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Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Garrett discusses HIV/AIDS

The Council on Foreign Relations features an interview with CFR Senior Fellow for Global Health Laurie Garrett, who "notes that discovery of HIV/AIDS was the beginning of what we now consider to be global health."

10 Jun 2011

Ban calls for global unity to end AIDS by 2020 at U.N. meeting opening

In his opening address at the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS on Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "told presidents, ministers and diplomats from across the globe that if all partners involved in the fight unite 'as never before,'" the goal of "zero new infections, zero stigma and zero AIDS-related deaths" can be achieved, the Associated Press/Kansas City Star reports.

10 Jun 2011

Research provides better understanding of interplay between genomes of malaria parasites, humans

For tens of thousands of years, the genomes of malaria parasites and humans have been at war with one another. Now, University of Pennsylvania geneticists, in collaboration with an international team of scientists, have developed a new picture of one way that the human genome has fought back.

10 Jun 2011

Experts discuss impact of new vaccines on global health

This Malaria Policy Center blog post describes the event "Spurring health and wealth through medical breakthroughs," during which Washington Post columnist and ONE Fellow Michael Gerson; John Lusingu, principal research scientist at the Tanzania National Institute for Medical Research and co-principal investigator in the RTS,S malaria vaccine trial in Tanzania for the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative; and Margaret McGlynn, board member of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and former president of Merck Global Vaccines and Anti-Infectives, "brought unique perspectives to the impact of new vaccines on many global health issues, particularly HIV/AIDS and malaria".

10 Jun 2011

Swine flu may have been more widespread in Scotland than previously believed, study says

Up to two million people in Scotland may have been infected with swine flu during the outbreak of winter 2009-2010, making the flu much more widespread than previously thought, according to a study published by researchers from the University of Edinburgh in PLoS One, BBC News reports.

10 Jun 2011

Researchers and advocates form new vaccine foundation

Researchers and "advocates for all vaccine research today launched yet another effort to increase funding and coordination," ScienceInsider reports. The Foundation for Vaccine Research "has recruited a board stacked with several prominent HIV/AIDS researchers," the article notes.

10 Jun 2011

Press on with AIDS research

"In an era of strained finances, it makes sense to invest in solutions that save money in the long run. HIV vaccine development fits that bill. As we mark the 30th anniversary of AIDS, there could be no better way to commemorate the occasion than to renew our commitment to its end".

10 Jun 2011

Sabin Vaccine Institute, Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine to create tropical disease research school

Peter Hotez, chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine at George Washington University and president of Sabin Vaccine Institute, "will join the staffs of Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine this summer, and will serve as founding dean of a new, as yet unnamed, tropical disease research school at Baylor," the Houston Chronicle reports.

10 Jun 2011

Quest Diagnostics receives MDEA gold award for Simplexa/3M technology

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, today announced that its Simplexa molecular diagnostic test on the 3M Integrated Cycler won a gold award in the in vitro diagnostics category at the 2011 MDEA awards ceremony yesterday in New York City.

From Quest Diagnostics 10 Jun 2011

NIH awards $1.9M grant to Scripps Research scientist for malaria study

A scientist from The Scripps Research Institute has won a four-year, $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to better understand the parasite that causes malaria, laying the groundwork to develop better drugs to combat the widespread and deadly disease.

10 Jun 2011

Pall's GeneDisc System helps German authorities screen for deadly E.coli strain

Pall Corporation's GeneDisc System is helping German authorities screen for a deadly strain of E.coli that has sickened nearly 3000 people and disrupted that nation's food industry. Pall's GeneDisc technology is being used by Germany's national reference laboratory to expedite testing of food samples for the toxic strain of the pathogen known as E.coli O104:H4.

From Pall Corporation 10 Jun 2011

FDA grants Fast Track Designation for Emergent BioSolutions' NuThrax vaccine

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today that its investigational anthrax vaccine, NuThrax, has been granted Fast Track Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

10 Jun 2011

Global initiative to prevent HIV in babies

World leaders met to decide on the launch of a global plan with the goal of ensuring that every baby is born HIV-free by 2015 and that their mothers with the HIV virus live to raise them.

9 Jun 2011

New vaccines on the horizon

In a report published in The Lancet, researchers say there is the potential to develop 20 new or improved vaccines over the next decade. They emphasize that funding is crucial - but so is trust and confidence in vaccines. It is said that AIDS and malaria vaccines as the most important areas for research. Authors further suggest that neglected tropical diseases, such as leprosy, should also be investigated.

9 Jun 2011

The ‘decade of vaccines’ has the potential to save lives, many challenges ahead

Vaccinating children around the world against infectious diseases has saved the lives of millions over the past several decades. Now new opportunities exist to overcome remaining challenges—and save another 6.4 million lives over the current decade, according articles in the June 2011 edition of Health Affairs. The issue was produced under the journal’s grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

9 Jun 2011

New vaccine leads to dramatic fall in meningitis A cases

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger report the lowest number of confirmed meningitis A cases ever recorded during an epidemic season this year following the successful introduction of a new vaccine that could eliminate the primary cause of the deadly disease from Africa's meningitis belt, announced the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP) today, which spearheaded development of the vaccine.

9 Jun 2011

Ilex, Cerus partner to distribute INTERCEPT Blood System in Israel and South Africa

Cerus Corporation today announced today that it has entered into agreements with Ilex Biotech Limited to distribute Cerus' INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets and plasma in South Africa and Israel.

9 Jun 2011

Make antiretroviral therapy 'cornerstone' of HIV prevention

Ahead of the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS, AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention and multiple signatories in a statement call on governments, advocates and researchers to act on the evidence from HPTN 052 and make antiretroviral therapy a cornerstone of the set of proven strategies we have to prevent and treat HIV.

9 Jun 2011

IAS calls on leaders to include HIV cure research in global strategy

The International AIDS Society (IAS) in a statement released ahead of the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS "calls on leaders to ensure the inclusion of HIV cure research and its global strategy into the international HIV agenda and in all discussions, political decisions and funding strategies."

9 Jun 2011

UNICEF representative highlights humanitarian challenges in Yemen

Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF's representative in Yemen, said the country is facing humanitarian challenges and is "absolutely in dire need of humanitarian assistance," Reuters reports.

9 Jun 2011