Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.
Dr. Fauci opened the Thursday afternoon, September 24, session of Council by welcoming visitors to the 130th meeting.
Dr. Fauci welcomed the ad hoc Council members: Dr. Joseph Davie, Vice President, Department of Research at Biogen; Dr. James Hogle, Edward S. Harkness Professor of Biological Chemistry, Harvard Medical School; Dr. Jeffrey Ledbetter, Chief Scientific Officer, Xcyte Therapies, Seattle, Washington; and Dr. Myron Levine, Professor, School of Medicine, University of Maryland.
Dr. Fauci expressed the Institute's gratitude to the following members of Council whose terms end with this meeting: Drs. Laurie Glimcher and Samuel Silverstein and Martin Delaney, Louise Jacobbi and Mildred Williamson.
Consideration of Minutes of Previous Meeting:
The minutes of the June 1-2, 1998 meeting were considered and approved as written.
Staff and Organizational Changes:
Within the Division of AIDS, Dr. Peggy Johnston has returned to the Institute as the Assistant Director for HIV/AIDS Vaccines and as Associate Director of the Vaccine and Prevention Research Program.
Dr. Johnston left the Institute in 1996 to help start the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, where she served as Scientific Director. She has played a key role in mobilizing the worldwide effort to find an HIV vaccine.
Dr. Regina Rabinovich has been appointed Chief, Clinical and Regulatory Affairs Branch located within the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID). Within the Division of Extramural Activities (DEA), Brenda J. Velez has been named Chief of NIAID's Contract Management Branch.
Budget Update:
Though NIAID had not yet received a final budget as of September Council, both House and Senate versions add money for such priorities as bioterrorism and large-scale sequencing. NIAID also expects additional funds for research or immunologic tolerance, emerging diseases, and AIDS vaccines.
NIAID director Dr. Anthony S. Fauci described the Institute’s FY 1999 financial management plan, developed at the Summer Policy Retreat in July.
- Payline at the 20th percentile for both AIDS and non-AIDS (FY 1998: 24th percentile for non-AIDS, 26th percentile for AIDS)
- Programmatic reductions 7 percent (same as FY 1998)
- Recompeting grants (grants whose term is over and the applicant is seeking renewed support ) capped at 20 percent more than the previous award (same as FY 1998)
- Our selective pay $9 million (same as FY 1998)
- Bridge award pool $12 million (up from 10.5 million in FY 1998)
This year’s payline, the projected percentile-based funding cutoff point, is lower than it was last year, so some applicants will need better scores to qualify for a grant. Dr. Fauci cited the strong success of NIAID applications as a major factor, arising from the popularity of our program announcements and the fact that much of our research portfolio parallels NIH director Dr. Harold Varmus’ areas of emphasis.
Though the FY 1999 payline is lower, NIAID will still fund about 250 more grants in FY 1999 than it did in FY 1998, and the Institute’s success rate of 40 percent compares favorably to NIH’s 31 percent.
Still, burgeoning success rates also raise flags about the Institutes capacity to sustain the research base. Recent NIH discussions concluded that success rates above 40 are untenable. Council member
Dr. Samuel Silverstein raised concerns about success rates constantly ramping up when new initiatives and technologies are also terribly important. Dr. Fauci responded that NIH will not allow success rates to rise unrestrained. Rather, any additional monies will be put into new initiatives, infrastructure, and technology.
Other:
50th Anniversary - NIAID Accomplishments
As NIAID celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 1998, Dr. Fauci touched on some of the outstanding accomplishments of NIAID scientists and grantees at Council, including advances in immunology, allergy, asthma, transplantation, and infectious diseases.
Council Materials
Copies of the Legislative Update, which describes hearings and bills of interest to the Institute, were distributed. In addition, the NIAID Office of Communications provided Council members with several publications and press releases. back to top |