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February 07, 2006 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

Minutes of the Advisory Board
Forty-seventh Meeting

 

Table of Contents

1. DHHS, NIH, and FIC Personnel Announcements
2. FIC Budget
3. FIC Programs and Initiatives
4. Regional Activities
5. Activities of FIC Staff Members

I. DHHS, NIH, and FIC Personnel Announcements

Appointment at NLM

Mr. Alan S. Graeff, NIH CIO and Director, Center for Information Technology (CIT) accepted a position in the National Library of Medicine’s National Center for Biotechnology Information after almost 8 years of service in that position. Mr. Graeff began his NIH career as a biologist and in his new position, he will be able to focus his full attention on the future of research informatics in a role that draws on the life science aspect of his training and experience as well as his IT and management expertise.

Deputy Directors at NIAID Announced

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, recently announced the appointment of five individuals to senior management positions.

Hugh Auchincloss, Jr. M.D., has been named Principal Deputy Director of NIAID. He will serve as second in command to NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. and will have broad responsibilities for carrying out the institute’s many programs. Prior to his appointment at NIAID, Dr. Auchincloss was Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School where he earned an international reputation in the field of organ transplantation. For more than 17 years, he operated a laboratory in transplantation immunology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston with multiple research interests, including the mechanisms and control of tissue graft rejection, the mechanisms of transplantation tolerance induction, the use of pancreas and islet transplantation for the treatment of diabetes, and the prevention of recurrent autoimmunity.

H. Clifford Lane, M.D., has been named NIAID Deputy Director for Clinical Research and Special Projects. Dr. Lane will continue to serve as the NIAID Clinical Director and Director of the newly established Division of Clinical Research. In his new position, Dr. Lane will also function as NIAID’s liaison with the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.

John J. McGowan, Ph.D., has been appointed Director of the Institute’s Division of Intramural Research (DIR)—a position that she has performed in an acting capacity since June 2005. Dr. Zoon previously was Deputy Director for Planning and Development at DIR and prior to that, she served as the Principal Deputy Director of the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute. In addition to serving as associate editor of the Journal of Interferon Research, Dr. Zoon also serves on the board of directors of the International Association for Biologicals. The recipient of numerous awards, Dr. Zoon was named to the Institute of Medicine in 2002.

Kathryn Zoon, Ph.D., has been named the first Director of NIH's newly authorized Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The Center will conduct and support research, training, dissemination of information, and other programs about minority health conditions. Dr. Ruffin served as Director of the Center's predecessor, the NIH Office for Research on Minority Health, from the time of its creation in 1990.

Mr. Gregory K. Folkers, has been appointed Chief of Staff to Dr, Fauci, leading the newly created Immediate Office of the Director. Mr. Folkers came to NIAID in 1991 after being employed in various writing and communications positions in the Boston area. After working as a science writer and editor in the NIAID Office of Communications, he has for the past decade worked directly with Dr. Fauci as a special assistant and senior public affairs advisor. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Mr. Folkers holds a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University and a master’s degree in science journalism form Boston University.

Fogarty International Center

Fogarty International Center Advisory Board: Fogarty welcomes Ting-Kai Li, M.D., director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, as an ex officio member of the FIC Advisory Board. Dr. Li has been the Director of NIAAA since November 2002. He is a recognized leader in the field of alcoholism and addiction research, with particular interest and expertise in the genetic underpinnings of alcohol consumption behavior.

FIC Acting Direcdtor Honored:Dr. Sharon Hrynkow received the Norwegian King’s Order of Merit Award at a ceremony hosted by the Norwegian Ambassador Knut Vollebaek in October 2005. Dr. Hrynkow was cited for her work in forging ties between the U.S. and Norwegian medical research communities.

II. FIC Budget

Fiscal Year 2006

The President signed the FY 2006 Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-149) on December 30, 2005. The President also signed the Defense Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-148) on December 30, which included a 1 percent across-the-board reduction for all non-emergency discretionary programs. The following chart summarizes the budget for FIC:

• FY 2005 Funding Level: $66,632,000

• FY 2006 - President's Budget: $67,048,000

• FY 2006 - House Action: $67,048,000

• FY 2006 - Senate Action: $67,600,000

• Appropriations Bill (Prior to across-the-board reduction): $67,048,000

• Appropriations Bill (After across-the-board reduction): $66,378,000

• Percent Decrease over FY 2005: $-.04%

Across NIH

Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives (OPASI) Launched

OPASI, the new office within the NIH Office of the Director that will provide support for Roadmap-like activities, has four mission areas: 1) improving scientific portfolio management at the individual IC and NIH levels; 2) identifying important areas of emerging scientific opportunities and rising public health challenges; 3) accelerating investments in areas of emerging opportunities that involve multiple ICs; and 4) coordinating and making effective use of the NIH-wide evaluation process. OPASI has three branches: the Division of Resource Development and Analysis (will develop tools like knowledge management and public health need/burden of illness metrics), the Division of Strategic Coordination (will coordinate NIH-wide planning, provide an “incubator space” for trans-NIH initiatives, and facilitate the exploitation of emerging scientific opportunities) and the Division of Evaluation and Systematic Assessments (will plan, conduct, coordinate and support program evaluations for ICs, trans-NIH initiatives, GPRA, PART). OPASI’s operating budget, a common fund consisting of a percentage of each IC’s budget, is expected to grow to 1.7 percent of the NIH budget by 2008. The baseline for the Common Fund, which is 1.1 percent of NIH’s total budget in fiscal year 2006, was determined by current Roadmap funds.

OPASI will identify new investment opportunities based on input from individual scientists, stakeholders and organizations outside NIH; burden of illness data; a Roadmap-like pool of applications, and considerable input from IC directors and Office of the Director components such as women’s health, behavioral science and AIDS research. Projects that pass muster with OPASI’s Council of Councils (representatives from all IC advisory boards) will then be funded for an initial 5-year term, with annual review. Progress on initiatives will be evaluated after 5 years; and if necessary, projects can be granted an additional 5 years of funding. No initiative will be funded for more than 10 years.

Lawton Chiles International Lecture on Maternal and Child Health in the Americas

The annual Lawton Chiles Lecture was held on October 7 at the Stone House and featured Dr. Jose Ignacio Santos, Director General of the Children’s Hospital Federico Gomez, as guest speaker. FIC, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies at the University of South Florida, team up each year to support this lecture series. Dr. Santos spoke on “Defining Mexico’s Priorities in Pediatric Research, Education and Training.” Dr. Santos, formerly a FIC Senior Scholar in International Health at the NIH (1985 to 1987), has trained more than 60 fellows from Mexico and 10 other Latin American countries.

Barmes Global Health Lecture

Dr. Rita R. Colwell, the 11th Director of the National Science Foundation from 1998 to 2004 and current Distinguished Professor at the University of Maryland College Park and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, gave the annual David E. Barmes Global Health Lecture at the NIH on November 15. She discussed “Global Climate, Environmental Pathogens, and Human Health: A New Paradigm.” FIC and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research jointly sponsor this lectureship in memory of Dr. David Barmes, long-standing international health expert and advocate.

Looking Back and Looking Forward:

FIC teamed up with the National Library of Medicine to host a two-day event In November on the history of global health. Among the many speakers was Dr. Salim Abdul Karim, a long-standing Fogarty grantee in AIDS training from South Africa, and several other Fogarty grantees or trainees. Among the outcomes was the recommendation to consider success stories in-depth as a means of learning from the past, as we move into the future.

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III. FIC Programs and Initiatives

FIC convened a range of programmatic consultations to deepen understanding of key global health issues and to develop or strengthen new partnerships. These include:

An Emphasis on Suicide Prevention.

FIC and NIMH led the development and conduct of five symposia at the XXIII International Association for Suicide Prevention Congress, held in Durban, South Africa from September 8-18, 2005. Topics for consultation were: Evidence-based Practices in Suicide Prevention: A USA Perspective; Internal Mental Health and Suicide Training and Research Opportunities at the US National Institutes of Health; Ethics and Design Issues in Evaluation Suicide Prevention Programs; Substance Use and Suicide Risk in Adolescents: Cross-Cultural Developmental Perspectives; and Suicide Prevention in the Arctic. A cadre of international scientists from the Alaska Injury Prevention Center, Anchorage; Northern State Medical University, Arkhangelsk, Russia; the Suicide Prevention Centre of North Norway; University of British Columbia, Canada; University of Alaska, Anchorage; the University of KwaZulu-Natal; the Suicide Prevention Center in Newton, Massachusetts; and the University of Rochester Medical Center participated in the symposia. Dr. Karen Hofman, Director of FIC’s Division of Advanced Study and Policy Analysis, discussed international, collaborative research and training opportunities in mental health and Dr. Karen Babich, Director of NIMH’s Office of Global Mental Health, discussed mental health-related research opportunities. Dr. Eric Caine of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center and a FIC grantee, discussed his work in suicide prevention research and training in China.

A 3-day International Consultation on “Inhalant Abuse among Children and Adolescents: Building an International Research Agenda.” FIC teamed up with NIDA to develop and conduct this consultation, attended by more than 70 experts from across NIH, and other DHHS agencies, and US and foreign academics. The event took place at the Neuroscience Center in Rockville November 7-9, 2005. For more information contact Dr. Kathleen Michels, Fogarty Program Director for Neuroscience, 301-496-1653.

Networking the Geneticists. Fogarty convened the leaders of its International Genetics Collaborative Research Training Program Network Meeting on December 5 at the Stone House. The purpose of the network meeting was to share information and experience across the programs and to identify and address common issues and concerns. Six of the programs from the United States and abroad were represented, along with FIC’s co-funding partners, NHGRI and NINDS. For more information contact Dr. Flora Katz, Fogarty Program Officer for the Genetics Program, 301-496-1653.

Fogarty convened the 4th Network Meeting of the Ecology of Infectious Diseases Program, a joint Fogarty-NIAID-NIEHS-NSF program that develops new knowledge to predict and prevent the emergence of infectious diseases. This network meeting, held in conjunction with the Annual meeting of the Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in December 2005, brought together over 100 scientists and graduate students from the US and abroad to consider program progress and potential areas for strengthened activity. For more information, contact Dr. Josh Rosenthal, Deputy Director of Fogarty’s Division of International Training and Research and the EID Program Director, 301-496-1653.

Grant-writing to build scientific capacity. Dr. Chris Schonwalder, DITR Program Officer for Environmental and Occupational Health, led two workshops on grant writing and on training future environmental scientists, one at the meeting of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology and a second at the Global Health, Women and Children conference held in Bangladesh February 2006.

Symposium: Research Initiatives and Activities in Panama. FIC and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute co-hosted a symposium “Biomedical Research Initiatives and Opportunities in Panama,” on October 27, 2005. Symposium participants included Dr. Julio Escobar, National Secretary of Science, Technology and Innovation, SENACYT who presented “The legacy of Panama’s commitment to biomedical research and development and its roadmap for the future; and Dr. Todd Capson, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, presented “The Panama ICBG: a cooperative model for linking drug discovery for tropical disease and cancer, building scientific capacity and biodiversity conservation.” Representatives from the US Department of State, National Science Foundation, Embassy of Panama, and FIC staff attended the event.

Leadership Training and Mentoring for Women Scientists: Status report. In October 2003, Fogarty and partners NIEHS and the Office of Research on Women’s Health convened an international consultation to explore challenges facing women scientists in the developing world. Among the recommendations for action were to explore using the Internet in real time as a mentoring tool; to gather more data on the status of women in science in poor countries; and to include leadership training form women scientists as part of ongoing lab-based training programs. In June 2005, FIC conducted a pilot leadership training course for women who had received the FIC Global Health Research Initiative Training (GRIP) award. The enthusiastic response from that pilot has now led to the development of a broader program to train women involved in any of the existing Fogarty training programs. FIC grantees from the UCSF met with FIC on January 26 to consider the details of the training to be launched in 2006. Also on January 26, Dr. Gloria Bonder, UNESCO Regional Chair Women, Science and Technology in Latin America, reported on the progress of the Virtual Program for Career Development and Capacity Building for Latin American and Caribbean Junior Women Scientists, a pilot program sponsored by FIC in partnership with FLACSO-UNESCO Chair Women, Science and Technology in Latin America. This program will utilize Elluminate software to provide real-time Internet based mentoring for junior women scientist at the beginning of their independent scientific careers. As a result of communications with UNESCO on the Internet mentoring project, UNESCO will conduct a survey on the status of women in science in Latin America. For more information contact Dr. Karen Hofman, Director of Fogarty’s Division of Advanced Study and Policy Analysis 301-496-1491 or Dr. Ana Chepelinsky, Program Director for Latin America 301-496-4784.

Fogarty-Ellison Program: On September 26, FIC Acting Director Hrynkow and AAMC Vice President David Korn convened a panel of experts to consider strategies to engage U.S. medical residents in international clinical research. Recognizing the talent and the enthusiasm of U.S. medical students for foreign training experiences (e.g. through the FIC-Ellison program), this consultation considered existing mechanisms to continue to support residents following their Fogarty-training experience. For more information, contact Dr. Aron Primack, FIC-Ellison Program Director, 301-496-1653.

Web-Conferencing

DITR program officers Drs. Aron Primack and Flora Katz, presented a seminar in a week long workshop “Introduction to NIH Grants Writing” in Peru, offered through the Peru Informatics Training for Global Health (ITGH) award. The grants writing seminar was delivered via Elluminate web-conferencing, which provides PowerPoint, whiteboard, and voice-over IP through any computer. Faculty and students from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia and universities within the region participated. The FIC session was recorded and preserved on a server at the University of Iowa so that the seminar can be reviewed by participants or others in the community at their convenience.

Disease Control Priorities Project (DCPP)

A third grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was awarded to the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), Washington, D.C. for the purpose of communicating the DCPP findings to decision makers globally. Over the past several months the three major DCPP products—Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, 73 chapters, about 1400 pages, Oxford University Press/World Bank Publishers; Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors, 7 chapters, extensive tables about 500 pages, Oxford University Press/World Bank Publishers; and Priorities in Health, summary of DCPDC, about 200 pages, World Bank Publishers—received final preparation to be published in February-March 2006. The DCPP concept and activities were presented to the NIH Director and IC Directors on December 8, 2005 and the response was exceedingly positive. Follow-up exchanges have occurred with several IC Directors. DCPP will be launched in Beijing, China in conjunction with the April 2-6, 2006 meeting of the Inter-Academy Medical panel (IAMP) which serves, in part, as the Advisory Committee to the Editors of DCPP.

International Emergency Preparedness & Response Research and Training in Iraq

As a result of a supplemental funds to an ongoing Fogarty grant to the University of Maryland, health experts and researchers from Northern Iraq received emergency preparedness training. This is the first step in addressing a critical needs area in Iraq as identified to Fogarty by the minister of Health of the Kurdish Regional Government, Dr. Jamal Palani, and it expands Fogarty’s existing program at U. Maryland on International Collaborative Trauma and Injury Training. This pilot training project aims at training Iraqi emergency medical and public health professionals in emergency preparedness and response. The training project was conducted in Amman, Jordan over six days in October 2005 and included presentations on incident command, emergency decision making, and weapons of mass destruction. Dr. Jon Mark Hirshon, Associate Director of the Charles McC.. Mathias, Jr. National Study Center for Trauma and EMS, University of Maryland School of Medicine led the training. He presented his perspectives on the effort at a seminar at the Fogarty on November 17, 2005. For more information contact Dr. Aron Primack, Program Officer for Trauma and Injury, 301-496-1653.

Strenthening the Science and Diplomacy Linkage:

With full support of the NIH Director, FIC initiated NIH participation in the State Department’s Embassy Science Fellows Program (ESFP). The ESFP places Federal scientists and program officials at U.S. embassies for one to three months to provide expertise, advice and assistance with country-specific issues relating to the environment, science and technology, and health while providing invaluable insights to the Fellow on health/science diplomacy on-the-ground. Embassies and NIH co-fund the arrangement. In the first round of appointments, the U.S. Embassy in Laos matched with a NIAID staff member who will provide expertise in the area of infectious diseases, including avian flu, and who will begin the tour in the summer of 2006. Other NIH applicants are currently being considered for the U.S. Embassies in Brazil (medical research regulation) and Indonesia (infectious diseases). For more information contact Ms. Tina Chung, Program Officer for Asia and ESFP Coordinator, 301-496-4784.

Continuing a long tradition, on September 16, FIC’s Hrynkow presented to State Department Science Officers on NIH International Programs and Global Health. Such presentations help build capacity and insight of State’s science cadre posted to U.S. embassies.

Keeping Collaboration with NIH Strong after Returning Home: FIC-Sponsored NIH Alumni Associations Abroad

FIC and its partner, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, have sponsored a total of 9 NIH Alumni Associations abroad. These Associations aim to provide a supportive environment to NIH-trained investigators on return home, allowing sharing of information, expertise and experience, while providing Fogarty with an important link to NIH-trained researchers in key countries. Six Associations were launched in FY 2004—Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand; and three in FY 2005—Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Malawi. Five nodes (i.e., Brazil, China, India, Thailand and Malawi) have either launched a website (www.nihaabr.org) or have websites under development. Two alumni association nodes are planning semi-annual newsletters (China and Thailand) and two are planning for meetings in 2006 (India and Mexico). Malawi expects to launch full recruitment efforts in mid-February. Brazil and India have made contact with a number of former NIH visiting fellows in these respective countries and associated regions—Brazil has contacted over 100—and are planning the development of a national database.

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IV. Regional Activities

Fostering Scientific Relationships with China

FIC’s Acting Director Dr. Sharon Hrynkow joined the NIH Director for a series of site visits in Shanghai at institutions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on December 17-18, 2005. CAS hosted the visit of major research funding agencies around the world to showcase laboratories and personnel involved in cutting edge research. In subsequent meetings in Beijing, the NIH Director signed an Amendment to the NIH-CAS Agreement to expand areas of cooperation in the behavioral sciences, in training programs for the generation of researchers, and to encourage cross-agency cooperation in the life sciences on both sides. FIC serves as the focal point for action under the agreement. Additional meetings with the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation provided new areas of potential cooperation. For more information, contact Ms. Tina Chung, Program Officer for Asia, 301-496-4784.

Building and Expanding Ties in North Africa

The director of NIH, Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, led a NIH delegation that met with senior government officials and biomedical researchers in Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco from January 17 to 25, 2006. The purpose of the trip was to discuss potential areas of mutual collaboration in the biomedical sciences in response to long-standing requests by Ministers of Health and Science and Technology in each of these Magreb countries to the NIH Director’s Office. The NIH delegation consisted of Dr. Sharon Hrynkow, Acting Director, FIC, Dr. Karl Western, NIAID, Dr. Danuta Krotoski and Dr. R. Rodney Howell, NICHD, Ms. Julia Royall, NLM and Ms. Judy Levin, Program Officer for the Middle East and North Africa, DIR/FIC. In addition to participating in the signing of an umbrella U.S.-Algeria S&T Agreement, the delegation visited health care facilities and academic research laboratories. They met with scientists and clinicians interested in all areas of health-related research, with an emphasis on infectious diseases and newborn health. In Morocco, Dr. Zerhouni signed a Letter of Intent with the Director of the National Institute of Hygiene in Rabat (INH), signaling the intention of the INH and the NIH to continue efforts to encourage and facilitate collaborative research between U.S. and Moroccan scientists. The visit highlighted the strong research base present in North Africa and led to the identification of several immediate areas intended to strengthen collaborations, including an NICHD-supported regional conference on newborn screening, to be held in Rabat in September 2006; NIAID sponsorship of regional HIV/AIDS conference participants from the Maghreb; development of NLM training plans for North African librarians; and FIC support for capacity building, including training in the development of IRBs, and support for women scientists to attend a major Department of State-sponsored regional workshop on Women in Science. For more information, contact Ms. Levin at 301-496-4784.

Convening Internationalists across NIH

In its role as chief coordinator of NIH international efforts, FIC convened meetings of the NIH International Representatives in September and November 2005 and in January 2006.

September 2005. Dr. Hrynkow reported on upcoming travel to China and the Republic of Korea in October. Dr. Hrynkow also noted that she would be traveling to Vancouver, Canada later in September to work with Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts on issues of mutual interests related to indigenous people’s health research priorities, particularly in light of the U.S.-Canada agreement signed on this issue in September 2004. Dr. Herrington made brief remarks on the preparations for the September 28-29 U.S. Russia Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) that he would attend together with FIC/DIR’s Natalie Tomitch. The JCM is held under the auspices of the U.S. Russia Science and Technology Agreement. Meetings are held on an annual basis to take stock of initiatives taken under the terms of the agreement as well as to identify and discuss potential new areas of cooperation. Dr. Herrington requested that the IC Representatives provide whatever information they deemed appropriate pertaining to their research investments and other areas of cooperation with Russian scientists.

November 2005. Mr. Robert Peterson, Office of Strategic Communication, Department of State provided an overview of the Interagency Strategic Communication Fusion Team. Founded in February 2003, the agencies represented on the Fusion Team include the Department of Defense (DoD) (whose contingent is the largest), Treasury, the Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Homeland Security, USAID and the FBI. The mission focus is public diplomacy. One of the Fusion Team success stories is the rapid, well coordinated effort in getting the message out about America’s massive contribution in the aftermath of the tsunami in December 2004. Supporting photo, video and print resources produced by a number of agencies were brought together speedily and distributed over websites and to embassy public diplomacy sections. They, in turn, disseminated material to local media driving home that message in a unified manner. Electronic journals containing US information articles in the major world languages as well as vetting all DoD Military Information Support Team (previously Psyops) proposals with Ambassadors are Fusion Team efforts.

January 2006. Dr. Dean Jamison, FIC, provided an overview of the recently concluded Disease Control Priorities Project, its outcomes and next steps in its dissemination worldwide. Dr. Michael St. Louis provided an overview of CDC’s renewed efforts to include global health as one of its six strategic imperatives. The Coordinating Office of Global Health, directed by Dr. Steve Blount, will lead and coordinate CDC’s global programs to promote health and prevent disease in the U.S. and abroad, including ensuring rapid detection and response to emerging health threats. CDC is in the process of renewing partnerships and initiating new partnerships with a range of principal organizations in the global health field, including the NIH. Several mechanisms for collaborating with NIH were suggested and these included research interagency agreements, coordinated administrative support (i.e., shared support for offices and administrative services overseas, coordinated function of geographic offices, etc.) and other mechanisms such as synergy in training programs and cooperation in NIH clinical trials through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

Developing Input for the World Health Organization

FIC, working with every Institute and Center of the NIH, developed NIH input on the fifteen issues considered at the World Health Organization’s Executive Board meeting held in January 2006. A wide range of issues were reviewed, including pandemic influenza, nutrition and HIV/AIDS, and childhood health. DHHS, working closely with the State Department, developed the final position papers on behalf of the U.S. government. Contact: George Herrfurth, FIC Multilateral Affairs Officer, 301-496-4784.

Indigenous People's Health and Research

FIC’s Acting Director Hrynkow traveled to Vancouver at the invitation of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to consider development of a global indigenous peoples’ research initiative. Recognizing that leveraging of funds between the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia and other nations would benefit all, the discussions focused on the advantages of a multilateral initiative on this topic. Following the government-to-government discussions, Dr. Hrynkow participated in the Indigenous Peoples’ Knowledge and Development Conference in order to meet with indigenous groups and care providers in a conference setting. Subsequently, Dr. Hrynkow traveled to Alaska to provide keynote remarks at the Alaska Public Health Association annual meeting, and to meet with local researchers and health care providers, including at the SouthCentral Foundation. For more information, contact Dr. Ann Davis, Fogarty’s Arctic Coordinator 301-496-4784.

South of the Border: FIC’s Acting Director Hrynkow and Dr. Ana Chepelinsky, Program Director for Latin America, met with the head of international relations for the NSF-equivalent of Mexico (CONACYT), Dr. Efram Aceves, and Mr. Juan Carols Rodela of the Mexican embassy to discuss strengthening of ties between NIH, CONACYT and the Mexican NIH (INSalud). For more information contact Dr. Chepelinsky, 301-496-4784.

Mr. Tetuhisa Shirakawa, Japanese Deputy Minister, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Technology met with NIH Director Zerhouni and FIC Acting Director Hrynkow to discuss the Fogarty-led training program for Japanese health science administrators in 2005. Due to the success of this program, Minister Shirakawa requested a second program, and Fogarty has now scheduled this for March 2006. In addition to Japanese administrators, counterparts from Hungary, Slovakia, and Korea will be included.

Germany: FIC Acting Director Hrynkow and Dr. Ann Davis, FIC Program Officer for Europe, met with Dr. Ernst Ludwig Winnacker, President of the German Research Foundation in November 2005 to discuss the potential for sending more U.S. post-docs to Germany. Dr. Gudrun Maass, Deputy Head of the Americas Division, Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), met with Dr. James Herrington, Director of FIC’s Division of International Relations and Dr. Davis in December 2005 to discuss research funding related issues. In January 2006, Dr. Hrynkow joined the NIH Director in a meeting with the German Minister of Health Ulla Schmidt to discuss NIH programs and priorities. FIC also arranged for other experts, including technology transfer experts, to meet with the Minister and her team. For more information, contact Dr. Davis at 301-496-4784.

Combatting brain drain: FIC worked with counterparts in the Office of Intramural Research to develop and sign two Letter of Intent aimed at bridging the NIH Visiting Program with re-entry programs abroad. Specifically, NIH signed an agreement with the Government of Flanders Minister of Science and Innovation in October 2005 and with the Director-General of France’s NIH-equivalent, INSERM, also in October 2005. Both signings took place at the Stone House.

FIC met with Dr. Paul Spray, Head of Central Research Department for International Development-United Kingdom in September 2005 to discuss UK/FIC collaborations.

Representing NIH and FIC: Dr. James Herrington, Director, Division of International Relations, has represented FIC in several major intergovernmental S & T meetings hosted by the State Department. Specifically, Dr. Herrington traveled to Moscow and Hanoi to represent NIH interests at Joint Commission Meetings hosted bi-annually with Russia and Vietnam, respectively. He represented FIC additionally at the preparatory meeting for the US-China Joint Commission meeting which will be hosted by the US later this year. Each of these bi-lateral missions concluded with expressions of mutual interest in and continued satisfaction with the robust collaboration between U.S. and counterpart scientists in biomedical and behavioral research activities and specifically in the areas of research on infectious disease research, including HIV/AIDS; neuroscience; women's health; environmental impact on health and nanotechnology, among others.

A Visit from the Royals

Fogarty’s Acting Director Hrynkow joined NIAMS Director Katz, Surgeon General Carmona, and NIH Director Zerhouni in welcoming the Duchess of Windsor, Camilla Parker Bowles, and Prince Charles to the NIH Campus and the Clinical Center. The Duchess leads the U.K. NGO effort on osteoporosis, and the visit provided an opportunity for the couple to meet scientific experts, patients and patient advocates from the United States as part of their first official visit to this country.

FIC met with Professor Andrzei Legocki, President of the Polish Academy of Sciences to discuss NIH, FIC funding and collaboration and a potential Letter of Intent, October 2005.

Upcoming Events of Interest to the Board

Presentation: “Millions Saved”, February 14 from 3 to 4 p.m. Speaker: Ruth Levine, Author of Millions Saved: Proven Successes in Global Health and Director of Programs and Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development. Discussion Moderator: Dean Jamison; Contact: Hannah Leslie.

Presentation: Multi-scale Spatial Models of Influenza Spread, February 22 at 2:00 p.m. FIC Conference Room. Speaker: Dr. John Brownstein, Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston. Contact: Ms. Cherice Holloway, hollowac@mail.nih.gov.

International Women’s Day, March 8. Fogarty will mark this day by convening a seminar featuring leading foreign women scientists working at NIH. Theme: Women in Science, Women in Health. March 8, 3 pm to 5 pm, Stone House. Contact: Ms. Hannah Leslie.

V. Activities of FIC Staff Members

Dr. Ana Chepelinsky, DIR, Program Officer for the Americas and the Caribbean
Represented FIC/NIH and gave a presentation at the First Workshop on Gender Perspectives in Science and Technology: A Change of paradigm, organized by the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research, CONICYT, Santiago, Chile September 22, 2005. Presented “From Brain Drain to Brain Gain: NIH programs in Latin America and the Caribbean” at the Sixth Annual NIH Hispanic Scientist Day, October 12, 2005. Provided overview of NIH-FIC International Programs in Latin America to Pew Fellows Alumni at the 15th Anniversary Alumni meeting for the Latin American Pew Fellows in the Biomedical Sciences, Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 1-2, 2005. Represented FIC/NIH at the 39th Advisory Committee on Health Research Meeting of the Pan American Health Organization, Santiago, Chile, November 7-9, 2005. Presented “The fascinating world of the biomedical sciences: opportunities at NIH” at the 2005 International Symposium and Career Fair, organized by the Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists, San Jose California, November 4, 2005. The purpose: to encourage Mexican and Mexican-American College students to pursue careers in the biomedical sciences.

Dr. Ann Davis, DIR, Program Officer for the European Union
Represented DHHS and NIH at the U.S.-Italy Science and Technology Joint Commission Meeting, Rome, Italy, September 2005. Was an observer for a January 2006 DHHS/NIH teleconference during which Deputy Secretary Azar, the director of NIH, and officials in Ireland discussed funding, collaboration building and workshops within the context of the Ireland Research and Development Partnership.

Dr. Jean Flagg-Newton, Special Assistant, Office of the Director
Will represent FIC on the Roadmap initiative on team research—multiple principle investigators on research projects: The focus: evaluation for the initiative. NIH is developing policies and the supporting technology for launching a team research initiative which permits the listing of multiple PIs on applications. The requests for applications (RFAs) and program announcements (PAs) that will launch this initiative are expected to be available by mid year; the first awards are planned for early fiscal year 2007.

Dr. Jeanne McDermott, DITR Program Officer
Attended the 36th World Conference on Lung Health in Paris, France, 18-22 October, 2005. Participated in the review of the annual country operational plans for PEPFAR as a member of the Human Capacity Work Stream, October 27, 2005. Served on the external review panel for applications to the International AIDS Education and Training Center for the Health Resources Services Agency (HRSA), January 9, 2006.

Dr. Joshua Rosenthal, Deputy Director, DITR
Chaired session, “Contracts and Benefit-sharing in the Use of Genetic Resources”, at the Third International Roundtable on Compliance with Access and Benefit-sharing, sponsored by the United Nations University and the French Institute for International Development and International Relations in Paris, November 2005. Co-chaired and spoke at a symposium, “Ecological Approaches to Controlling Infectious Diseases”, Annual Meeting of the Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, December 2005. Participated in the annual meeting of the Scientific, Advisory Committee to the Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center (MR4) in Washington, D.C., December 8, 2005.

Dr. Christopher Schonwalder, DITR Program Officer and NIEHS International Representative
Provided overview of FIC programs—the ITREOH, FIRCA, and GRIP— at an annual meeting of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (September 10-16, 2005) and at the annual meeting of the Vietnam Occupational and Environmental Health Association, a collaborator of FIC’s ITREOH grantee at the University of Washington, November 12-18, 2005. Provided overview of the ITREOH program at a regional meeting of Southern African grantees and collaborators.

Staff Publications (selected)

Rosen JB, Breman JG, Manclark CR, Meade BD, Collins WE, Lobel HO, Saliou P, Roberts JM, Campaore P, Miller MA. Malaria chemoprophylaxis and the serologic response to measles and diphtheria-tetanus-whole-cell pertussis vaccines; Malar J. 2005 Nov 6; 4:53.

Breman JG, O’Meara WP. Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: moving forward cautiously. J Infect Dis. 2005 Dec 1: 192(11):1869-71.

Kelly-Hope LA, Yapabandara AM, Wickramasinghe MB, Perera MD, Karunaratne SH, Fernando WP, Abeyasinghe RR, Siyambalagoda RR, Herath PR, Galappaththy GN, Hemingway J. Spatiotemporal distribution of insecticide resistance in anopheles culicifacies and Anopheles subpictus in Sri Lanka. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2005 Oct; 99(10):751-61.

Le Menach A, Legrand J, Grais RF, Viboud C, Valleron AJ, Flahault A. Modeling spatial and temporal transmission of foot-and-mouth disease in France: identification of high-risk areas. Vet Res. 2005 Sep-Dec; 36(5-6):699-712.

O’Meara WP, McKenzie FE, Magill AJ, Forney JR, Permpanich B, Lucus C, Gasser RA Jr, Wongsrichanalai C. Sources of variability in determining malaria parasite density by microscopy. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2005 Sep; 73(3):593-8.

Smith DL, Waller LA, Russel CA, Childs JE, Real LA. Assessing the role of long-distance translocation and spatial heterogeneity in the raccoon rabies epidemic in Connecticut. Prev Vet Med. 2005 Oct 12;71(3-4):225-40. Epub 2005 Sep 8.

Smith DL, Dushoff J, Snow RW, Hay SI. The entomological inoculation rate and Plasmodium falciparum infection in African children. Nature 2005 Nov 24;438(7067):492-5.

Hartley DM, Morris JG, Smith DL. Hyperinfectivity: A critical element in the ability of V. cholerae to cause epidemics? PLoS Med. 2005 Dec 6:3(1)e7.

Simonsen L, Viboud C, Elixhauser A, Taylor RJ, Kapikian AZ. More on RotaShield and intussuseption: the role of age at the time of vaccination. J Infec Dis. 2005 Sep 1;192 Suppl 1:S36-543.

*Goodwin K, Viboud C, Simonsen L. Antibody response to influenza vaccination in the elderly: A quantitative review. Vaccine. 2005 Oct 3.

Dushoff J, Plotkin JB, Viboud C, Earn DJ, Simonsen L. Mortality due to influenze in the United States: an annualized regression approach using multiple-cause mortality data. Am J Epidemiol. 2006 Jan 15;163(2):181-7.

Simonsen L, Viboud C, Taylor R. Influenza vaccination in elderly people. Lancet. 2005 Dec 17;366(9503):2086.

Simonsen L, Taylor R, Viboud C, Dushoff J, Miller M. US flu mortality estimates are based on solid science. BMJ. 2006 Jan 21;332(7534):177-8.

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