Important note: Information in this article was accurate in March 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, March 29, 1999
Daniel J. DeNoon, Senior Editor
University of Michigan researcher Gary J. Nabel will fill the long-open post of director of the new NIH AIDS Vaccine Research Center.
NIH Director Harold Varmus had promised that the post would go only to a widely respected researcher, and he has kept his word.
"Gary Nabel is a superb scientist who has excelled at the frontiers of virology, immunology, gene therapy, and molecular biology," Varmus said. "As a result of his experiences with clinical and laboratory research in academia and extensive interactions with industrial partners, he is remarkably well prepared to lead the complex, multidisciplinary and collaborative activities that will be required to develop an effective HIV vaccine."
Nabel's most recent work has been on a genetic vaccine against Ebola virus. His laboratory was the first to demonstrate in an animal model that Ebola vaccination was feasible (see Vaccine Weekly, January 19, 1998).
Nabel has been working for years on a strategy for genetically engineering anti-HIV resistance into a person's cells. This intracellular immunization strategy involves ex vivo transfection of autologous T cells with a gene encoding an inhibitory form of the HIV-1 Rev protein (the transdominant mutant dubbed Rev M10; see AIDS Weekly Plus, September 15, 1997).
Nabel is expected to begin work at his new job on April 11, 1999. His appointment eases fears that the NIH AIDS Vaccine Center would fail to attract high-powered talent. The multidisciplinary center - an independently housed, joint project of the
National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - eventually is expected to employ some 100 researchers and support staff.
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