Diary Prequel Package — page 325

-and raise debt Jan. Likely a Our government is dysfunctional with neither side giving any indication of negotiating. Likely to be shut down until and beyond the debt ceiling deadline of October 17. This will mean that I will miss several other talks including the upcoming award that I am supposed to receive in San Francisco from the SF AIDS Foundation (SFAF) on Saturday, Oct. 12. Stay tuned. Oct. 8, 2013 - Bill Gates was supposed to deliver the Barnes Lecture and tour the NIH yesterday, but it was cancelled because of USG shutdown. Francis Collins, Harold Varmus and I went to the Gates office in DC at 1300 I Street, N.W. to meet with him at 9:00 AM. Francis, Harold and I met at Starbuck's at 1225 - I Street, N.W. at 8:20 AM to plan strategy. Visit with Bill went very well. I have met previously with Bill several times including at his home in Seattle. The conversation today focused mostly on collaborations that I and NIAID have with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) including the P5 vaccine trials, the HIV antibody - immunogen studies, the Sanaria malaria project, etc. Excellent discussions and we will expand NIH - BMGF collaborations. Oct. 12, 2013 - Government still shut down. POTUS refuses to negotiate under threat of shut-down and debt ceiling debate. House GOP (Speaker Boehner) refusing to let vote go to floor to open USG and raise debt ceiling since the combination of moderate republicams and Democrats in the House would pass it. I miss the trip to SF to get award from SFAF. Oct. 16, 2013 - Still shut down. Senate agrees on Bill to open USG and raise debt ceiling. Waiting on House and Boehner. Went to dinner at Villa Firenze (home of Italian Ambassador to the USA, Claudio Bisogniero) at 2800 Albermarle Street, N.W. to honor visit of Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta (recently elected, 47 year old). Festive occasion with many of the usual DC glitterati. Had nice conversation with: Wolf Blitzer (CNN), Valerie Jarrett (White House), Susan Rice (National Security Advisor), Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Ed. Markey, Phil Piccagallo (Suns of Italy). Sat next to Maj. Gen. Giovanni Fantuzzi, Military Attache for the Italian Embassy, Linda Douglas (formerly of network TV and White House who was with husband, the newly appointed Ambassador to Italy, Amb. Philip. The opening of the USG was announce as we were at the dinner when Nancy Pelosi and Ed Markey reported that a deal was reached. Oct. 17, 2013 - USG opens and debt ceiling raised temporarily until Jan. Likely a similar battle will occur in January. Oct. 18, 2013 - Terrific meeting today. Paul Stoffels, Chief Scientific Officer of Janssen research Foundation, part of Johnson & Johnson called me months ago asking to have a meeting since he wanted to support and develop the Ad26 vector - HIV mosaic insert vaccine candidate of Dan Barouch. I have always liked working with Paul since he is the real deal as an honest scientist and smart drug developer/businessman. He came in from Belgium with a team from Crucell company that was recently purchased by