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Summary of the NIH International Representatives Meeting

May 13, 2008

 

Dr. James Herrington, Director, Division of International Relations (DIR), NIH Fogarty International Center (FIC), welcomed the NIH IC representatives to the Stone House. He noted that the Committee has two new members: Dr. Dan Singer who will represent NICHD and Dr. Farris Tuma who now represents NIMH.

International S&T Cooperation:   Dr. Herrington next introduced Mr. Jeffery Miotke, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science, Space and Health at the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Miotke, a career Foreign Service Officer since 1986, was the Chief of Staff for the Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, Paula J. Dobriansky. Before that he was the Director of the Office of Global Change, and served as a senior U.S. negotiator on climate change treaty issues. He has also been the Deputy Director of the Office for Development Finance in the State Department. Overseas, he served in various countries including Lesotho, Hungary, and the Dominican Republic. He has received twelve Honor Awards as well as the Frank Loy Award for Environmental Diplomacy.

Mr. Miotke discussed the State Department's role in international science and technology cooperation. He explained that science and science-based approaches make tangible improvements in peoples' lives and, strategically applied, science and technology (S&T) outreach serves as a powerful tool to reach important segments of civil society. S&T cooperation helps to ensure that U.S. scientific standards and practices play a substantial role in the establishment of international benchmarks. It also has significant indirect benefits as well, contributing to solutions which encourage sustainable economic growth by: promoting good will, strengthening political relationships, helping to foster democracy and civil society, and advancing the frontiers of knowledge for the benefit of all.

His role at the State Department, and that of the three Offices that report to him (the Office of International Health and Biodefense, the Office of Science and Technology Cooperation and the Office of Space and Advanced Technology) is to pursue such efforts through the establishment of binding bilateral and multilateral science and technology agreements. These agreements promote the precepts of sustainable development, enhancement of the role of women in science and society, science-based decision-making, good governance, and global security. In establishing such agreements with other countries, State engages governments, business, academia, non-governmental and international organizations, and private individuals, in an attempt to foster greater cooperation on a wide-range of scientific topics. Among these are alternative energy, health and medicine, environment and marine research, nanotechnology, space exploration, weather, seismology and geology among many others.

Almost 40 U.S. S&T Agreements (see http://www.state.gov/g/oes/rls/fs/2006/77212.htm establish bilateral frameworks to facilitate the exchange of scientific results, provide for protection and allocation of intellectual property rights and benefit sharing, facilitate access for researchers, address taxation issues, and respond to the complex set of issues associated with economic development, domestic security and regional stability. Mr. Miotke provided an overhead on just how favorably U.S. S&T is viewed in several ME countries that in an overall context do not view U.S. foreign policy very well (see fig. 1).

Mr. Miotke noted that international S&T cooperation should be perceived as apolitical in nature as it makes an excellent means for the international community to engage societies around the world, especially in the Middle East. He noted that the appeal of American S&T creates a more favorable atmosphere to explain other American policies and interests and used a specific example with Libya to underscore this view.

NIH and EU Funding Reciprocity:   Dr. Herrington next introduced NIH/ODs Dr. Stefano Bertuzzi, who briefed the group on NIH and European Union reciprocal research funding issues, starting from the principle that science has been and should always be an international endeavor. He added that this view is very relevant today because of the increased complexity and interdisciplinary nature of science, which often require international collaborations involving teams from several countries. It is essential that funding agencies reduce all possible barriers to international collaborations to allow the best science to be done by the best scientists, wherever they may be located.

Mr. Bertuzzi noted that Dr. Zerhouni has engaged in discussions with the European Commissioner for Science and Research, Dr. Janez Potocnik, on the matter of reciprocity between the US and the EU based on a letter he sent to Dr. Potocnik in early December 2007. Dr. Zerhouni subsequently met with Dr. Potocnik on February 13 in Bethesda. The talks were focused on the European Framework Program 7 (FP7), which while allowing collaborations with US scientists, carried significant restrictions for funding US researchers participating in collaborative projects with European teams. (FP7 will provide approximately $7 billion for health research during 2007-2013). As a result of the dialogue between Dr. Zerhouni and Dr. Potocnik, parts of these restrictions were lifted on February 14. There is now a window of opportunity for further leveling of the scientific "playing" field.

Dr. Bertuzzi then sought the group's input on/response to the following questions:

• Are you aware of any ongoing or past collaborations between your IC and the EU?
• Do you think it would be relevant for your grantees and for your IC, in general, to have easier access to collaborations within EU funding programs?
• Are there roadblocks you would like to see removed in order to promote scientific collaborations with the EU?
• What enabling tools would you like to have at your disposal to facilitate collaborations with the EU?
• What is the perspective of your Advisory Council in making decisions for funding foreign awards or projects which have significant international subcomponents?

Various views were provided by the group from their respective IC's perspectives. However, given the shortage or time, Dr. Herrington suggested that further IC input be provided to Dr. Bertuzzi in writing.

Next Meeting:   Tentatively set for Tuesday, July 8, 2008, at 1 p.m. at a location to be determined.

Attendance:
Dr. James Herrington, Acting Chair;
George Herrfurth, Executive Secretary;
NIAID: Mr. Steve Smith, Dr. Karl Western, Dr. Ranjan Gupta, Gaelle Kolb;
NICHD: Dr. Dan Singer;
OAR: Ms. Natalie Tomitch, Amelia Hall;
NHLBI: Dr. Zhi-Jie Zheng;
ORWH: Erika Elvander;
NIH/OD: Dr. Rosanna Berti;
NCI: Phil Budashewitz;
NIMH: Dr. Farris Tuma;
NEI: Dr. Mary Frances Cotch;
NIDA: Dr. Steve Gust, Dr. Dale Weiss;
NIDCD: Baldwin Wong, Jane Knisely;
NIBIB: Dr. John Haller, Dr. Grace Peng;
NIAAA: Dr. Peggy Murray;
NINDS: Dr. Yuan Liu, Stacey Chambers;
NIH/OD: Dr. Vesna Kutlesic, Dr. Stefano Bertuzzi;
NIMH: Dr. Willo Pequegnat;
Department of State: Mr. Jeff Miotke;
FIC: Dr. Ken Bridbord, Dr. Marya Levintova, Ms. Tina Chung, Dr. Aron Primack, Mr. Thomas Mampilly, Dr. Linda Kupfer, Sonja Madera, Judy Levin, Mike Martin, Ira Allen, Ms. Milagros Ruiz, Dr. Katherine Sturm-Ramirez.

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