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Dr. Douglas Lowy (top) and
Dr. John
Schiller are Federal
Employees of the Year. |
NCI scientists Dr. Douglas Lowy and Dr. John Schiller—who laid the biological foundation for the HPV vaccine—were given the Federal Employees of the Year Service to America Medal by the Partnership for Public Service on Sept. 19.
Rather than rest on their laurels, the two members of NCI’s Center for Cancer Research Laboratory of Cellular Oncology
and their colleagues are already looking toward alternate ways of fighting or preventing cervical cancer, including the next generation of HPV vaccines and topical microbicides that might address some of the significant challenges of delivering a vaccine in developing countries, where it is most needed.
“The current vaccine has implementation limitations that will make it difficult for poor women to get it—and they’re the women who need it most because they have no Pap screening,” Schiller said. “It’s expensive to make and deliver this vaccine. We’re trying to make better approaches that are very simple to deliver.”
“We need to recognize that the vaccine is not going to do anything for the millions of women who are already infected with HPV and who remain at increased risk for cervical cancer,”
Lowy warned. “The vaccine is for the next generations of women. But let’s not lose sight of the current generation and the need to help them reduce their incidence of cancer.
“We are simply symbols of the many people who have made critical contributions to understanding the relationship between papillomavirus infection and cervical cancer,” Lowy continued. Both Lowy and Schiller are quick to point out that the recognition has been nice, but that they remain humbled by the insightful research done by so many of their colleagues. |