Diary Prequel Package — page 323

IE version of the Aug. 22, 2013 - Nice piece on me and my "Leadership" in the ONLINE version of the Washington Post. Will also appear in print version soon. Sept. 7, 2013 (Saturday)- Went to an "A-List" party at the home of Jane and Calvin Cafritz on R and 29th Street, N.W. Usual glitterati there with Senators (Markey), Generals (Casey) many ambassadors. Very enjoyable night. During the evening, Ambassador Walter Cutler (former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia) had a vas0-vagal attack and they called for a physician. I attended to him and the story made it into the Style section of the Washington Post on the following Monday. Sept. 3 - 10, and beyond) - Obama threatening to attack Syria since Assad used Chemical weapons (Sarin Gas) against his own citizens. At first the POTUS said he would attack imminently. Then, after it was clear that there was not universal support domestically or internationally for this approach, Obama hesitated and said he would go to Congress to get "authorization" even though he claims that he already has authorization to attack Syria. He is definitely giving a garbled message. New slant is that Russia who would veto any UN resolution against Syria is trying to broker a deal that if we do not attack, Syria will allow international control of their Chemical weapons. More Later. Sept. 10, 2013 - Went to Rooftop Recption dinner hosted by the Friends of the National Library of Medicine at 101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. with a breath-taking view of the Capitol. I gave laudation/award to Ray Schinazi for his discover of Lamivudine, Emtricitabine, and sofosbuvir. Very enjoyable night. Sept. 11, 2013 - Gave Great Teacher's Lecture at the Masur Auditorium in the Clinical Center as part of celebration of 60th Anniversary of the NIH Clinical Center. Spoke of Ending the AIDS Pandemic; however spent first part of talk on ny history in coming to and working in the Clinical Center for over 40 years. Packed house in Masur and overflow in Lipsett Auditorium. Amazing how time flies by. I remember the first day that I arrived and parked in the lot diretly in front of the CC and bumped into Alba Cosenza. Sept. 19, 2013 - I called an important Summit that took place at Bethesda North Marriott. Purpose was to discuss the advisability of using Adenovirus vectors for HIv vaccines given the failures of Ad5 vectors in 3 vaccine trials, but more importantly the fact that there were "trends" in each study that showed an enhancing effect on acquisition of infection in the vaccines who received the Ad5 vector. Meta-analysis of the 3 studies showed a significant (<0.01) 32% enhancement of infection. Big question is that there are ongoing plans to use other vectors (Ad26, among others) in future HIV vaccine trials as well as in non-HIV vaccine trials (malaria, TB, etc.) in populations that might be at risk for HIV. Seems to me that any vaccine that activates cells that might migrate to the mucosal surface can have an enhancing effect that is seen if the vaccine is not efficacious. If the vaccine is efficacious, then the enhancing effect is masked as might have been the case with the 31% efficacy of the RV144 trial. Important issue is to try to get the efficacious vaccine and not do a trial on an Ad vector unless it shows an immune response that would be better than any other vaccines that we have tried.