Anthony S. Fauci, M.D
Dr. Fauci opened the Council session by welcoming visitors to the meeting. He noted that Dr. J. Brooks Jackson, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has been appointed to a four-year Council term, after serving the last two years of a former member's term. Dr. Fauci introduced four ad hoc Council members, Dr. Hidde Ploegh, Harvard Medical School; Dr. Hugh Sampson, Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Jerald C. Sadoff, Aeras Foundation for Global TB Vaccine Development; and Dr. David Brandling-Bennett, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dr. Fauci acknowledged the contributions of four retiring members, Dr. William Jacobs, Dr. John Martin, Dr. Magdalene So, and Ms. Thelma Thiel, and presented them with certificates.
Consideration of Minutes of Previous Meeting: The minutes of the May 29, 2003 meeting were considered and approved as written.
Staff and Organizational Changes:
Dr. Fauci announced new appointments in the Division of AIDS. Dr. Jonathan Fishbein will serve as the first director of the Office for Policy and Clinical Research Operations. Ms. Margaret Matula has been appointed chief of the Clinical Research Management Branch in the Therapeutics Research Program, and Ms. Pamela Scanlan has been appointed chief of the Clinical Research Resources Branch in the Office of Clinical Research Policy and Resources.
In the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Marianne Mann will serve as director of the Respiratory Diseases Branches.
Dr. Fauci also announced the appointment of Mr. Michael Tartakovsky as director of the Office of Technology and Information Systems.
Budget Update
Until the FY 2004 budget is signed, NIAID is operating under a continuing resolution. In his budget update, Dr. Fauci provided an overview of the president's FY 2004 budget, which includes an NIH increase of $718,000,000 or 2.6 percent, compared to FY 2003.
For NIAID, a FY 2004 increase of $629,000,000 or 17 percent includes a 38 percent increase in the biodefense budget. The Institute's FY 2004 biodefense funding primarily will support basic research, development and testing of countermeasures against potential biological weapons, and development and support of research resources. For both AIDS and non-AIDS/non-biodefense research, NIAID's FY 2004 budget provides funding increases of approximately seven percent.
Legislative Update
Dr. Fauci reported significant congressional interest in NIAID activities, especially the Institute's research agendas on biodefense, SARS, and other emerging infectious diseases. In early 2004, Congress will consider NIH's reauthorization.
Dr. Fauci has provided congressional testimony or briefings on various topics, including construction of biocontainment facilities; federal bioterrorism readiness; and NIAID research activities on HIV/AIDS vaccine, smallpox, and SARS.
Project BioShield has received congressional funding approval for $5.6 billion over the next ten years, with no more than $890 million to be obligated in FY 2004. The House has passed the Project BioShield Act of 2003, which is now under Senate consideration.
Other Information Items
Dr. Fauci highlighted progress in NIAID's strategic plan for biodefense research, which is publicly available at http://www.niaid.nih.gov/biodefense/. With over 50 major biodefense initiatives and multiple collaborations with industry underway, NIAID has moved forward with recommendations from the blue ribbon panel of biodefense experts assembled by Dr. Fauci earlier this year.
NIAID has awarded grants to establish eight Regional Centers of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, providing five-year funding of approximately $40 million for each center. In addition to basic research, these multidisciplinary centers will support training in biodefense research activities, maintain research resources, and promote research focused on development and testing of vaccine, therapeutic, and diagnostic concepts. NIAID also has announced funding for the construction of two National Biocontainment Laboratories and nine Regional Biocontainment Laboratories.
Dr. Fauci noted that several important grants funded by NIAID will not only focus on biological agents with bioterrorism applications, but will increase understanding of the innate immune system, with potential relevance to all areas of immunology, rheumatology, and infectious diseases.
Another vital research area is development of safe vaccines for the civilian population. The NIAID Vaccine Research Center plays a leading role in this effort, focusing both on improving existing vaccines and developing new ones. Research continues on vaccines against Ebola, West Nile virus, malaria, and anthrax. Dr. Fauci highlighted a research success, the flu mist, which resulted from years of NIAID-funded research and recently received FDA approval.
Dr. Fauci provided updates on research in HIV/AIDS, including encouraging results in research seeking to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission. Numerous clinical trials are testing the effectiveness of HIV vaccines.
In August, a group of researchers met in Virginia to develop a strategic plan for escalating the HIV/AIDS vaccine effort to a global level. In addition to identifying the vital scientific questions that must be answered, the plan calls for information sharing and establishment of common protocols and laboratory measurements.
NIAID took the lead in creating the Partnership for AIDS Vaccine Evaluation, an effort by CDC, DoD, and NIH to increase coordination and operational cost efficiency in clinical trials. The partnership hopes to encourage participation by non-government researchers, including pharmaceutical companies.
Council Materials
The NIAID Office of Communications provided Council members with several publications and press releases. back to top |