SABIN VACCINE REPORT the newsletter of the Albert B. Sabin Vaccine Institute at Georgetown University Volume I, Number 1, September 1998 IN THIS ISSUE Institute Announces Sabin Vaccine Institute Announces Sabin-Hilleman Fellows Program Sabin and Hilleman are the inspiration for program aimed at promoting Sabin-Hilleman Fellows Program vaccinology and immunology. BY ERICA SEIGUER By participating in existing internships, or in projects 1 In keeping with one of its central missions, the Albert designed through a collaboration between the stu- B. Sabin Vaccine Institute has recently created the Sabin- dent and mentor, the Sabin-Hilleman Fellows will Neal Nathanson: New OAR Head Brings Diplomacy, Toughness Hilleman Fellows Program. A tribute to the pioneering work be exposed to the latest in vaccine design and imple- Renowned for his work on polio of two great figures in vaccinology, Albert B. Sabin and Maurice mentation. Possible projects might include intern- epidemiology, Nathanson filled the vacancy left by Bill Paul in November 1997. R. Hilleman, the Fellows Program will nurture talented high ships at the Global Programme for Vaccines and Im- 1 school students and undergraduates as they pursue their in- munization at the World Health Organization or in Op/Ed terests in the health sciences, particularly in vaccinology and a research laboratory at the National Institutes of Vaccines as an Instrument of immunology. Sabin Vaccine Institute Chairman H.R. Shep- Health. International Diplomacy 2 herd, a close friend of both Hilleman and the late Sabin, un- The Institute will begin the selection pro- derscores that the program is designed to encourage the next cess in February 1999, when application materials A Model of Government-Industry Collaboration, Avirons Intranasal generation of scientists and health professionals to dedicate are due. The first Sabin-Hilleman Fellows will be no- Flu Vaccine Paves the Way for themselves to health promotion through disease prevention. tified in April of their acceptance and the internships Needleless Protection The world’s first intranasal vaccine “The Fellows Program will provide young people with an ex- will begin shortly thereafter. Mrs. Heloisa Sabin, co- protected 93% of children against traordinary opportunity to gain unique insight into the worlds founder of the Institute, is looking forward to meet- flu in a 1997 NIH clinical trial. 3 of immunology and vaccinology. The Institute is committed ing the Sabin-Hilleman Fellows: “Albert used to say to training the next generation of leaders in the health sci- to young people with ideas and interest in vaccinology Institute Awards Gala Honors Vernon Loucks, ences.” that during his thirty years in the development of Nicholas Zwick and Myron Levine The program, developed by Herbert Herscowitz, the oral polio vaccine, for every gratification, he had Annual benefit gala draws on Institute supporters from industry, academia, Georgetown University Professor of Microbiology and Immu- at least 100 frustrations. He told them not to give government, as well as legends in jazz. nology, the Academy for Educational Development, and Sabin up. The Fellows Program will be important in ensur- 4 Institute staff, will support Sabin-Hilleman Fellows’ participa- ing that they do not give up.” v Asias Other Crisis tion in activities aimed at the prevention of disease through Yale University and Sabin Institute Neal Nathanson: New OAR Head scientist Peter Hotez is working on a the better use of vaccines. They will meet policy-makers, vac- vaccine for parasitic worms. Brings Diplomacy, Toughness 6 BY PATRICIA THOMAS Sabin Calendar “History will judge us according to Translational Research, whether we develop a vaccine for AIDS,” Neal Cancer Symposium and more... Nathanson said, speaking from the periphery 6 of a crowded meeting room at the National In- stitutes of Health. The need for a preventive vac- Sabin Institute Bookshelf cine is urgent, he continued, and the NIH must Science for the 21st Century: preserve the clinical trials system that has been The Bush Report Revisited testing candidate vaccines for the past 10 7 years. Only two weeks into his job as the new Sabin Institute in the News director of the Office of AIDS Research (OAR) at NIH, Nathanson had come to the June 2 8 photo courtesy of L. Rosenthal Sabin-Hilleman Fellows will gather to discuss key issues in vaccine meeting of the AIDS Research Advisory Com- development and implementation. mittee expecting to listen, not talk. But that A scientist who is also a human being resolve melted by mid-afternoon, after officials cannot rest while knowledge which might cine scientists, and clinicians from academia and industry at from the Division of AIDS (DAIDS) had laid out be used to reduce suffering sits on the shelf. Institute conferences. Following their work experience, fellows their plans for changing how the NIH tests HIV vaccines and other preventive measures. Far Albert B. Sabin will stay in touch with each other and the Institute through an from rubber-stamping the DAIDS plan, mem- alumni network. It is hoped that the relationships forged will bers of this top-level advisory committee chipped away at its administrative details, es- The Albert B. Sabin Vaccine Institute is facilitate the continuous sharing of knowledge and ideas, with pecially provisions that might impinge on their a non-profit institute dedicated to the ultimate goal of accelerating the development of new vac- own roles in clinical trials. Finally the discus- continuing the work and achieving the sion bogged down in the pros and cons of al- vision of Albert B. Sabin: to fully realize cines, methods to deliver them, and immunization strategies. lowing institutions that had not already done the enormous potential of vaccination to The Program is focused on high school students and HIV vaccine trials to compete for places in the prevent disease. new network. That brought Nathanson to his undergraduates, who are eligible to participate in internships feet. and research experiences that enhance the three-fold mission “I had the feeling that there were people Founded in 1994, the Institute strives obsessing about the process and forgetting to prevent death by promoting the of the Sabin Vaccine Institute: about the product,” he said later. “I’m not inter- development of new vaccines and ¨ stimulating progress in vaccine science; ested in open competition, I’m interested in a delivery systems. product. What the world needs is not an open ¨ advocating sound policy for the development and use competition – it needs a vaccine.” With 35 years of vaccines; of experience in virology, epidemiology, and pub- lic health, including leadership positions at two Dedicated to Disease Prevention ¨ educating the public about vaccines and immuniza- top medical schools, Nathanson has long had tion. continued on page 6 www.sabin.georgetown.edu SABIN VACCINE REPORT September 1998 Vaccines as Peace Makers THE ALBERT B. SABIN VACCINE INSTITUTE How vaccines could alter the face of conflict in Asia AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY by Peter J. Hotez and H.R. Shepherd CHAIRMAN H.R. Shepherd The shadow that AIDS casts over our planet portends incomprehensible tragedy, and the shadow is growing darker. The new United Nations Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic documents a deadly disease spreading across our EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Edward Niese MD PhD planet like an eclipse. Last year, 2.3 million people died of AIDS. Thirty million people are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS; 10 million have become infected in just the last two years. In Botswana and Zimbabwe, one in four VICE PRESIDENT adults are infected. In several other African countries, the infection rate is one in five. Peter J. Hotez MD PhD Although the report has focused attention on Africa, a newer and possibly more frightening HIV epidemic has BOARD OF DIRECTORS started to roll through densely populated areas of the Indian subcontinent and China. India already has more HIV- Jason S. Berman infected people — four million — than any other country. The number of HIV-infected people in China is believed to Zev Braun Kenneth L. Dretchen PhD have doubled since 1996. Conditions in Pakistan are ripe for an outbreak there. Robert E. Fuisz MD Over the last two years, new combination drug therapies have helped control the spread of HIV in developed E. Andrews Grinstead III Jerome Jacobson countries, such as the United States. But these therapies cost $10,000 or more per patient per year. Even with recently David J. Meiselman Esq announced discounts for developing countries where HIV is spreading most rapidly, these drugs remain utterly unaffordable Lewis A. Miller Louis Padovano SJ MD to more than 90% of the world’s HIV-infected population. Moreover, new studies indicate that patients taking the Maj. Gen. Philip K. Russell MD combination therapies can still transmit HIV, and some suffer side effects that may create serious new health problems. Heloisa Sabin Carol Ruth Shepherd The only sure way to halt the AIDS epidemic is with a vaccine. Although scientists have been trying to develop H.R. Shepherd a vaccine for over a decade and a potential vaccine just entered a large, Phase III trial, the research effort must be BOARD OF TRUSTEES intensified. More than five million people become infected each year that passes without a vaccine. Ruth Arnon PhD An AIDS vaccine has the potential to do more than conquer this deadly disease. The quest to develop a vaccine Nancy Gardner Hargrave Joseph L. Melnick PhD can resolve conflict in volatile regions such as South Asia. It can draw together scientists, advocates, and government Gustav J.V. Nossal MD PhD health officials from countries recently engaged in nuclear saber rattling, such as India, Pakistan, and China, and unite George C. St. Laurent Jr Kathryn G. Thompson them in a common cause. A joint AIDS vaccine development effort can help defuse a potential powder keg.