Friday, June 1, 2012

NIAID had our annual spring policy retreat at the Hilton Hotel in Rockville which was a meeting between our group and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) in order to determine possibilities of strengthening current collaborations and forging new collaborations. Present at the meeting were the senior leadership of the Institute together with Trevor Mundel (President of the Global Health Program for the BMGF), Nina Russell, Dan Hartmann, Chris Wilson and Jan….. The discussions went very well and I feel that our collaborations will strengthen. I was impressed by the sincerity of Trevor. In the early evening, paid tribute to Ed Tramont at a symposium in his honor at the USUHS across the street from NIH. Tornadoes and thunderstorms hit the DC area during the late afternoon and early evening.