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John La Montagne, Ph.D.
Director, DMID
Dr. John R. La Montagne, Ph.D., Director of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID), welcomed the Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Subcommittee of the National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Diseases Council and provided a brief report of Division activities. He thanked the ad hoc Subcommittee members Drs, Adel Mahmoud and Robert Webster, and welcomed other participants who were invited to discuss agenda items with the Subcommittee. He also noted personnel and organizational changes since the last meeting, introducing Dr. George Counts, DMID’s new Associate Director for Clinical Research, and Ms. Lucy Renzi, who has joined the STD Branch as a Technical Assistant.
Dr. La Montagne briefly summarized recent program events. First, he summarized the November 10-11, 1997 meeting of the Multilaterial Initiative on Malaria (MIM). He reported that the Wellcome Trust had assumed the Executive Secretariat function for the MIM, and that the momentum established at the first MIM meeting in Dakar, Senegal was continuing with the implementation of several activities to address the important public health problem posed by malaria. Second, he reported on a meeting he attended in Tokyo (he was one of two U.S. participants) to discuss an initiative concerning parasitic diseases and their control that will be submitted by the Japanese Government for consideration at the next summit of the G7/8. Third, he reported on the first ever teleconference on chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), which was developed by the Department of Health and Human Services and telecast via satellite at numerous locations around the country for continuing medical education. Finally, Dr. La Montagne noted upcoming meetings focused on the issue of emerging infectious diseases.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases Program Review Dr. La Montagne welcomed several participants of last summer’s STD Program Review, who attended the Subcommittee session to report on their findings: Drs. Karen Hein, Donald Capra, and Willard Cates. He then introduced Dr. Penelope Hitchcock, Chief of the STD Branch, who facilitated the discussion of the STD program review. Dr. Hitchcock provided an overview of the public health problems posed by STDs and described DMID’s efforts to address these diseases. Drs. Hein, Capra and Cates each summarized portions of the report developed as a result of the STD program review and highlighted several recommendations suggested by the 16-member panel of reviewers. Following discussion of the STD program review, Dr. Hitchcock presented the STD Branch Storyboard, summarizing the current status of the portfolio and identifying future research goals. Two concepts were presented for clearance:
DMID Concepts Presented to the Subcommittee for Approval:
STD Cooperative Research Centers This concept would renew the STD Cooperative Research Centers (CRCs), which bridge basic biomedical, clinical, behavioral and epidemiological research, promote productive collaborations among academic researchers, and facilitate the development of intervention-oriented research. The Subcommittee approved this concept.
Topical Microbicide Program Projects This initiative would extend current DMID activities in topical microbicide research leading to the development and evaluation of safe and effective microbicides to prevent sexual transmission of STDs, including HIV infection. The concept was approved.
Training Dr. Robert Quackenbush updated the Subcommittee on DMID’s training program. Specifically, Dr. Quackenbush presented a number of overheads that provided information on extramural trainees and training slots for the Institute as a whole and for DMID in particular for Fiscal Years 1996 and 1997.
Update on Tuberculosis Vaccines Dr. Ann Ginsberg, DMID’s Tuberculosis Program Officer, provided an update on the status of the TB vaccine development and briefly summarized a recent workshop entitled "TB Vaccines: How Close to Human Testing?" The workshop brought together a diverse group of individuals, representing academe, industry and the government, to discuss issues related to moving current vaccine candidates from the laboratory into clinical trials. Dr. Ginsberg concluded by outlining NIAID’s future activities to encourage TB vaccine development, and reported that Secretary Shalala has asked the Department to develop a national strategy for TB vaccine development; Dr. Barry Bloom will chair a workshop dedicated to developing a blueprint for a national strategy in March 1998.
U.S.-Japan Joint Cholera and Related Diarrheal Diseases Panels Conference Dr. Dennis Lang, DMID’s Enteric Diseases Program Officer, reported on a recent STEC (Shiga toxin-producing E. coli) Workshop and highlighted current related research efforts.
Drug Resistance in Staphylococcus Aureus (SA) Dr. Gordon Archer, a participant in the September 1997 DMID-supported consultation on antimicrobial resistance, provided a summary of that meeting, which was designed to help the Division determine what research is needed in this area. Dr. Archer summarized the key recommendations suggested by the panel of outside experts, including: state-of-the-art conferences on antimicrobial resistance; multi-investigator research networks; and sequencing of the SA genome. Dr. Steve Heyse, DMID’s Medical Bacteriology and Antibacterial Resistance Program Officer, informed the Subcommittee of DMID’s plan for SA research, which was based on these recommendations, and noted that NIAID Director, Anthony Fauci, had provided additional funds to help expedite these activities. Subcommittee members engaged in numerous discussions about the many scientific questions surrounding resistance in S. aureus. Dr. Heyse also acknowledged the presence of Dr. Finley Austin, representing the Merck Genome Research Institute, who indicated that her organization would help bring the SA genome sequence to the public as quickly as possible.
Flu Update Dr. Dominick Iacuzio, DMID’s Program Officer for Influenza and Related Viral Respiratory Diseases, introduced the topic, which was intended to update the Subcommittee on the Hong Kong avian flu, Influenza A H5N1. Dr. Carol Bridges of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided an overview of the CDC’s investigation of the initial cases of Hong Kong flu.
Dr. Robert Webster, a NIAID grantee who has spent much of his career researching influenza, also addressed the Subcommittee, providing an historical overview of the influenza virus and how it is spread, and reporting on his involvement in the H5N1 investigation in Hong Kong. Dr. Robert Couch, another NIAID grantee who was involved with the Hong Kong flu investigation, also commented on his recent trip to the region. Finally, Dr. Iacuzio summarized NIAID’s response to the Hong Kong flu outbreak. back to top |