During two events in May, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) will highlight new and ongoing international research efforts in the fight against malaria and other tropical diseases.
On Monday, May 7, NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci will unveil the Institute's Global Health Research Plan for HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis. Dr. Fauci will describe the plan during the 10th anniversary meeting of the International Centers for Tropical Disease Research (ICTDR). His 8:25 a.m. talk will kick off the meeting in the Lister Hill auditorium in Building 38A on the NIH campus, and can be seen live online at http://videocast.nih.gov.
At 2:00 p.m. that same day, NIAID will host the grand opening of its new Malaria Vaccine Development Unit (MVDU) in Rockville, Maryland. Key speakers include Acting NIH Director Dr. Ruth Kirschstein, Dr. Fauci, and Dr. Louis Miller, who heads the MVDU. Tours of the facility will be conducted by laboratory personnel beginning at 3:30 p.m.
ICTDR Meeting
NIAID has funded research in tropical medicine for more than 50 years. To more effectively confront challenges in international health, the Institute founded the ICTDR program in 1991. The program brings together NIAID-funded scientists conducting research on such tropical scourges as malaria, dengue fever, leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease.
These and other tropical diseases are a major source of worldwide death and suffering, most often in regions lacking the resources to research and combat the diseases. ICTDR has established collaborative studies between NIAID scientists and researchers from endemic areas, strengthened cooperation among different government agencies and international organizations, and encouraged private industry to work with the public sector to develop diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines for tropical diseases.
The 10th anniversary meeting, to be held May 7-9, will feature p
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Contact: Sam Perdue
sp189u@nih.gov
301-402-1663
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
25-Apr-2001