The five newly appointed members to the National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Diseases Council were recently announced. The council is the principal advisory body for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

The council provides recommendations on the conduct and support of research, including training young scientists and disseminating health information derived from NIAID research. It embodies a diverse perspective on science, health and the human impact of disease. The council is composed of physicians, scientists and representatives of the public who contribute their time and expertise for a four-year term.

The new council members are Ann Arvin, M.D., of Stanford University School of Medicine; Carol Carter, Ph.D., of the State University of New York at Stony Brook; Louis Picker, M.D., of Oregon Health and Science University; Regina Rabinovich, M.D., M.P.H., of the Global Health Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and Christel Uittenbogaart, M.D., of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Ann Arvin, M.D., is Lucile Salter Packard Professor of Pediatrics and professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine. She also serves as vice provost and dean of research at Stanford University. Her principal research interests are the human herpes viruses and childhood viral diseases and vaccines. Dr. Arvin conducted early studies of a varicella-zoster virus vaccine that is now licensed for the prevention of chickenpox and zoster. She has served on many national committees, including the Advisory Committee to the NIAID Collaborative Antiviral Study Group and the National Vaccine Advisory Committee to the Secretary of HHS.

Carol Carter, Ph.D., is professor of molecular genetics and microbiology and adjunct professor of physiology and biophysics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She serves as co-chair of graduate admissions for the Stony Brook Program in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and as director of the summer research internship program for undergraduates. Dr. Carter's major research interest is replication of HIV with a focus on viral assembly and trafficking events required for virus release from infected cells. She is a member of the NIH Etiology and Pathogenesis Planning Committee.

Louis Picker, M.D., is associate director of the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute and professor of pathology, molecular microbiology, and immunology at Oregon Health and Science University. He is also the director of the Pathobiology and Immunology Division of the Oregon National Primate Research Center. Dr. Picker's laboratory focuses on delineating the physiology of T-cell memory in primates, mechanisms of protection against persistent pathogens, AIDS vaccine development, and the immunopathogenesis of AIDS-causing lentiviruses.

Regina Rabinovich, M.D., M.P.H., is director of the infectious diseases component of the Global Health Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She directs the development and implementation of drug and vaccine strategies to prevent, treat and control diseases relevant to global health, such as malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea and human papillomavirus (HPV). Dr. Rabinovich is on the board of several organizations involved in global health and infectious diseases, including the National Center for Infectious Diseases at CDC, African Malaria Network Trust and the Institute for OneWorld Health.

Christel Uittenbogaart, M.D., is professor of pediatrics and microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research focuses on the impact of HIV on the developing immune system and the role of immune activation in HIV pathogenesis. She has served on NIH grant review committees and is also the executive director of the Midwinter Conference of Immunologists, an annual conference that communicates the most recent developments in the field of immunology.

NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health. NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria and illness from potential agents of bioterrorism. NIAID also supports research on basic immunology, transplantation and immune-related disorders, including autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergies.

News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.