Faculty Bibliography

A German virologist, Harald zur Hausen, will receive half the award for his discovery of HPV, the human papilloma virus, according to the announcement made Monday by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, which selects the winners of the medical prize. The discovery led to development of a vaccine against cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women. Zur Hausen, of the University of Heidelberg, was cited for discovering the first HPV type 16, in 1983, from biopsies of women who had cervical cancer. A year later, zur Hausen cloned HPV 16 and another type, 18. The two HPV types are consistently found in about 70 percent of cervical cancer biopsies throughout the world, the institute said

RNA is the close chemical cousin of DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, the material in a cell nucleus that contains genetic code. These scientists found that snippets of RNA act as genetic regulators governing many activities in animals and plants. Scientists now have implicated micro-RNAs in viral infections, heart failure, cancer, other diseases and in normal functions like muscle action and blood cell specialization. At the time, many scientists were skeptical about the safety of lowering the amount of cholesterol because it was an essential body chemical. But by 1980, [Akira Endo]'s team found that the statin lowered the LDL, or 'bad' cholesterol level known as low-density lipoprotein, in the blood by 17 percent. The three winners in the basic research category were honored for expanding the versatility of RNA, long regarded as DNA's poor cousin. Previous scientific convention held that proteins, not RNAs, governed gene activity in animal cells

Dr. Endo, 74, was chosen for ushering in a new era in preventing and treating coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States and many other countries, said Dr. Joseph L. Goldstein, chairman of the 24-member scientific jury that selects the Lasker recipients

Jorge Saavedra, director of the Mexican national AIDS program, underscored the imperative for such information by saying 'if you do not follow the epidemiology of HIV' and the scientific evidence, 'then we will lose the fight against HIV.' 'Development of a vaccine is still more of an art than a science,' said Tadataka Yamada, an official of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle. He added, 'No one country, any one scientist, any one team of scientists will develop the vaccine.' 'The lack of secure and reliable drug supplies is the Achilles' heel of antiretroviral programs,' said Gregg Gonsalves of the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa. 'Central medical stores in many countries often cannot handle this task.'

There were renewed calls for strong advocacy and financing to sustain gains already made, like promoting more antiretroviral therapy in poorer countries, along with male circumcision and behavior modification. Dr. Jorge Saavedra, director of the Mexican national AIDS program, underscored the imperative for such information by saying that 'if you do not follow the epidemiology of H.I.V.' and the scientific evidence, 'then we will lose the fight against H.I.V.' Now, a new test developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention promises a greater ability to pinpoint hot spots of new infections and to control them more quickly, at least in developed countries.

A follow-up look at men who were circumcised in an African study shows that the procedure's protective effects against H.I.V. last for at least three and a half years, researchers said at the 17th International AIDS Conference here last week.

There was 'a 'planting and eating soybean' project for people living with H.I.V./AIDS in rural Anhui, China,' 'situational analysis and client satisfaction evaluation of A.R.T. centers in India' and 'coordinating procurement planning using logistics data,' to name but a few such studies

The conference theme was 'universal action now' with an emphasis on the urgency of allowing infected people to be treated equally as a human rights issue and of wider use of prevention measures.

Another plenary speaker, Dr. Bruno Spire, the president of AIDES, a nongovernmental group in France, also called for improving laws and policies to combat stigma and discrimination against groups most vulnerable to H.I.V., typically gay and bisexual men, injecting drug users and sex workers

Noah Novogrodsky, a human-rights lawyer and the advocacy group's legal director, said the evidence would also be shared with the office of the United Nations high commissioner for human rights for possible prosecution as crimes against humanity