Diary Prequel Package — page 280

merely want them to reconvene so that they can have all of the information that was presented in Geneva and at the ASM meeting on Feb. 29, 2012 in Washington. Things that they almost certainly did not know at the time of their December, 2011 recommendation: 1) aerosol transmitted H5N1 does not kill ferrets; 2) engineered H5N1 is poorly transmissible, i.e. it takes 3 to 5 days after exposure to transmit to 75% of ferrets compared to 2009 N1N1 that transmits in 100% of animals within 1 day; 3) pre-infecting ferrets with either seasonal H1N1 or H3N2 and letting them recover and then instilling 1 million infectious doses of H5N1 into their tracheas completely protects the ferrets from disease and death. If they still feel after they hear this that the papers should be redacted, then so be it. I believe that they are incorrect and were driven by the hysteria of Mike Osterholm, the know-it-all of David Relman and the lack of understanding of the rest of the NSABB. Mar. 8, 2012 - Went to special premier showing of the movie "Game Changer" about Sarah Palin starring Julianne Moore, Ed Harris and Woody Harrelson. All the usual DC glitterati were there, both political and media. Tammy Haddad was responsible for my invite. Went with Chris. Mar. 9, 2012 - PCAST meeting at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Presented on a panel with Paul Keim (Chair of NSABB), Bruce Alberts (Science editorin-chief), Peter Palese (Mt. Sinai) regarding the H1N1 manuscript controversy. Chaired by John Holdren and Eric Lander. Reviewed the pros and cons of publication. I gave presentation similar to my ASM presentation on Feb. 29. Mar. 12, 2012 - Gave my yearly talk to the Zuckerman Fellows on "A Career in Public Service". Very engaged group; was told by conveners that the fellows loved the talk and found it the best among many talks by White House people, and other government officials. Usual cocktail reception and dinner at the home of Ron and Beth Dozoretz. Mingled with the usual DC glitterati - Andrea Mitchell and Alan Greenspan, Mort Zuckerman, David Gergen, Chris Matthews, etc. Mar. 20, 2012 - House Appropriations Subcommittee Hearings - Rayburn Building. Unusual situation that the Hearing was confined to a discussion about NCATS. Only official witnesses were Francis Collins and Tom Insel (Director NIMH) who was there in his capacity as Acting Director of NCATS. Harold Varmus and I were there as "token" attendees for rest of NIH. It was a disgrace that the Hearing was only NCATS. Chairman Dennis Reyberg is not the brightest bulb on the porch. Mar. 22, 2012 - Small intimate dinner at Café Milano sponsored by Wayne and Katherine Reynolds. Dinner in honor of Susan Hockfield the retiring President of MIT. Usual glitterati - Rick Atkinson (author), Head of National Geographic, etc. Mar. 25, 2012 - Went to Baltimore to present John Bartlett with an award from AIDS Action Baltimore. He was delighted at my laudation. It was run by AIDS activist and friend of mine - Lynda Dee..