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Summary of the NIH International Representatives MeetingMarch 13, 2007
Dr. James Herrington, Director, Division of International Relations, Fogarty International Center, welcomed the NIH IC representatives to the Stone House. He introduced Admiral John Agwunobi, M.D., HHS Assistant Secretary for Health. Dr. Agwunobi was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December 2005 for his position. In his current capacity, Dr. Agwunobi, serves as Secretary Leavitt's primary advisor on matters involving the nation's public health and oversees the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Key HHS Global Health Priorities: Dr. Agwunobi, a pediatrician by training, provided background on his education and professional career to date. He noted that he served his residency at Washington D.C.'s South East Community Hospital and spent time in primary care practice in northern Nigeria, noting his mother is Scottish and father Nigerian. He is experienced in health care delivery, managed care and health policy. Prior to his current position, he formerly served as Director of Florida's Department of Health. He noted that all his experiences reinforced his understanding of the importance of global health to the health of Americans and underscored that global health knows no boundaries and that indeed many global health problems challenging developing countries can also be found here in the United States. Dr. Agwunobi noted that he is involved in the key HHS global health priorities, including the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) and preparedness for potential Pandemic Influenza. Dr. Agwunobi reflected on the possible future revamping of PEPFAR as it nears its initial 5-year period of operation and noted that PEPFAR successes could possibly be replicated more broadly by other developed country donors. He also noted that he recently became the U.S. representative to the WHO's Executive Board (EB) and served in that capacity at January 2007 WHO EB meeting that elected Dr. Margaret Chan as the new Director-General of the WHO. Dr. Agwunobi also noted that in support of global health, he has been involved in the recently announced U.S. initiative to send the USNS "Comfort", a naval medical ship, to Latin America and the Caribbean to treat patients and perform surgeries at various ports of call in the region, including a new HHS initiative to provide oral care to the region's poor. He also noted that the U.S. will help establish a regional health care professional training center in Panama for nurses, technicians and health care workers. Dr. Agwunobi also touched upon the recent concerns expressed by Indonesia with respect to provision of Avian bird flu samples to the WHO and the linkage between such provision and future access to vaccines or medicines to combat that disease. In closing, he underscored that global health threats are equal to developing countries as they are to developed ones and need close international cooperation underpinned by good science. Update on U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) Activities: Ms. Cathleen Campbell, President and Chief Executive Officer of CRDF, provided an overview of NIH-CRDF cooperation that has been manifested since 1995 when the CRDF was founded as a Congressionally-sponsored not-for-profit initiative. She noted that the CRDF mission continues to support exceptional, peer-reviewed research projects. The CRDF's core capabilities seek to identify high-quality regional talent, produce specialized training and workshops, promote interdisciplinary research programs, provide comprehensive project management and leverage research funds. She reflected on the CRDF/NIH partnership over the years which has helped provide for workshops and targeted research competitions. In 2006, 44 of the submitted research proposals to CRDF were in biomedicine and 19 were found to be meritorious with six of these subsequently receiving financial support provided by NIH (NIAID, NINDS, NIEHS and FIC). She noted that the next CRDF biomedical grants competition would be announced in May 2007 and that further funding from NIH ICs would be welcomed. She provided examples of research undertaken to date and noted that CRDF has spearheaded an effort to catalyze collaboration for a targeted HIV/AIDS initiative. She also provided information on new initiatives to support research activities in the Middle East and North Africa, specifically in Iraq and Libya. Ms. Campbell noted that CRDF is hoping to develop initiatives related to Arab Population Genetics Research and Iraq Forensic DNA Training. CRDF desires to further expand cooperation with other countries in the region, including Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar. Further information on the CRDF activities is at www.crdf.org or by emailing information@crdf.org. NIH IC International Representatives Meeting Future Directions and Announcements: Dr. Herrington introduced Mr. Thomas Mampilly who has recently joined FIC's Division of International Relations as Program Officer for the Indian Sub-Continent. Information was provided to IC representatives pertaining to the recent vacancy announcement for a Deputy Director at the Fogarty International Center. Dr. Herrington also requested IC representatives to provide input as to the future direction of the meetings of the NIH IC International Representatives. Several ideas were voiced, including the notion of having dedicated presentations by ICs on activities they are undertaking in a given region of the world, having more frequent meetings of the group (e.g., perhaps alternating months with and without keynote presenters to allow opportunities for ICs to present on their seminal or on-going work in a given region), discussing the idea of a wider range of speakers and issues. Dr. Herrington invited the group to identify possible speakers for upcoming meetings. He noted that he would be seeking to invite a representative from the European Commission (EC) to make a presentation on research opportunities for U.S. scientists under the European Union's new "Framework 7" research strategy. Next Meeting: May 8, 2007, at 1 p.m. in the NIH Building 31, 6C Room 6. Attendance: Archives of Past IC Reps Meetings
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