Friday, November 2, 2007

Went to Boston to give Keynote at meeting of Harvard Business School Alumni Association – held at Harvard Medical School. Spoke on Emerging Infections. Had dinner with Jenny at Taranta’s restaurant in the North End on Friday night, Nov. 2. Had nice discussions about career options as she is now approaching graduation from Harvard. She wants to take at least a year working at something that she loves (not sure yet what that is – could be a year in Cuba or a domestic political campaign) and then go on to graduate school. Nov. 7. 2007 – Ellen Sigal invited me and I attended the “Friends of Cancer” Awards night at the Hotel George on Capital Hill (E Street). “Leadership” Awardees were Ted Kennedy, Sen,. Mike Enzi, and Bob Young (former NCA/Fox Chase). Ted Kennedy explicitly said that he would like me there and wanted to greet me. He mentioned me warmly in his acceptance speech. Afterwards had dinner with a select few from the reception – Ellen Sigal, Marlene Malek, Sherry Lansing, John Porter, Amy McGuire Porter, Elias Zerhouni, Melody Miller (former staffer for Ted Kennedy). Lively discussions (particular with Sherry Lansing who is a terrific person – she had been at my Lasker Award ceremony). Nov. 7 – 8 , 2007 – Very discouraging news from the Merck HIV vaccine trial (502/503 – STEP and Phambili Trials) using adenovirus 5 (Ad5) vector and gag, pol, nef inserts. Took place in North and South America, Caribbean, Australia (STEP) and just beginning in Southern Africa (PHAMBILI). First DSMB look stopped the trial on futility for 2 major endpoints (Acquisition and Viral Set Point). Real problem is that it looks like people with the higher underlying Ad5 titers had greater risk of acquisition in the vaccinated versus the placebo group. Unclear why this is so but may be that giving Ad5 to people with underlying Ad5 immunity triggers robust activation providing vulnerable targets for infection upon exposure to the virus. This has important implications for future trials with Ad vectors such as upcoming PAVE 100 trial – ethical issues. Stay tuned. On evening of Nov. 8 gave Keynote After Dinner talk to the Association of Independent Schools of Great Washington (AISGW). Kathy and Dan Jamieson were there as were heads of schools and senior officials for the DC/VA/MD independent schools. Talk went very well – “Our Responsibilities as World Citizens: Looking Through the Lens of Global Health”. I spoke at The Potomac School in Virgina. Hugh crowd.