On June 5, 2023, NIAID Acting Director Dr. Hugh Auchincloss addressed the open session of our 204th Advisory Council meeting. It was a hybrid meeting, with Council members participating both in person and virtually. Dr. Auchincloss discussed administrative, budget, and legislative updates, as well as recent scientific findings. Guest speaker Dr. Steven Holland, Director of NIAID’s Division of Intramural Research, described key research accomplishments at our intramural laboratories.
To watch a video recording of the open session, go to NIAID Advisory Council Meeting—June 2023.
Key Staffing News
Dr. Auchincloss began with an update on the search for the next NIAID Director—NIH has not yet selected a candidate for the position—and noted that President Biden has nominated current National Cancer Institute (NCI) Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli to be the next NIH Director; the seventeenth in its history. He pointed out that the NIH Director position is subject to Senate confirmation, while the NIAID Director position is not.
Dr. Auchincloss also acknowledged Dr. Larry Tabak, who has served as NIH Acting Director since December 20, 2021. Dr. Tabak has held multiple NIH leadership positions since 2000, including Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and Principal Deputy Director of NIH.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced her intent to depart at the end of June, having held her position since January 2021. Dr. Mandy Cohen is the White House’s pick to next head the public health agency.
Several other key leadership transitions include the following:
- Dr. Ted Pierson was named Director of NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center.
- Dr. Karina Walters is now Director of the NIH Tribal Health Research Office.
- Dr. John Gallin retired in March 2023 after serving as NIH Associate Director for Clinical Research and Chief Scientific Officer of the NIH Clinical Center.
- Dr. Maureen Goodenow is transitioning from the Office of AIDS Research to a new role as Senior Advisor in the NIH Office of the Director.
- Dr. Bill Kapogiannis will serve as Acting NIH Associate Director of AIDS Research and Acting Director of the Office of AIDS Research.
- Dr. Jeremy Farrar was named Chief Scientist of the World Health Organization.
In sadder news, Dr. Edmund Tramont passed away on March 5, 2023. He served as our Division of AIDS Director from 2001 to 2006 and was Associate Director of the Division of Clinical Research. He was instrumental in creating the combined meningococcal vaccine as well as designing and implementing vaccine trials for gonorrhea, shigella, and HIV.
Budget Overview
Dr. Auchincloss shared NIH and NIAID budget news, beginning with a recap of our fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget in comparison to our FY 2022 budget.
Overall, NIAID received a 3.8 percent increase. Most institutes received increases ranging between 3.8 and 5.9 percent. The overall increase for NIH was 6.5 percent, driven by a $40 million increase for cybersecurity, a $64 million increase for the Common Fund, and a major boost to fund the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).
NIAID plans to invest $100 million in the Research and Development of Vaccines and Monoclonal Antibodies for Pandemic Preparedness (ReVAMPP) Network using funds appropriated by Congress. The ReVAMPP Network will partner closely with industry partners for access to vaccine expertise in manufacturing, clinical development, and regulatory pathways.
President Biden submitted to Congress a budget request for FY 2024 that would provide an overall increase for NIH of 3.9 percent, or $1.9 billion above the FY 2023 enacted level. However, within the proposal, NIAID alongside most other institutes would have a flat budget. Keep in mind, it is Congress, rather than the President, that will ultimately appropriate the NIH budget.
As we approach the end of FY 2023, Dr. Auchincloss noted that NIAID R01 paylines for established and new principal investigators are at the 12 and 16 percentiles, respectively. Competing, unsolicited awards, as well as noncompeting grants and extramural contracts, will incur no programmatic adjustments. Competing research initiatives have been cut by up to 20 percent to sustain new investigator-initiated awards.
Dr. Auchincloss also discussed NIAID’s COVID-19 Emergency Supplemental Funds and the impact of debt ceiling discussions on the NIAID budget.
Congressional Briefings
NIAID staff participated in many briefings for members of Congress and their staff. Topics included universal influenza vaccines, pandemic preparedness, and antimicrobial resistance.
Other Items
Dr. Auchincloss discussed the end of the COVID public health emergency, and our lessons learned. He described how NIAID clinical networks combined to form the COVID-19 Prevention Network, which took advantage of existing infrastructure, community partnerships, and research expertise. Rapid volunteer recruitment allowed for the first vaccine to become publicly available within a year.
The White House has launched Project NexGen, the goal of which is to accelerate the development of new coronavirus medical countermeasures. NIAID’s role is to initiate clinical trials to evaluate mucosal and broadly protective vaccines.
Dr. Auchincloss touched on recent and current outbreaks of filoviruses, for which NIAID continues to advance research on vaccine candidates. He noted that incidents of mpox cases in the United States have fallen dramatically in 2023.
He also noted two HIV-related studies that demonstrated promising results for improving patient outcomes, and recognized FDA approval of the first respiratory syncytial virus vaccines for people over 60 years of age.
News from DIR
In a guest presentation, Dr. Steven Holland provided an overview of happenings within the Division of Intramural Research (DIR).
He began by recognizing the international spread of components of NIAID’s intramural research. He also noted the role of the Board of Scientific Counselors Review, which ensures the work of DIR’s labs and investigators remains on an outstanding trajectory.
Dr. Holland pointed to transformative medicine as a top priority. He called for a bench-to-bedside approach that takes full advantage of NIH Clinical Center resources, vigorous responses to public health threats like drug-resistant microbes and emerging viruses, and partnerships to advance vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.
Dr. Holland stated that through the first 5 months of 2023, DIR has produced 752 publications, 18 NIAID press releases/blog posts, and 202 clinical studies. COVID funding has supported nearly 500 publications from DIR. Dr. Holland applauded the importance of establishing a SARS-CoV-2 Virology Core that allowed NIH intramural investigators access to biosafety level three (BSL-3) lab infrastructure and resources to accomplish research that would otherwise have been inaccessible.
He reviewed selected research highlights:
- Study finds safety and efficacy of a monoclonal antibody against malaria in Mali.
- Research found multiple sites of vulnerability for Epstein-Barr virus, which will allow progression from mouse models into human trials.
- Structural analysis of influenza vaccines is revealing reasons behind varied effectiveness.
- Vaccine challenge study in a nonhuman primate model for Sudan virus has proven effective.
- Demonstrated virulence differences of mpox virus clades l, lla, and IIb.1 in a small animal model.
- Finding of sexual dimorphism of immune response to influenza vaccine following COVID-19 infection.
- Exploration of B. subtilis therapy to reduce Staphylococcus aureus infection.
- Development of a brain organoid to model fatal familial insomnia.
- Results showing microbiome functional role in sensory neuron regeneration.
- Identification of isocyanates as pollutants that alter skin microbiome in atopic dermatitis.
- Longitudinal cohort shows cancer susceptibility is increased by prolonged CD4 lymphocytopenia.
DIR’s future directions include recruiting talented, diverse investigators; continuing to support outstanding basic science; making Clinical Center resources available to all intramural labs; and encouraging collaborations between intramural and extramural researchers.
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 June 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 June 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 on September 11, 2023.