NIH Hosts 4th Workshop with Gates Foundation

From left, Bill Gates, NIH director Dr. Francis Collins, NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci and FIC director Dr. Roger Glass listen in on presentations at the recent global health workshop.

Photo:  Lisa Helfert

For the fourth consecutive year, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation teamed with NIH for a consultative global health workshop. On June 2, researchers from the foundation, NIH and other federal agencies, academia and the public sector gathered for a full day of panel discussions on several topics including vaccine research and development on human papillomavirus prevention and therapy and structure-based immunogen design, point-of-care diagnostics for low-resource settings and the emergence of a coalition for African research and innovation.

Foundation cochair and trustee Bill Gates, NIH director Dr. Francis Collins, NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci, Fogarty International Center director Dr. Roger Glass and NIBIB director Dr. Roderic Pettigrew were among officials on hand for the session.

While here, the world renowned IT pioneer and philanthropist Gates got to sample a bit of tech wizardry used at the Vaccine Research Center. Gates donned virtual reality goggles for a demonstration of how scientists explore the molecular structures of influenza in 3-D. A handheld molecule—produced via 3-D printing technology—was also passed around.

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Shown with Gates are (from l) Collins, Fauci and VRC scientists Dr. Mario Roederer, Dr. John Mascola, Dr. Rick Koup, Dr. Michelle Crank, Dr. Nancy Sullivan, Graham and Dr. Marybeth Daucher.

Photo:  Lisa Helfert

The day ended with working group/breakout sessions on such subjects as HIV/AIDS; malaria and neglected tropical diseases; tuberculosis; maternal, neonatal and child health; pneumonia, enteric diseases and indoor air pollution; and contraceptive research.