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Half-Century of NIAID Research
There is a "restless tide" of infectious diseases—a perpetual emergence and reemergence of pathogens. Genetic events and selective pressures lead microbes to change, and for new diseases to emerge and new epidemics to occur. Despite important advances in therapeutics, vaccinology, and diagnostics, we remain vulnerable to newly recognized and reemerging diseases, which are superimposed on endemic diseases that continue to exact a huge toll. Recognizing these challenges while also celebrating 50 years of research progress, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) convened a scientific symposium in November 1998 on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus (video available at http://videocast.nih.gov/ram/niaid50.ram ). Several participants described advances in the NIAID core disciplines of infectious diseases, microbiology and immunology, while others called for a comprehensive, multipronged research strategy to confront the myriad challenges that remain. Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. |