Professional History: 1956-1958 1958-1961 1961-1963 1964-1965 1964-1967 1966 1967-1968 1968-1971 1971-1974 1974-1980 1980-1984 1984-1988 1988 Research Assistant, Biophysics Department, Yale Predoctoral Fellow, National Cancer Institute, Research Associate, Institut fuer Strahlenbiologie, Instructor, Department of Medical Physics, Research Biophysicist, University of California, Laboratory Director, National Science Foundation Grants Associate, National Institutes of Health. Staff Member, Council on Environmental Quality, Associate Director for Interagency Programs, Honors and Awards: 1989 1984 1982-1989 1986-1988 1987 1964-1966 1958-1961 Chief, International Coordination and Liaison PHS Superior Service Award NIH Merit Award Outstanding Performance Ratings Merit Performance Awards Secretary DHHS Certificate of Appreciation NASA Research Fellowship, University of California, National Cancer Institute Fellowship, Yale QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE Senator HARKIN. Dr. Schambra, thank you very much. There will be some additional questions which will be submitted for your response in the record. [The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but were submitted to the Institute for response subsequent to the hearing:] QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING AND OZONE DEPLETION ON HEALTH Question. As one of its Research Management and Support activities for FY 1991, the FIC is involved in the international planning efforts to address the effects of global warming and ozone depletion on health. How much will be spent in FY 1991 on these activities? Please explain more about the FIC's efforts and the possible effects on worldwide health. Answer. Our estimate is that FIC will spend approximately $150,000 on these activities in FY 1991. The FIC has conducted a study of "The Need for International Efforts to Address the Potential Health Effects of Atmospheric and Climate Changes." The potential impact of climate change upon human health is of direct concern to the NIH and similar organizations around the world. International cooperation is essential if the potentially harmful health and environmental consequences of global atmospheric and climate change are to be successfully addressed. The FIC is proposing a commitment of $150,000 to initiate a collaborative project with NIEHS, EPA, the Department of Energy and other national and international institutions, to enable us to support international research related to global warming and ozone depletion. Our initiative will include the following actions: Convening a group of international experts to develop a research agenda to address the potential health effects of atmospheric and climate changes, including impacts on infectious and cardiovascular diseases, and skin cancer; Providing support for the training of researchers and health professionals related to atmospheric and climate changes, including the training of professionals from developing countries to help them address these concerns in their home countries; and Supporting an FIC Scholar-in-Residence to cooperate with In Among the health concerns related to global warming are: cataracts and retinal degeneration; non-melanoma skin tumors and cutaneous malignant melanoma; weakening of the immune system; and effects on cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and renal diseases. addition, there is great concern that global warming will upset the ecosystem, resulting in the appearance of tropical and infectious diseases such as dengue, yellow fever, and St. Louis encephalitis in areas of the United States not currently affected. It is imperative that international efforts begin now to better understand the health consequences of atmospheric and climate changes so that preventive measures can be taken before irreversible damage has occurred. SCIENTISTS FROM THE U.S.S.R. AND EASTERN EUROPE Question. Dr. Schambra, the changed climate in Eastern Europe and the U.S.S.R. seem to pose an opportunity to the United States and the Fogarty International Center, to greatly expand our scientific exchange programs with those countries. How many scientists from the U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe are currently included in your programs? Answer. The Fogarty International Center has several programs which enable Soviet and Eastern European scientists to work with American scientists. For years, their number has been small due to the strict limits on those who were permitted to leave, even for short visits. With the democratization of these countries, many more scientists from these countries are now able to travel abroad, and their first priority is usually to come to the United States to meet and work with their American colleagues. For years, we have had short-term scientist exchange programs with the U.S.S.R., Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Yugoslavia. Under these programs, FIC and its foreign counterpart institutions support reciprocal visits by U.S. and foreign scientists. In FY 1989, 34 scientists from the U.S.S.R., Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria visited the U.S. and 21 American scientists visited Eastern European countries. For these countries, our scientist exchange program has been a highly valued opportunity for leading scientists to develop working relationships with U.S. researchers. For other countries, such as Romania, domestic difficulties in recent years have greatly restricted their participation. Now, however, changed domestic conditions in these countries have resulted in greatly expanded participation. Already in FY 1990, requests from Soviet scientists have more than tripled, and have outstripped available FIC resources to the point where we have had to curtail further acceptances. Similarly, Bulgarian officials have asked for expansion of the U.S.Bulgarian Exchange Program and Czechoslovakian officials have requested the initiation of a U.S.-Czechoslovakia Scientist Exchange Program. A second mechanism under which Soviet and Eastern European scientists participate in FIC programs is the International Research Fellowship (IRF) Program. The FIC invites an appropriate scientific organization in a country to establish a committee which then may nominate up to six candidates each year to compete with other countries' nominees for IRF awards. These nominees are competitively reviewed by an NIH study section and only those top-ranked candidates receive awards. Previous Eastern European nominees have been highly competitive. In FY 1989, 10 IRF recipients were from Poland, Hungary and Yugoslavia. Both Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia have asked to participate in the IRF program, and other requests are expected. Regretfully, higher priority commitments preclude FIC from agreeing to these requests to initiate or expand scientific exchange. Question. What do you estimate the potential to be and what additional funding support would be needed to take advantage of this opportunity? Answer. I believe one of our greatest opportunities today is to significantly expand international cooperation with Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union on health and biomedical research problems. We have surveyed the interest of NIH scientists in expanding cooperation with their colleagues in these countries and also have heard from a number of biomedical scientists throughout the United States about their interests in the region. Numerous areas for scientific collaboration have been identified, including AIDS, environmental health, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. Many American scientists believe that Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union offer unusual and important collaborative opportunities. They have also noted that highly competent Soviet and Eastern European biomedical scientists are eager to work directly with U.S. researchers. This could produce benefits for U.S. science. The Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe have expressed a strong interest in participating fully in FIC programs that enable cooperation between their scientists and U.S. scientists. Currently, there is great interest in, and great gains to be achieved from, biomedical research cooperation with these countries. One area where Americans and Eastern Europeans obviously have a strong common interest is in combatting the spread of AIDS. FIC's programs to train scientists, clinicians, and technical personnel from developing countries in different aspects of AIDS control and epidemiological research could be of very great benefit to Eastern European countries and the Soviet Union. The knowledge we have gained about AIDS will assist them in combatting the threat at an early stage and perhaps prevent a widespread epidemic. To respond to the potential for U.S. -Eastern European and Soviet cooperation in a variety of health research subjects, FIC has developed a proposal for a 5-year Initiative. This Eastern European Initiative will utilize FIC's existing research and research training mechanisms so that its implementation can proceed rapidly once funds become available. The Initiative also will help train scientists and develop linkages between institutions to form the basis of long-term productive joint research with U.S. biomedical researchers. The estimated cost of this Initiative ranges from $4 million in its first year, to $5 million in its 2nd through 5th years. If the requests for a Director's Discretionary Fund or authority to transfer 1% of NIH appropriations to high-priority areas were approved, items which include recently emerging opportunities of this sort could be funded, at least partially, within the existing budget. It The effect of this Initiative will be to allow FIC to invite all the Eastern European countries and the Soviet Union to participate in the International Research Fellowship Program and the Scientist Exchange Programs. It will also enable considerable research cooperation and training in AIDS, including clinical trials of new drugs and vaccines for the prevention and treatment of AIDS. would permit as well the NIH Institutes to undertake a broad range of disease-specific collaborative scientific research with centers of excellence in the region. Ultimately, by the 5th year, the Initiative will bring about important long-term scientific, technical, and commercial linkages. We would benefit from this Initiative by being fully informed about the advances in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in virology, vaccine development, genetics, and neurosciences. INTERNATIONAL AIDS ACTIVITIES Question. About one-third of the FIC budget is devoted to international AIDS activities. What have you accomplished? Are your efforts coordinated with other NIH AIDS programs, and those of the World Health Organization? Answer. The accomplishments of the FIC international AIDS programs, even after one year of effort, are substantial. A total of 125 individuals from 22 developing countries began training in the first year of the epidemiology AIDS program. The postdoctoral program began training 15 individuals from 10 countries in its first year. In addition, 25 in-country courses were provided for more than 1,000 students in 12 countries through the epidemiology training program. Research conducted by these FIC trainees is addressing some of the most important areas of AIDS investigation, including HIV-2 regulatory proteins, cell-mediated immune responses, mechanisms for killing HIV infected cells, epidemiology of maternal-fetal transmission, and clinical and laboratory features of Kaposi's sarcoma. FIC's AIDS efforts are well coordinated with other NIH AIDS programs and with those of the WHO. This coordination is achieved through the International Network for AIDS Research and Training established by FIC, working with the Office of AIDS Research and NIAID. FIC also works closely with other parts of the Public Health Service, particularly the Centers for Disease Control and the National AIDS Program Office, and with other Federal agencies, especially the U.S. Agency for International Development. Special efforts have also been made to coordinate and collaborate with the World Health Organization's Global Programme on AIDS (WHO/GPA) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), WHO's regional office for the Americas. This includes participation by WHO/GPA and PAHO in FIC's International Network for AIDS Research and Training. FIC staff have arranged direct cooperation between WHO/GPA and FIC grantees to establishing a Global HIV/AIDS Network- a telecommunications system linking WHO/GPA with key AIDS programs worldwide. FIC staff have been participating in WHO/GPA Management Committee meetings, in WHO AIDS scientific sessions, and in the organization of the First and Second Pan American Congresses on AIDS. THE DECADE OF THE BRAIN Question. This is the decade of the brain. What is the FIC doing in the area of neurology research? Answer. Recognizing the importance of international efforts in this area, the FIC supports and coordinates a number of international activities in neurology and brain research. The FIC has recently supported a Fogarty Scholar-in-Residence, a world authority on blood flow in the brain, from the University of Lund, Sweden. He is working with scientists from the National Institute of Mental Health on the NIH campus to understand how peptides regulate transmission of electrical signals in the brain. Furthermore, since 1977, the FIC has jointly sponsored, with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), an International Neurosciences Fellowship which has provided support for 27 developing country |