Dr. Carole Heilman Named Director of NIAID's
Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Carole A. Heilman, Ph.D., was recently named director of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). She comes to this position from NIAID's Division of AIDS, where she served as deputy director for the past three years.
"Dr. Heilman brings considerable experience and expertise to her new position," says Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of NIAID. "I am confident that she will bring her imaginative and creative leadership to address the future challenges in infectious disease research."
Dr. Heilman began her career at NIH in 1978 as a postdoctoral research associate with the National Cancer Institute where she carried out research on the regulation of gene expression during cancer development. In 1986, she came to NIAID as the influenza and viral respiratory diseases program officer in DMID and, in 1988, she was appointed chief of the respiratory diseases branch where she coordinated the development of acellular pertussis vaccines.
She joined the Division of AIDS as deputy director in 1997 and was responsible for developing the Innovation Grant Program for Approaches in HIV Vaccine Research. This program was created to encourage novel ideas and approaches in HIV vaccine research while stimulating interest from a new group of scientists, including those who had not been involved in HIV research. The program was designed to speed the pace of discovery and development of vaccines to prevent HIV infection.
As a member of the HIV Vaccine Innovation Grants Team, Dr. Heilman received the 1998 NIH Director's Award "for exceptional initiative, creativity and sustained productivity required for creation and implementation of the HIV Vaccine Innovation Grants Program." Most recently, she received the Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service for "exceptional leadership of the global efforts to identify a safe and effective vaccine to prevent AIDS." She also received the 1992 NIH Director's Award and the 1990 NIH Merit Award for her efforts in developing and implementing Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), collaborations between NIAID scientists and industry to enhance product development for improving public health.
Dr. Heilman received her bachelor's degree in biology from Boston University in 1972, and earned her master's degree and doctorate in microbiology from Rutgers University in 1976 and 1979, respectively.
Throughout her extramural career, Dr. Heilman has contributed articles on vaccine design and development to many scientific journals and has served as consultant to the World Bank and the World Health Organization in this area. She is also a member of several professional societies, including the Infectious Diseases Society of America; the American Society for Microbiology; and the American Society for Virology.
NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIAID conducts and supports research to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as HIV disease and other sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, malaria, asthma and allergies. NIH is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Press releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the http://www.niaid.nih.gov/.
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