an AIDS research institute long prioritized vaccines has finally found a director. After a search of 18 months, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) appoint University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, molecular biologist Gary Nabel as the first head of the high profile new center Science Now has learned. The announcement could come as early as tomorrow.
In May 1997, President Bill Clinton announced the creation of the new vaccine research center with much fanfare ( Science 23 May 1997, p. 1184). He said the center, under construction on the outskirts of Washington, NIH campus, would spearhead efforts to develop, within a decade, a vaccine to prevent people from contracting HIV. While planning for the center forged ahead, however, the NIH administrators had difficulty recruiting a director, with several candidates victim of bureaucratic conflicts. The delay has prompted criticism from some AIDS activists, who said the administration did not follow well on its plans.
Earlier this year, however, word leaked that Nabel had emerged as the leading candidate for the position. New rankled some vaccine researchers, who noted that while he is a recognized authority on the use of gene therapy to combat AIDS, there is a newcomer to vaccine research. Yet the selection Nabel is "a great choice," said the researcher AIDS Ashley Haase of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Nable "may be relatively new to the [vaccine] game," he said, "but it will bring a new perspective and get a lot of support" the veterans in the field.
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