A single line often inverts meaning once you see what it
answers, so neighbouring messages are always shown.
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Oct. 27, 2007 - Great day. Went to ISL/IAC cross country championship meet held at Episcopal High in VA. NCS and St. Albans won everything - JV and Varsity and under 15. In the NCS JV race the first 11 runners over the finish line were from NCS. Ali came out 6th in the race!
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Oct. 29, 2007 - Went to dinner at Positano restaurant in Bethesda with Bob Gallo (part of our years long tradition of dinner in Bethesda to "catch up" on what is going on. Discussed the interesting topic of matching Bob, Luc Montagnier and me for nomination for the Nobel prize for AIDS now that I have won the Lasker Award. It could be helpful to Bob if I am on the "ticket" since there is no controversy connected with me and this could make it a more desirable slate since the 2 of them alone always evokes memories of controversy. Oct. 29 - Nov. 1, 2007 - Full week of meetings with Ministers of Health from G-8 and their senior staff on topic of Global Health with an emphasis on Biodefense. Ministers that were present include: The Honorable Mike Leavitt, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services The Honorable Michael Chertoff, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security The Right Honorable Tony Clement, MP, Minister of Health, Canada The Honorable Markos Kyprianou, Esq. Commissioner for Health, European Commission The Honorable Ulla Schmidt, Federal Minister of Health, Federal Republic of Germany The Honorable José Angel Córdova-Villalobos, M.D., Secretary of Health, Mexico The Right Honorable Dawn Primarolo, MP, Minister of State for Public Health, United Kingdom Dr. Donato Greco, Head, Department of Prevention and Communication, Ministry of Health, Italy The Honorable Kenta Matsunami, Parliamentary Secretary for Health Labor and Welfare, Japan Dr. Anarfi Asamoah-Baah, Deputy Director-General, World Health Organization. I gave talk at VRC to the senior staff. Had elegant receptions and dinners at the Corcoran Gallery (Oct. 31) and Library of Congress (Nov. 1).
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Nov. 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.
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Nov. 8, 2007 - Testified before the House Commerce and Energy Committee (Joe Barton, Chair). MOL, Julie, me, Bill Raub. Topic = pandemic flu. Somewhat different twist. Much discussion about funding. Some Republicans such as Barton feel that we should not have an emergency supplement, but that we should have offsets. This is contrary to what House Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis said at the Appropriations Hearing (see above). He feels that it should be new money.
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2007-11-14 00:00
Anthony S. Fauci
Nov. 14, 2007 - Attended 60th Anniversary Gala for Meet the Press (invited by Tim Russert. Held at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. in the new Newseum Building. Another affair of all the glitterati of the Washington, D.C. press and politicians - John McLaughlin, David Gregory, Norah O'Donnell, Fred Fielding, Ben Bradlee, Mike Gerson, Sen. Kennedy, Kerry, Former Sen. McGovern, Tom Ricks (Washington Post), Al Hunt, Dana Perino, Dana Priest, etc. etc. Elegant affair, good food, plenty of cheer.
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Nov. 30, 2007 - Chris an I attended a Holiday Dinner Party at the White House hosted by the President and First Lady. I had been at several Holiday receptions at the White House around Christmas Time, but this was the first time that I attended a Holiday Dinner. There were about 75 - 100 people in attendance. Wonderful affair! The POTUS and First Lady circulated freely with guests as we had cocktails in the foyer adjourning the East Room. Spent several minutes talking with the POTUS and First Lady separately. He and she had just finished an AIDS event in Mount Airy to commemorate World AIDS Day (Dec. 1 - tomorrow). The POTUS had a large 50 foot red AIDS Ribbon hung from the front portico of the White House and he was excited about pointing it out to me. The POTUS in his usual generous way with me kept introducing me to people at the reception as one of the world's greatest scientist who will get us an AIDS vaccine. Again, as usual, he was very warm and friendly with me. Dinner was elegant - pumpkin soup, lamb, fine wines and champagne. The evening was crystal clear and cold (around 40 F). After dinner we had Christmas carols by the Army Choir and a trumpet and piano medley of Holiday Songs by 2 young black men from New Orleans (?names). Nov. 30 - Dec. 9, 2007 - Pre-Iowa caucus heating up with Obama closing the gap with Hillary Clinton who is front-runner. Romney and Giuliani neck in neck on the Republican side. Despite the fact that election is 1 year away, election politics is dominating the news. The "surge" in troops in Iraq appears to be working in cutting down the violence, but this is still a tenuous situation. Latest NIE states that Iran (contrary to what was previously thought) has halted their nuclear weapons programs. Life in DC as active and political as ever.
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Dec. 9, 2007 - Invited by Catherine and Wayne Reynolds to attend a small private dinner with Chris at Café Milano's restaurant for Holiday Cheer. Amazing night. About 15 people in the private Placido Domingo Room of Café Milano. Attending among others was VP and Mrs. Cheney, Bill Marriott, Sen. Thad Cochrane and his girlfriend, Elias and Nadia Zerhouni, Chris Wallace (Fox News), Alma Wildenhorn, John and Debbie Dingell, Mike and Meryl Chertoff, among others. Spent nice time speaking with the VP about Stephen Hayes's book "Cheney" that I just finished 2 days ago. We had fun since we discussed the parts of his earlier years from the book such as his sports in high school. Also discussed with Lynne Cheney the part about her giving him an ultimatum of shaping up in school or she would leave him as his girlfriend. He had flunked out of Yale twice.
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Dec. 11, 2007 - Another exciting Washington social night. First visited home of Ellen and Gerry Sigal at 2909 - 44th Street, N.W. just 2 blocks from our house. Occasion was book signing party for Valeria Plame Wilson to celebrate publishing of her new book "Fair Game" about her outting as a covert CIA agent. Chris and I have gotten to know her and her husband Joe Wilson over the past year, mostly through the Sigal's. Interesting irony (see previous notes) that I am friends with Joe and Valerie at the same time as I am friends with Scooter Libby. Had to leave party early to go to Italian Ambassador Giovanni Castellenata's residence. On way out as I apologized to Joe for leaving early, he joked "As long as you are not going to a party at the VP's house". In fact, that is exactly what I am doing on Thursday (see below). Function at Italian Ambassador's house was fun. Party to honor the visit of Italian President Enrico Napolitano. Usual DC glitterati were there - Mike and Meryl Chertoff, Colin Powell, Lee Hamilton, Frank Balducci (author), D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and wife Michelle, former head of Italian CIA Carrado Cantatore (had nice conversation with him about Italian covert ops in Iraq - i.e. Italian Special Forces are still operating there even as Italian troops pull out), Sen. Pat Leahy, etc. I sat next to my good friend Cecilia Piccione (Chief-of-Staff to the Ambassador).
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Dec. 13, 2007 - Two issues today: Went down to White House with Mark Dybul to visit Dan Price (new SHERPA for the upcoming G-8 meeting in July, 2008). Dan, at the suggestion of Gary Edson, was looking for some bold initiatives for finish off the legacy of the POTUS over the next 11-12 months. Gary mentioned to Dan how I had developed the PEPFAR program. We discussed various options. I brought up several such as elimination of TB and malaria, and aggressively addressing neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Mark had the great idea of using the PEPFAR infrastructure that has been built up over the past 4 years to deliver the meds for NTDs. The bulk of the costs for attacking NTDs is the delivery systems since the drugs are free (ivermectim) or very cheap. In addition, Mark suggested major tax breaks for private sector corporations that donate their expertise such as computer programming, etc. Mark and I were charged with putting together a proposal. This matches nicely with what HHS, NSC, and HSC are asking me to do with putting a bold program together for TB together with CDC, FDA, USAID, and DHS. After talking to Dan, we walked over to Josh Bolten's office and described briefly the plan to him. He likes it a lot and urged us to go forward. Seems strikingly similar situation to what we did with PEPFAR 5 years ago. This evening I went to the Christmas Party at the Vice President's mansion. Chris is in Boston having given a lecture and ran into a big snow storm. She is stranded in Boston and will have to take a train home that will get her in during the middle of the night. I took Ali to the VP party and she had an exciting time meeting the VP and such notables as David Addington (Chief-of-Staff to the VP), Joel Bagnol (HSC), Bruce Miller (VP's Staff, Carol Kuntz, etc.