for your awareness: materials requested for dr. tabak
2 messages over 0m, 2023-11-29 – 2023-11-29.
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Hello Dr. Marrazzo, NIH OLPA has asked for NIAID assistance with preparing background materials for Dr. Tabak for a potential congressional staff briefing. As you are aware, there has been recent congressional interest in certain coronavirus studies conducted at RML. It is possible that Dr. Tabak may provide a briefing on this research to staff to the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee (Chair: Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-AL) in the coming weeks. NIH OLPA has asked us to review a draft background document for Dr. Tabak. The NIH Office of Research Services (Division of Occupational Health and Safety) has reviewed as well. The legislative team worked with DIR/RML to add information requested by OLPA and make additional NIAID edits for accuracy. The attached document with NIAID edits was reviewed by Hugh, Jill, and Courtney, and will be provided to NIH OLPA for review and potential use by Dr. Tabak. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Sara DRAFT, PRE-DECISIONAL Background on Bat CoV Research at RML and recent media inquiries Background: Prompted by a recent article in the Daily Mail and a FOX News program video featuring a blog post on the White Coast Waste (WCW) Project website, Kathryn has reached out for additional information about an incident and documents related to Dr. Munster's research at RML. There are many confusing media statements on the issue, as well as the vague request from Kathryn. To help clarify the facts, please see information below. Proposal: Dr. Tabak to have a call with Kathryn to talk through some of the misinformation. Please see high level points here and additional background below. © WIV-1 the virus studied at RML in 2016 and published in 2018 is not a progenitor to. SARS-CoV-2. © WIV-1is a naturally occurring bat coronavirus and is named WIV-1 because scientists at WIV were the first to discover and characterize the virus. © RML researchers did not receive the virus or bats from WIV. * RML followed standard procedures to procure the bats for research and used a USDA approved licensed dealer. FPsBackground: © RML has an over 100-year history studying emerging infectious diseases, pandemics including Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease, bubonic plague, chronic wasting disease, Ebola, Zika, and yellow fever. e ABSL-4 facility was eonstrueted-completed at RML in 2008 (under President Bush) and put into service in 2009.I (under President Bush). Commented [B[1]: I believe 2009 is more © These are the safest and most strictly regulated infectious disease facilities for appropriate here, since construction was completed in high sence:paifiopens: 2008, but initial facility approval received in 2009 and consequence pathogens. . . the first studies began in late 2009/early 2010. © BSL-4s undergo the highest levels of scrutiny on research, safety, security, and Brose, Megan (NIH/OD/ORS) [E] personnel reliability. 2023-11-27 12:32:00 * Why Research Coronaviruses (CoV) at RML? Commented [SS([2R1]: Edits to address for © CoV are responsible for many common colds, but in the 21st century, they have accuracy caused 3 very-serious and deadly -world-wide-pandemies-outbreaks -- the 2003 Selgrade, Sara (NIH/NIAID) [E] SARS-1 pandemic (SARS-CoV-1), the 2013 MERS outbreak (MERS-CoV), and Ue EPUB BED the 2019 COVID-19 pandemic (SARS-CoV-2). o Many CoV use_live in bats as a seser+eir-natural host -- often the bats have limited to no signs of disease caused byar the infection. DRAFT, PRE-DECISIONAL © There has been a long-standing interest among RML scientists ion CoV infections and potential for spillover from animals to humansemong RME-seientists. © CoV are considered to be among the likely causes of future pandemics. © WIV-1is a coronavirus that was isolated from bats and characterized by WIV scientists. © Itis not closely related to nor a progenitor of SARS-CoV-1/2 n>» MERS-CoV. © WIV scientists posted the WIV-1 sequence on a public database. © USS. scientists used that sequence to construct a virus using standard virology methods that they outlined in a 2016 PNASViruses article. + They did not get actual virus from WIV. = The RML scientists collaborated with the U.S. scientists (University of North Carolina) thetwho had constructed the WIV-1 and got the virus from them for their studies. = [RML scientists do not and have never collaborated directly with WIV scientists. I Research at RML on WIV-1 © Because of the interest in CoV, RML scientists decided to study WIV-1 to
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Hello Dr. Marrazzo, NIH OLPA has asked for NIAID assistance with preparing background materials for Dr. Tabak for a potential congressional staff briefing. As you are aware, there has been recent congressional interest in certain coronavirus studies conducted at RML. It is possible that Dr. Tabak may provide a briefing on this research to staff to the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee (Chair: Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-AL) in the coming weeks. NIH OLPA has asked us to review a draft background document for Dr. Tabak. The NIH Office of Research Services (Division of Occupational Health and Safety) has reviewed as well. The legislative team worked with DIR/RML to add information requested by OLPA and make additional NIAID edits for accuracy. The attached document with NIAID edits was reviewed by Hugh, Jill, and Courtney, and will be provided to NIH OLPA for review and potential use by Dr. Tabak. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Sara It is aft I Safety) has NIH