Conference at a Glance

Leading North Carolina vaccine researchers and other experts will discuss the state of the science in vaccines and applications and implications for public health and national defense. This educational Media Forum is part of an ongoing series of NCABR and Research!America programs that encourage exchange between researchers and journalists about high profile issues at the intersection of science and society.

ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED

• Fundamental concepts in vaccine research
• Infectious disease transmission and preventive strategies
• Market and societal forces influencing vaccine development
• The role of vaccines in national defense
• Public impact of the media’s coverage of vaccine research
• Risk communication about bioterrorism prevention and response

SPEAKERS TO INCLUDE

• Myron Cohen, M.D., is the J. Herbert Bates Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, the Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, and the Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. Dr. Cohen has worked for more than 20 years on the biology of and transmission of sexually transmitted disease pathogens, including HIV. He will discuss HIV vaccine development and other infectious disease prevention strategies, including possible strategies for SARS.
  
  
• Barton Haynes, M.D., the Frederic M. Hanes Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Human Vaccine Institute at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Haynes is internationally recognized for his work in AIDS research, including HIV vaccine development, and for his work in developing treatments for autoimmune disease syndromes. He will discuss the scientific challenges of vaccine development, including the latest technologies, the power and potential of vaccines, and the reasons certain infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, HIV — and perhaps SARS – are difficult candidates for vaccines.
  
  
• Samuel Katz, M.D., is the Wilburt C. Davison Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Katz is a member of the World Health Organization Committee on Vaccines and is a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He was the co-developer of the measles vaccine and is a smallpox vaccine expert. He will discuss safety issues relating to vaccines and the media’s coverage of these issues.
  
  
• James W. Kirkpatrick, M.D., M.P.H., is the Bioterrorism Coordinator and Chief of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response for the North Carolina Division of Public Health. A 31-year veteran of the U.S. Army Medical Corps, Colonel Kirkpatrick has significant experience in preventive medicine and was Dean and Commandant of the U.S. Army Academy of Health Sciences, which is the largest school of allied health sciences in the world. He will discuss the crucial role of vaccinations — and their limitations — in the overall plan to combat bioterrorism.
  
  
• David Ropeik is the Director of Risk Communication at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis. He has 22 years of experience as a science journalist and will discuss the public’s current risk perceptions about bioterrorism, smallpox and SARS.
  
  
• Peter Young, M.B.A., is President and CEO of AlphaVax, Inc., a Research Triangle Park-based company developing and marketing a new vaccine vector technology. He will discuss the market forces affecting vaccine development, including the tendency for society to undervalue vaccines.

	Presented By:
	With Sponsorship From: