ASTMH News
May 2012
1. ASTMH Members on Capitol Hill: World Malaria Day
On April 25, ASTMH, in partnership with Malaria No More, PATH and other malaria and other R&D organizations, commemorated World Malaria Day on Capitol Hill with a two-part event titled, "U.S. Advancements in Science and Technology in Malaria: A Showcase of Domestic Research & Development to Save Lives and Keep Americans Safe."
With Congress and staffers in mind, the event was focused on U.S. efforts and the economic impact of U.S. research dollars in communities across the country. Attendees included staffers from 16 Congressional offices, one former and five current members of Congress as well as USAID Administrator Raj Shah. This was an opportunity for ASTMH to be seen as a research-focused society and as a voice for funding, training, program and practice. Continue reading at ASTMH blog. View the Capitol Hill Expo invitation. Read U.S. Senate Resolution 429 supporting the goals of World Malaria Day.
2. Member Profile: Capt. John W. Sanders, MD, MPHTM, Executive Officer, Naval Medical Research Center
As an 18-year member of the Society, what keeps you coming back?
ASTMH is an important professional society for me. It is the best place to come for education, professional development and interdisciplinary collaboration in the complex and diverse areas of tropical medicine.
In the Navy, you have a built-in network of scientific colleagues. How does membership in ASTMH complement this network?
Navy Medicine Research is fortunate to have outstanding clinicians and researchers, but we also know that there are established leaders in tropical medicine and young scientists with novel ideas outside our system. ASTMH provides us a rich and available community of colleagues and collaborators from academia, NGOs and other government organizations--relationships that are so important and intertwined that we schedule Navy Medicine Research meetings with the Annual Meeting to include our collaborators.
The Navy's R&D efforts are located around the world. How does ASTMH fit in?
We currently have three laboratories--NAMRU-2, -3 and -6--all developed in partnership with host nations. We are conducting collaborative projects in dozens of countries throughout the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Americas. We are particularly pleased that we are able to provide opportunities for young researchers from the U.S. and countries where we working to further their careers. ASTMH has been a key partner in these efforts. We routinely point to the Annual Meeting as the keystone for our staff and collaborators to highlight their work, meet collaborators and establish professional connections. ASTMH connections have led to other educational/career opportunities for our staff.
Read the complete Q&A at the ASTMH blog.
3. University of Ghana's John Gyapong to Deliver Commemorative Lecture at Annual Meeting, Nov. 11-15, 2012
Continuing the tradition of providing conference attendees with a world-class faculty at the premier annual meeting for tropical medicine, hygiene and global health, public health physician and epidemiologist John Gyapong, MB ChB (KNUST), MSc, PhD (London), FGCP, will deliver the Commemorative Fund Lecture at the ASTMH Annual Meeting in Atlanta. Gyapong is Pro-Vice Chancellor, Research Innovation & Development, University of Ghana. Read more about Gyapong here.
4. Two AJTMH Studies Cited in Leading International Media
Two May AJTMH studies garnered international coverage from several leading media outlets. Economic Cost of Dengue in Puerto Rico, which estimated the cost of dengue fever in the U.S. territory to be nearly $40 million and found that every $1 investment in detection could save $5 in treatment, was featured in The New York Times, Fox News, United Press International, Jakarta Post, Hoy (Dominican Republic) and Terra (Colombia).
A Controlled Study of Funding for Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome as Resource Capacity Building in the Health System in Rwanda found that funding for HIV/AIDS in the African nation did not impact funding for malaria, measles and malnutrition, and may even improve health services overall. The study was featured in The New York Times, Voice of America News, Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, Medscape Medical News, AllAfrica.com, New Times (Rwanda) and Science Speaks blog.
5. ASTMH Accredits Two Trop Med Diploma Courses: National School of Tropical Medicine, West Virginia University
With the recent accreditation of Diploma in Tropical Medicine courses at West Virginia University and the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, there are now 18 ASTMH-accredited courses in the United States.
West Virginia University also offers an online program to complement its in-person course, Clinial Tropical Medicine and Travelers' Health. For more information email [email protected] or [email protected].
The National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine offers two ASTMH-approved prerequisite courses for the diploma course pathway, the Baylor International Pediatrics AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) Pediatrics AIDS Corps Pre-Service Training in Tropical Medicine, and a course offered by the BCM National School of Tropical Medicine, which was formerly offered through the International Health Track. Peter J. Hotez, Dean, NTSM, stated that the course is "comprehensive and throws the full weight of Texas Medical Center--a medical city of 100,000 employees--behind its educational and clinical content." For more information email [email protected].
6. Society Leader Dick Guerrant Honored by Governor of Virginia
Dick Guerrant, MD, Society leader, former president and Walter Reed Medal winner, was honored by Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell as an Outstanding Scientist by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Guerrant, a trailblazer in the battle against infectious childhood diarrhea and the founder and director of the University of Virginia's Center for Global Health, was one of three scientists selected for the honor. "Their creativity, contributions and dedication will make a better Virginia and a better America for all of us," McDonnell said. Read more about Dr. Guerrant's award.
"I can think of no one more deserving of this honor than Dick Guerrant," said former ASTMH President Ed Ryan, on hearing of the honor bestowed on his friend and colleague. "His work has advanced the science and has directly led to decreased childhood mortality, opening up new ways to prevent the long-term and devastating consequences that grow out of the cycle of infections that afflict our most vulnerable children."
The Society offers its heartfelt congratulations to Dick on this well-deserved honor.
7. New NLM Digital Collection Includes ASTMH Trop Med Video Interviews
Interviews with ASTMH leaders and pioneers in trop med are among those in the NLM's new online digital collection, Tropical Disease Motion Pictures. Included in this collection are interviews produced by CDC in cooperation with ASTMH and CDC in the 1970s and 80s in the "Workers in Tropical Medicine" series, featuring Tom Monath, Calista Causey, Lucy Graves Taliaferro and more. The NLM's collection ranges from interviews to research documentaries to public health campaigns and films shot on location in regions beset by cholera and yellow fever. Read the news release. More "Workers in Tropical Medicine" interviews--including Jordi Casals, Telford Work and more--may be found on ASTMH's YouTube channel.
8. New IOM Reports: Ranking Vaccines and the Reality of Drug-Resistant TB
The Institute of Medicine recently released Ranking Vaccines: A Prioritization Framework--Phase I, Demonstration of Concept and a Software Blueprint. It is increasingly important for decision makers to have the tools that can assist and inform their vaccine prioritization efforts. This report describes a decision-support model and the blueprint of software called Strategic Multi-Attribute Ranking Tool for Vaccines, or SMART Vaccines, that should help decision makers prioritize new vaccines by accounting for demographic, economic, health, scientific, business, programmatic, social, policy and related factors. Read the report at IOM.
Also new from IOM is Facing the Reality of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: Challenges and Potential Solutions in India. The IOM held a workshop in April 2011 in New Delhi, India, in collaboration with the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Council of Medical Research, to highlight key challenges to controlling the spread of drug-resistant strains of TB in India and to discuss strategies for advancing and integrating local and international efforts to prevent and treat drug-resistant TB. Read the report at IOM.