CFAR, one of only 19 in the United States, is part of a national program begun by NIH in 1988. He currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee of a Fogarty AIDS International Research and Training program that is based at Brown University.

Dr. Carpenter has also worked persistently to engage other developed nations in the fight against disease in poor nations. For his contributions to the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program, he received the Order of the Sacred Treasure from the Emperor of Japan in 1998. He has participated on numerous WHO Expert Advisory Committees on Infectious Diseases, and has been a consultant during cholera outbreaks in Africa and Latin America. He was a member of the founding Board of Directors of the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research in Dacca, Bangladesh.

Dr. Keusch emphasized that, "For more than 40 years, Dr. Carpenter has been a leader and a promoter of research to address major international health problems. In addition to his contributions as a scientist, his integrity, high ideals, steady hand, superb analytic skills and warm demeanor have made him a wise counselor to countless students, colleagues, and policy makers throughout his career." The award to Charles C.J. Carpenter of the John E. Fogarty Recognition Award for International Health does honor to two great men of Rhode Island."

FIC is the international component of the NIH. It promotes and supports scientific discovery internationally and mobilizes resources to reduce disparities in global health. FIC is commemorating its 35th anniversary with a year- long lecture series on global health issues and a scientific symposium on May 20-21, 2003. NIH is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Press releases and other FIC-related materials are available at www.fic.nih.gov.


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