The 205th meeting of NIAID’s Advisory Council was held in a new location, at 5601 Fishers Lane in Rockville, Maryland, on September 11, 2023. During the open session, NIAID Acting Director Dr. Hugh Auchincloss provided remarks on the Institute’s administrative, budget, and scientific news. He was followed by guest speaker Dr. Ted Pierson, Director of NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center (VRC), who discussed recent scientific advances and ongoing research priorities.
To watch a video recording of the open session, go to NIAID Advisory Council Meeting—September 2023.
Key Staffing News
Dr. Auchincloss started his presentation by acknowledging current Council members who will extend their service through January 2024, as NIAID pursues new appointments to Council. They are Dr. Monica Gandhi, Dr. Paul Goepfert, Dr. Harry Greenberg, Dr. Audrey Pettifor, and Dr. Kenneth Stuart. Three ad hoc Council members attended the September meeting—Dr. Annette Jackson, Dr. Effie Wang Petersdorf, and Dr. Robert Montgomery.
Dr. Auchincloss then discussed the appointment of NIAID’s new Director, Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo. She joins NIAID after having served as Director, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Alabama at Birmingham. There, Dr. Marrazzo’s research centered on discovery and implementation of science related to female reproductive tract microbiome, infections, hormonal contraception, HIV prevention, sexually transmitted infections, and antibiotic resistance in gonorrhea. Officially, she took charge of the Institute just last week!
At the June Advisory Council meeting, Dr. Auchincloss noted that President Biden nominated current National Cancer Institute (NCI) Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli to be the next NIH Director. Since then, Senator Bernie Sanders announced that he will schedule a confirmation hearing for Dr. Bertagnolli in October.
Additionally, Dr. Mandy Cohen was selected as CDC Director, and Dr. Paul Friedrichs will lead the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy.
At NIH and NIAID, there have been multiple key appointments and advancements:
- Dr. Jane Simoni is head of NIH’s Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research.
- Dr. Patty Brennan is retiring from her position as Director of the National Library of Medicine.
- Dr. Kelly Poe was named Director of NIAID’s Division of Extramural Activities.
- Dr. Andrea Wurster is serving as acting Deputy Director of NIAID’s Division of Extramural Activities.
- Dr. Reed Shabman is Deputy Director of NIAID’s Office of Data Science and Emerging Technologies.
- Dr. Catherine Yen is Chief of the Protection of Participants, Evaluation, and Policy Branch in NIAID’s Division of AIDS.
- Dr. Nick Bushar is Chief of the Policy, Planning, and Evaluation Branch of NIAID’s Office of Strategic Planning, Initiative Development, and Analysis (OSPIDA).
- Dr. Jon Nye is Chief of the Data Analytics Research Branch, also within OSPIDA.
- Ms. Linda Lee is Chief of the Referral and Program Analysis Branch, again within OSPIDA.
NIAID has experienced two key retirements:
- Dr. Mary Marovich is leaving her role as Director of the Vaccine Research Program within our Division of AIDS; Dr. Jim Lane is now acting in that position.
- Dr. Mark Challberg is leaving his role as Chief of the Virology Branch with the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases; Dr. Jean Patterson is now acting in that position.
Dr. Auchincloss also recognized Emily Linde, Director of NIAID’s Grants Management Program, for being selected for the 2023 HHS Award for Excellence in Management. She oversaw the successful allocation of more than $3 billion of emergency appropriations for COVID-19.
International Activities
NIAID welcomed Genessa Giorgi, the incoming health attaché to India, to discuss the Institute’s activities and priorities in India.
With Deputy Director-General Xu Jie, Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Dr. Auchincloss co-chaired the virtual MOST-NIH Infectious Diseases Technical Exchange, which focused on information exchange of influenza vaccine, diagnosis, and treatment strategies.
Budget Overview
Dr. Auchincloss began by showing NIAID’s budget for fiscal year (FY) 2023 of $6.562 billion, which was a 3.8 percent increase from our FY 2022 budget. He then shared a slide indicating NIAID’s status as the second largest institute, by budget, at NIH.
While considering a bar chart of NIAID’s budget each year since FY 2000, Dr. Auchincloss expressed concern that a flat budget for NIAID in FY 2024 may be an optimistic projection.
With that in mind, NIAID’s interim financial management plan sets a conservative, interim R01 payline for established principal investigators at the 8th percentile, and for new investigators at the 12th percentile. NIAID hopes to avoid needing to implement downward negotiations for competing and noncompeting grants. He estimated success rates between 13 and 16 percent.
Note: NIAID is operating under a continuing resolution through November 17, 2023. For context, read Background on NIAID Funding Opportunity Planning and the Budget Cycle.
Dr. Auchincloss also remarked on NIAID’s successful allocation of COVID-19 emergency supplemental funds. The Institute spent more than $1.5 billion in critical research areas.
Congressional Briefings
NIAID staff participated in key briefings for members of Congress and their staff on topics such as grant oversight, Long COVID research, and Project NextGen.
Other Items
Providing an update on COVID-19, Dr. Auchincloss pointed to a surge in new hospital admissions that has, fortunately, not been matched by a surge in COVID-19 deaths. This fall, updated COVID-19 vaccines will be monovalent, targeting Omicron XBB.1.5.
Project NextGen is a government-wide approach to advance the pipeline of new, innovative vaccines and therapeutics from labs to clinical trials leading to potential FDA authorization, approval, and commercial availability. NIAID received $300 million for a specific Project NextGen project but has spent $484.5 million by pulling funds from multiple sources.
Dr. Auchincloss lamented that funding authorization for PEPFAR, which is now 20 years old, is in jeopardy.
The incidence of HIV in the United States is slowly decreasing. NIAID has been instrumental in carrying out the research aims of the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. program. Separately, NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center developed a single molecule specific for three independent targets that reactivate virus and promote lysis of latently-infected cells, a promising breakthrough.
Finally, there are a variety of NIAID-supported medical countermeasures progressing through clinical activities. FDA approved respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) interventions for a variety of vulnerable populations. A pediatric vaccine candidate is now under evaluation. An anthrax vaccine was approved by FDA. A dengue vaccine has reached Phase III clinical trials in Brazil and India. Phase I clinical trials for two different universal influenza vaccine candidates are underway. A tuberculosis vaccine is advancing to a Phase III clinical trial. A chikungunya vaccine is performing well in its Phase III clinical trial. A Sudan ebolavirus vaccine candidate successfully completed its Phase I clinical trial. Finally, a malaria monoclonal antibody is performing well in a Phase II clinical trial in Mali.
Checking in with the Vaccine Research Center
In his remarks, Dr. Ted Pierson discussed scientific progress at NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center, which is tasked with performing basic science research to make discoveries supporting the development of novel vaccines and biologics targeting infectious diseases of global health importance.
He began by discussing the structures and mechanisms by which viruses enter cells, which are ideal targets to improve understanding and develop interventions for priority viruses. VRC is now conducting research on seven of the ten viral families elevated by the prototype pathogen concept within NIAID’s Pandemic Preparedness Plan.
In addition to vaccinology, VRC’s portfolio includes research on Mycobacterium tuberculosis, malaria, cancer, immunological concepts, and platform technology development.
Owing to its multidisciplinary structure, VRC is excellent at accelerating research discoveries to product development. VRC’s culture is highly collaborative, with groups throughout VRC constantly informing each other’s work and progress.
Dr. Pierson transitioned to an in-depth discussion of specific scientific accomplishments at VRC. In detail, he described the opportunities, challenges, and strategies underpinning VRC’s work to develop an HIV-1 vaccine, HIV-1 monoclonal antibodies, a technique to identify CD4 positive T cells, a stabilized RSV F protein vaccine antigen, influenza vaccine platforms, alphavirus vaccine and monoclonal antibody development, an enterovirus D68 vaccine, and antibody-mediated protection against malaria.
Dr. Pierson concluded with a discussion of VRC leadership changes, which included his own appointment as Director in April 2023. After serving as acting Director of the VRC, Dr. Richard Koup returned to his position as Deputy Director. There were several key departures recently—Dr. Adrian McDermott of the Vaccine Immunology Program, Dr. Nancy Sullivan of the Biodefense Research Section, and Dr. Ruth Woodward of the Translational Research Program.
Before concluding his talk, Dr. Pierson answered questions from Council members, which covered both scientific topics such as non-viral pathogens and practical matters like industry collaboration.
Subcommittee Summaries
As you may know, at each Council session scientific subcommittees review and approve concepts for NIAID initiatives, i.e., targeted research funding opportunities. While not all approved concepts become funding opportunities, concepts highlight NIAID research interests and can be good topics for investigator-initiated applications.
Approved Concepts for Upcoming Funding Opportunities
Check the Council-approved Concepts for Potential Opportunities from the September 2023 meeting:
- Division of AIDS (DAIDS) Concepts
- Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation (DAIT) Concepts
- Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID) Concepts
- Trans-Divisional Concepts
To learn more, check out the following videocast recordings in which NIAID scientific staff present our September concepts and subcommittees discuss them.
- AIDS Research Advisory Committee
- Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation Subcommittee
- Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Subcommittee
The next meeting of NIAID’s Advisory Council will take place virtually on January 30, 2024.