SERVIC
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- S¢ DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service

 

HEALTH
io ty,

*

na National institutes of Health
ue National institute of Allergy

and Infectious Diseases

Bethesda, Maryland 20892

July 6, 1999

Joshua Lederberg, Ph.D.
Sackler Foundation Scholar
Rockefeller University
1230 York Avenue

New York, NY 10021-6399

Dear Joshua:

Thank you for agreeing to participate in the July 26-27 meeting of NIAID’s Strategic
Plan Task Force. The purpose of the meeting is to identify research priorities and plan the
Institute’s activities over the next 3 to 5 years. The NIAID believes that outside advice is critical
for setting informed research priorities, and we routinely call upon the research community,
professional organizations, academic associations, industry, patient advocacy groups, and other
public representatives to provide advice and contribute to the development and oversight of its
research activities.

Two primary motivations drive the development of an NIAID strategic plan. The first
motivation is the accelerating pace of discovery in the biomedical sciences. In particular,
NIAID’s investment in basic research creates countless opportunities for remarkable advances in
medicine—opportunities that compete with each other for limited resources. The second
motivation stems from the 1998 Institute of Medicine Report, Scientific Opportunities and Public
Health Needs: Improving Priority Setting at the National Institutes of Health, which
recommended that the NIH Director receive a strategic plan from each Institute and Center (IC).
To address this recommendation, Dr. Varmus asked each IC to develop, with public input, a 2-5
year strategic plan. The primary audiences for the plans are members of Congress and the
public.

After considerable discussion among Institute staff, we have developed a framework for
the strategic plan to convey concisely our broad-based research priorities. In a subsequent
mailing, we will provide a detailed outline of the strategic plan, organized around four broad
areas that constitute the NIAID research portfolio—immune-mediated diseases, AIDS, emerging
infectious diseases, and vaccines. We will ask you to review the outline, and provide
suggestions on how we can best delineate a strategy to respond to scientific opportunities and
public health needs. To assist you in the review, we will also provide background information
and other materials used in shaping the outline.
Page 2 - Joshua Lederberg, Ph.D.

The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn in Bethesda, Maryland, beginning at 5:30
PM on Monday, July 26 and ending at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, July 27. NIAID’s contractor, IQ
Solutions, will be in touch with you to provide further information on meeting logistics. The
NIAID will reimburse your travel expenses and provide an honorarium.

If you have any questions about the meeting, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. La
Montagne or me. | look forward to meeting with you on July 26. Best personal regards.

Sincerely,
ka
Anthony Sf Fauci, M.D.

Director

National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases