OT:NIH Awards Emory $23.7 M as New National Vaccine & Treatment Evaluation Unit

[Guest guest]

We are continuously being told there isn't money available for

continued research concerning mold/mycotoxin exposure related to

humans and the symptoms/illnesses they cause. They can't/won't (big

difference) even diagnose properly our condition, that many across

America have suffered from. This tells me that the

information/research is already available, but they refuse to

release it or inform the general public. The two articles below are

examples of how our tax dollars are being used.

KC

NIH Awards Emory $23.7 M as New National Vaccine & Treatment

Evaluation Unit

DentalPlans.com - Dania,FL

http://www.dentalplans.com/articles/27903/

Emory University and its physician/scientists will play a leading

national role in evaluating promising new vaccines and therapies for

infectious diseases in adults and children as one of the newest

members of a group of Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units

(VTEUs). The VTEUs are funded by the National Institute of Allergy

and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of

Health (NIH).

Along with designation as part of the eight-member VTEU group, Emory

has been awarded a seven-year contract of approximately $23.7

million. The award has subcontracts to collaborators at the Mayo

Clinic, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, the University of Colorado and

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The VTEUs were established in 1962 as a vital research component of

the NIAID. The units conduct clinical trials for all infectious

diseases other than HIV/AIDS, including bacterial, viral and

parasitic vaccines, therapeutics and other biologics and drugs for

prevention and treatment of infectious diseases in people of all

ages and risk categories. The VTEUs have conducted hundreds of

clinical studies over the past four decades.

The NIAID awarded eight new seven-year contracts this year to expand

and strengthen the VTEUs and enhance the ability of NIAID to respond

quickly to emerging public health needs. Other VTEU sites are Baylor

College of Medicine; Saint Louis University; University of land,

Baltimore; Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati; Group

Health ative, Seattle; University of Iowa; and Vanderbilt

University.

" Emory's strong basic and translational science programs within the

Emory Vaccine Center and our infectious diseases programs in the

Emory Children's Center, combined with our track record in clinical

trials and infectious diseases treatment and research in adults and

children, presented a very strong portfolio to the NIH, " says Mark

Mulligan, MD, principal investigator of the Emory VTEU, professor of

medicine in Emory University School of Medicine and executive

director of the Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center.

As a VTEU site, Emory and its partner institutions will design and

conduct clinical trials of candidate vaccines and therapeutics and

related studies in surveillance and epidemiology, policy and

education, and innovative laboratory analyses of immune responses.

Participants in the clinical trials will include children and adults

of all ages, as well as special targeted population groups.

The Georgia Research Alliance, a partnership of research

universities, industry and state government, will provide a $2

million matching grant to the Emory VTEU.

" The designation of Emory as part of the VTEU group is another

demonstration of Georgia's leadership in developing and testing new

vaccines and therapeutics, " says Cassidy, GRA president and

CEO.

VTEU investigators have tested and advanced vaccines for many

diseases, including influenza, pneumonia, whooping cough,

Haemophilus influenzae infection, cytomegalovirus infection,

malaria, smallpox, anthrax and tularemia. Childhood vaccines and

combination vaccines are an important part of VTEU research.

" The Emory VTEU initiative highlights our outstanding progress in

vaccine research and development in the region and will engage the

Atlanta community " says s, MD, executive associate dean

for research and director of the Division of Infectious Diseases in

Emory University School of Medicine. " Emory's participation and

national research leadership should be of direct benefit to the

citizens of Atlanta and Georgia as important vaccines and therapies

are moved from the laboratory into patient care. "

An important strength of the VTEUs is their ability to rapidly

recruit, enroll and retain volunteers and vaccinate them in a manner

that is safe, effective and quick to yield results. This rapid-

response capability is especially important for testing vaccines

designed to counteract emerging public health concerns, such as

pandemic influenza.

" We are excited to have this opportunity to make a major

contribution to our nation's vaccine development efforts, " says

Harry Keyserling, MD, Emory professor of pediatrics and a co-

director of the Emory VTEU. " Vaccines have always been our most

effective weapons in battling diseases that broadly affect public

health. We also look forward to working with our superb

collaborators at CDC, KaiserPermanente Georgia, Mayo Clinic, and the

University of Colorado. "

The Emory Vaccine Center will play a key role in the Emory VTEU. The

Vaccine Center, located at multiple sites including the Yerkes

National Primate Research Center, is one of the largest and most

successful academic vaccine centers in the world, with more than 27

faculty and over 200 staff focused on vaccine development and

testing. The Vaccine Center's Hope Clinic has been one of the top-

enrolling sites for clinical trials of HIV vaccines sponsored by the

HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) sponsored by the NIH.

Rafi Ahmed, PhD, director of the Vaccine Center and a Georgia

Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, will serve as the Emory VTEU's

associate director for vaccine immunology.

The Emory Children's Center, directed by Barbara Stoll, MD, chair

and professor of pediatrics in Emory University School of Medicine,

is a national leader in infectious diseases prevention and

treatment. Dr. Keyserling, and Spearman, MD, Emory professor of

pediatrics and chief of pediatric infectious diseases, are co-

directors of the Emory VTEU. Walter Orenstein, MD, professor of

medicine and associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center, will

serve as the VTEU associate director for policy and education.

In addition to being a national VTEU site, Emory also is a national

site for clinical trials of HIV/AIDS vaccines and therapeutics,

which are conducted through the HVTN and the AIDS Clinical Trials

Group (ACTG). Last year Emory's HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Unit was

designated a primary site national in both these networks and

received a seven-year grant of $7 million.

The Emory Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit Principal Staff

For a complete listing, including mini biographies, see:

http://whsc.emory.edu/news_vteu.cfm

----

Defense Contractor Wins NIH Contract

Wed November 07, 2007 - Frederick, Md. tags: defense •

contractor • won • biological

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/1107/470579.html

Defense contractor Battelle Memorial Institute has won a 257 million-

dollar, 10-year contract to run a biological defense laboratory for

the National Institutes of Health at Fort Detrick in Frederick.

Battelle has now secured management contracts for two of the high-

security laboratories at a planned, multi-agency biodefense campus

at the Army installation. In December, the Columbus, Ohio-based

institute won a 250-million-dollar, five-year contract to run a

laboratory planned by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.