A single line often inverts meaning once you see what it
answers, so neighbouring messages are always shown.
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Oct. 6, 2008 - Big news today. Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology given to Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for HIV and to Harald Zur Hausen for HPV discovery.. This is a big slight to Gallo, likely because of the controversy from the 1980s. The Committee could have given the 3 (limit) to HIV and save HPV for another year; yet they combined them and thus Gallo was out since it is clear from the 1983 Science paper that Montagnier and Barre-Sinoussi discovered the virus first, although Gallo proved cause effect one year later and discovered TCGF (IL-2) that allowed everyone to grow T cells in culture and hence grow the virus. Gave the after dinner address at the Woodrow Wilson Internal Center for Scholars Dinner for their Board of Trustees, Councilors, and Scholars at the Ronald Reagan Building in DC. Cool, crisp night. I was invited by Lee Hamilton. Many notable people there including Sam and Jan Donaldson, Marvin Kalb, Robin Cook, etc. I spoke on HIV/AIDS: An Historical Perspective. Talk extremely well received.
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Oct. 11 - 16, 2008 - Traveled to Cape Town, South Africa to deliver a keynote address at the 2008 AIDS Vaccine Meeting on "An HIV Vaccine: Science and Policy". The talk was very well received. I spoke of the particular challenges of HIV vaccinology compared with "classical" vaccinology. Weather was beautiful and the city was in my mind a cross between San Francisco and Rio de Janeiro. We took a drive on Monday AM, Oct. 13 around the countryside to vineyards and around the historical parts of the city. Most disturbing to me was the conditions that I saw at the "townships" a few miles outside of the city. Particularly disturbing was Khayelitsha township that seemed to go on for miles with huts that were made of corrugated tin roofs and plywood and other soft material. The huts were smack next to each other with very little room between them to even walk outside. Apparently they have electricity in some huts and common water sources and latrines, but I cannot imagine anyone living there. The black South Africans say that it is not as bad as it looks and they are gradually trying to phase them out and replace them with regular housing. I cannot judge since this is the first time that I have seen them, but I would flatten the whole thing now and build high-rises. Problem is that hundreds of thousands of people live there and you cannot just displace them now without a facility to put them in. I have some concern at this point that the Vaccine Enterprise in the person of Allan Bernstein is looking for ways to change the direction of HIV vaccine research even though he has been in the field only for months. He is a very good guy, but I repeat my usual statement of "everybody wants to be somebody" and "beware of people who do not have real day jobs". They tend to try and change things that they do not yet even understand. Oct. 17 -- 25, 2008 -- The polls are starting to swing heavily towards Barack Obama. He may indeed be our next President.
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Oct. 20, 2008 -- Attended funeral of Paul Rogers ("Mr. Health") at the National Cathedral. Sad day. He was a great advocate for biomedical research. I got to know him well over the past 24 years together with his wife Becky. We went to many functions together over the years.
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Oct. 22, 2008 -- Participated in the dedication of the new NBAAC facility of DHS at Fort Detrick. Since NIAID is a partner in that "Biodefense Campus", it was important that I be there for the ceremony. Met with Gen George Weightman (he of the Walter Reed Arny Hospital scandal -- bad conditions for wounded veterans of Iraq war -- Was not his fault, but he got caught holding the bag) who is the US Army Commander. Cliff Lane gave me tour of our facility in Ft. Detrick -- designed to do sophisticated imaging studies on non-human primates.
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2008-10-26 00:00
Anthony S. Fauci
Oct. 26, 2008 -- Received Maxwell Finland Award from the IDSA and gave the ICAAC Award Lecture at the Annual ICAAC\IDSA meeting at the DC Convention Center on "Global Health and infectious Diseases: A Look to the Future". It was amazing. There were 11,000 people in the audience! Clearly the largest crowd that I have ever spoken to live even counting all of the Keynotes lectures that I have given at many International AIDS Meetings. Lecture very well received. Next day (Oct. 27) went with Chris to the IDSA and ICAAC president's reception at the American Portrait Gallery on 8" Street and F Street, N.W. beautiful crisp (55 F) clear Fall days for both occasions.
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Oct. 30, 2008 -- Farewell ceremony for Elias Zerhouni as NIH Director. I gave a strong laudatory for him (see my printed speeches). Much speculation that I will be next NIH Director. Interesting -- 6.5 years have gone by since I was faced with this same choice and the best decision that I made was to say no to George Bush. So many good things have happened to me professionally since then. I doubt that I want to do it.
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Nov. 4, 2008 -- Barack Obama will be our new POTUS!! Everyone excited about this. We spent elective night at a party next door with Rob Stein and Ellen Perry and some friends (Dan and Gigi Green -- former ABC Producer of Nightline and others). Stock Market crashing -- no one seems to know when bottom will come
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Nov. 8, 2008 -- I presented an award post-humously to Paul Rogers at an Arthritis Foundation black tie gala. Steve Lawton (his longtime
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Nov. 10, 2008 -- Stock market still crashing -- no end in sight. Big Federal bailouts of banks and credit companies to the tune of $1 trillion and more; yet slide continues.