PHRI News 2013

	05.14.13	David Perlin of PHRI contributed to an Inside Health Policy article entitled: "House Lawmakers Seek NIH Insight On Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Response." Select this link to read the artcle.
	04.08.13	In this month's update, PHRI Paper Highlights features a study on the role inositol contributes to the development of cryptococcal meningitis, carried out by Dr. Xue's group. For details, please visit PHRI Paper Highlights.
	04.02.13	Dr. Marila Gennaro of PHRI is hosting the conference Biomarkers for Tuberculosis: New Questions, New Tools, which will take place on September 8 - 11, 2013 in Chantilly, VA. The objective of the conference is to integrate knowledge generated through basic, translational, and clinical research that can lead to novel methods and strategies for identifying and assessing biomarkers for tuberculosis. The conference includes plenary sessions featuring invited speakers and speakers selected from among abstracts submitted for poster presentations. Registration is currently open. The deadline for abstract submission is June 1, 2013. For the full program and additional information: www.regonline.com/tbconference To download a PDF copy of the Conference Announcement, please follow this link.
	02.28.13	In this month's update, PHRI Paper Highlights features a study on spontaneous latency of pulmonary tuberculosis in a rabbit model carried out by Dr. Kaplan's group, and a study on mRNA biogenesis in Tuberculosis published by Drs. Pine and Gennaro. For details, please visit PHRI Paper Highlights.
	01.23.13	In UMDNJ Magazine's Winter 2013 issue, Drs. David Perlin, David Alland, William Gause, and Sally Hodder, provide their view on how working together at NJMS they "Tackles Infection and Inflammation." To download a PDF copy of this article, please follow this link.
	01.22.13	Last week, NJBIZ reported on the merger of UMDNJ and Rutgers and the relationship with the industry as a result on this merger. Read the article on www.njbiz.com.
	01.15.13	In this month’s issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Dr. Arkady Mustaev, faculty at PHRI, published his study on the underlying mechanisms of high fidelity of RNA synthesis by RNA polymerase, the major enzyme that promotes the transcription process. Please read UMDNJ's press release, highlighting his publication, at www.umdnj.edu.
	01.11.13	The WNYC reported on Dr. David Perlin's new diagnostic assay to rapidly detect the fungus associated with tainted steroids. Read the article on www.wnyc.com.
	01.10.13	A rapid detection test for Exserhilum rostratum, the fungus primarily responsible for 39 deaths among patients injected last year with a contaminated steroid medication, was developed by the research group led by Dr. David Perlin of PHRI. A copy of UMDNJ's press release can found at www.umdnj.edu.
	01.09.13	Postdoctoral position available at the Public Health Research Institute/Department of Medicine, UMDNJ, Newark NJ. For details, please visit this link.
	01.02.13	In this month's update, PHRI Outreach Publications features a new book on Systems Biology of Tuberculosis that includes a chapter contributed by Drs. Marila Gennaro, Richard Pine, and Yuri Bushkin. For details, please visit PHRI Outreach Publication.

PHRI News 2012

	12.04.12	PHRI Outreach Publications features a new book on bacterial gene regulation and which is co-authored by Marila Gennaro. In addition, this section also includes two new publications, one on Immune Responses and the other one on Immunity to Tuberculosis, which are the subject of Gilla Kaplan's research at PHRI. Please visit PHRI Outreach Publication.
	10.19.12	Dr. Min Lu, Senior Faculty at PHRI studies: "Can What’s in Spit Prevent HIV?".
	10.16.12	Dr. Juan Robles, a former participant in the PHRI Summer High School Research Trainee Program, is featured in a video narrated by the actor Al Pacino. Please follow this link for Dr. Robles' story and to view the video.
	10.10.12	David Perlin, executive director of PHRI, wrote an editorial to the New York Times in response to their recent article on fungal meningitis, which is linked to spinal steroid injections. Please follow this link to download a PDF copy of the editorial. To read the original New York Times article, click here.
	10.02.12	The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a $2.52 million grant to new PHRI faculty member Dr. Veronique Dartois for a program entitled: "Integrated pharmacokinetics to rationally design new drug combinations for TB."  This work is a partnership with Clifton Barry III (NIH-NIAID), Carl Nathan (Weill Cornell Medical College), and Tanya Parish (Infectious Disease Research Institute-University of Washington). In summary, effective drug discovery programs require real-time evaluation of pharmacokinetic (PK) properties, an activity which has not traditionally been pursued by academic researchers. This program will bridge this gap by providing PK support to the BMGF-funded TB Drug Accelerator (TBDA) screening centers, to ensure better quality hits and leads, and reduce PK-related attrition rates. A new paradigm in TB drug development calls for the integration of combination therapy early in the clinical development process. Given the long duration and complexity of TB clinical trials, and the limitation of resources in endemic countries, it is imperative to rationally inform the prioritization of drug combinations that have the best potential to dramatically reduce treatment duration. Dr. Dartois will conduct studies of lesion-centric PK to image and quantify new and existing TB drugs in various lesion types and discrete granuloma compartments, by mass spectrometry and high resolution MALDI imaging. The results will inform the selection of drug combinations with complementary distribution in the different TB lesions and lesion compartments, to be endorsed by the Critical Path to TB Drug Regimens and relevant expert panels, and tested in upcoming clinical trials.
	09.17.12	A five-year NIAID grant of 3.7 million dollars has been awarded to Drs. Yuri Bushkin, Marila Gennaro and Sanjay Tyagi at PHRI and Dept. of Medicine/NJMS at UMDNJ. The grant also includes Co-Investigators Richard Pine and Alfred Lardizabal (PHRI, Global TB Institute, and Department of Medicine/NJMS at UMDNJ), as well as Mathias Oelke and Jonathan Schneck (Dept. of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University). The project, which is entitled “Rapid Analysis of Single T Cell Immunity Signatures in Tuberculosis”, will develop a new diagnostic platform to distinguish between active tuberculosis and latent M. tuberculosis infection. This approach will help obtain multi-parameter measurements of single T cell functional state by quantitative flow cytometric analysis of expression of inducible key markers of T cell activation and function. In addition, novel means of stimulation of T cell receptor signaling using artificial antigen-presenting cells will be explored. This new platform will be amenable to use in diagnosis and staging of any pathology based on receptor-mediated responses including other infectious diseases, cancer, autoimmunity, and transplantation. This project is part of the Single Cell Analysis Program and is funded through the NIH Common Fund and the Office of the NIH Director. The Common Fund supports cross-cutting programs that are expected to have exceptionally high impact.
	09.04.12	PHRI / UMDNJ are hosting the FBI Academic Biosecurity workshop, which is being held in the ICPH building on September 21st, 2012. This workshop will identify the biosecurity roles and responsibilities of law enforcement agencies, research institutions, and community stakeholders. Please download the brochure for this event, and for more information and to register, go to: https://academicbiosecurityworkshop.org.
	09.04.12	On Thursday, September 20th, 2012, the PHRI Center organized its 10th Annual Summer High School Intern Program Symposium. Please download the Symposium Announcement for more details.
	08.02.12	PHRI signs an exchange agreement with University of Chile The Public Health Research Institute (PHRI), represented by Executive director Dr. David Perlin, and Universidad Austral de Chile (Austral University of Chile, UACH), represented by the Dean, Dr. Victor Cubillos, signed an agreement facilitating the exchange of researchers between the two institutions. This new partnership between Chile and PHRI will provide students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty the ability to perform short visits between both institutions to conduct doctoral theses research, write joint grants, and initiate valuable scientific collaborations. UACH provides higher education in the areas of biochemistry, medicine, geology, and agronomy. In addition the university supports research on drug abuse and infectious diseases which including tuberculosis, HIV, and herpes. The exchange of students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty will be coordinated in PHRI by Dr. David Perlin and Dr. Eliseo Eugenin and in Chile by Dr. Ana Maria Sarraga and Dr. Carolina Otth. For further information, please contact Dr. Perlin or Dr. Eugenin. For specific information about UACH, visit their English web site.
	05.21.12	On May 21, 2012, Dr. Sanjay Tyagi, principal investigator at PHRI and professor of Medicine at NJMS, was honored with the NJMS Award for Research Excellence at the 2012 NJMS Convocation. George F. Heinrich, MD, Vice Chairman and CEO of the UMDNJ Foundation, read the following statement: "Dr. Tyagi's work has had a profound impact on science and medicine. In 1996, Dr. Tyagi co-invented molecular beacons. This technology has been adopted in clinical and research laboratories around the world and has become the basis of a vibrant new molecular diagnostics industry, which has revitalized the diagnostic practice. Dr. Tyagi's laboratory has also developed new methodologies to detect and image individual molecules of mRNA and has discovered that mRNAs in mammalian cells are not produced in steady and predictable streams but are produced in bursts of expression that are initiated and terminated randomly. He has also investigated where in the nucleus and at what point during mRNA biogenesis splicing occurs, culminating in a paper published this last year in the prestigious journal Cell. This discovery has created much excitement in fields as diverse as gene expression, systems biology, stem cell biology, development and microbiology. In summary, Dr. Tyagi is an exceptional and highly accomplished scholar who exemplifies high-impact research at NJMS."
	05.07.12	A review of Drs. Sanjay Tyagi and Fred Russell Kramer on the application of molecular beacons in clinical diagnostic assays appeared in the May 2012 issue of the Faculty 1000 Medicine Reports. Please follow this link to read the article.
	04.19.12	Dr. Gilla Kaplan (Principal Investigator and Professor at the Public Health Research Institute (PHRI) of New Jersey Medical School) a tuberculosis expert and a world-leader in infectious diseases research was named to serve on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health Program. The Committee provides critical advice for the foundation’s research and development efforts. Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life.
	04.10.12	In April, 2012, two new faculty members joined PHRI. Dr. Véronique Dartois is a new member of PHRI, with an academic appointment in the Department of Medicine at the New Jersey Medical School-UMDNJ. Initially trained as a molecular biologist, Dr Dartois comes with 7 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, acquired through her previous position as Pharmacology Unit Head at the Novartis Institute of Tropical Diseases in Singapore. Her current research interests include the pharmacokinetics and imaging of anti-tuberculosis drugs in pulmonary lesions, the molecular mechanisms driving intracellular accumulation of TB drugs in Mycobacterium and in macrophages, and the optimization of predictive animal models and in vitro assays to study these questions. The technology that Dr. Dartois is using and developing can be expanded to a large variety of drug molecules active against an array of diseases, and holds great promise for the molecular imaging of the biochemical and pathological changes caused to the host by any disease of interest. Dr. Eliseo Eugenin, formerly a Professor of Pathology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, has just joined the PHRI center faculty and is also a member of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the New Jersey Medical School-UMDNJ. Dr. Eugenin is studying the neurological dysfunction that occurs during infection of the central nervous system (CNS) by certain viruses, such as HIV, dengue, Japanese encephalitis, SARS and others. He has shown that blood brain barrier (BBB) disruption, microglia / macrophage activation, secretion of inflammatory factors, and poorer glial and neuronal survival/function occur during HIV infection of the CNS. He is now extending this research to other neurotropic viruses. In addition to this research, Dr. Eugenin is studying the role of drugs of abuse in CNS communication and susceptibility to infections. His data indicates that these drugs have profound effects on CNS communication, gap junctions and synaptic receptors, altering signaling coordination and neuronal/glial communication. In addition, drugs of abuse disrupt key CNS structures such as the BBB, allowing pathogens to invade the brain more easily. Dr. Eugenin’s research has profound implication and significance for our understanding of NeuroAIDS and drug abuse and how to treat these conditions.
	04.05.12	In the Winter/Spring 2012 issue of the Pulse Magazine, a New Jersey Medical School publication, two articles appeared discussing work by PHRI researchers. One article features the work of Dr. Issar Smith, and a PDF copy can be downloaded via this link. The other article discusses PHRI and its infectious diseases program and please click here to download a PDF copy.
	02.17.12	The Public Health Research Institute, together with The New York Academy of Sciences, organized a symposium to discuss the molecular epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, the complexity of their multidrug resistance, and the clinical challenges in both diagnosing resistance and treating immuncompromised patients. The event took place on Friday, February 17, 2012, at the New York Academy of Sciences. Presentations were given by Robert Bonomo, MD, of Case Western Reserve University, Barry Kreiswirth, PhD, of the PHRI, and Thomas J. Walsh, MD of NY Presbyterian Hospital at Weill Cornell. For more details on this symposium, please visit the Academy's web site.
	01.10.12	Last fall, Dr. Carmela Irene, a researcher at the Public Health Research Institute, participated as a volunteer for the New York Academy of Sciences, which collaborated with the Infosys USA Foundation, on an after school program for the Citizen Schools in New Jersey. An article on this successful program was posted on the Citizen Schools' web site ( www.citizenschools.org).

PHRI News from Prior Years

	10.01.11	Last October, the CNN Network broadcasted a one-hour documentary called "CNN Presents: Death by Mail - The Anthrax Letters." In this documentary, the new UMDNJ Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (RBL) was featured and interviews were conducted with Drs. David Perlin and Nancy Connell. Please follow this link to read more background information on the documentary at www.cnn.com.
	09.15.11	The NY Times published a letter submitted by PHRI Executive Director, Dr. David Perlin, entitled “‘Contagion’ Puts a Focus on Infectious Diseases”. Please follow this link to read the lettter at www.nytimes.com.
	08.10.11	On Tuesday, October 18, 2011, the 9th Annual PHRI Summer High School Intern Symposium will take place at PHRI. Follow this link to download the Symposium Program.
	08.01.11	Dr. Salvatore Marras, PHRI scientist and faculty member, appeared in this month's issue of Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News to discuss his view on the advances in quantitative PCR assays. To read the full article, please visit the magazine's website at www.genengnews.com
	05.20.11	Mona Batish, graduate student in the laboratory of Drs. Fred Kramer, Sanjay Tyagi and Salvatore Marras at PHRI has been selected by the Executive Women of New Jersey (EWNJ) www.ewnj.org to receive a 2011 Graduate Merit Award. The Graduate Merit Awards were established by EWNJ in 1986 to provide scholarships for female students pursuing graduate level degrees in New Jersey. EWNJ has given more than $1,000,000 in scholarships to approximately 300 students. Mona Batish also recently received first prize for the best poster presentation at the Third Annual Inter-School Technology Symposium held recently at RWJMS.
	05.10.11	Dr. David Perlin, executive Director and Professor at New Jersey Medical School, together with scientists at the University of Manchester has developed a new test that utilizes molecular beacon technology to better diagnose Aspergillus infections and resistance to drugs used to treat patients with aspergillosis. For more information, please visit this link to Newswise's web site.
	04.12.11	Mona Batish, graduate student in the laboratory of Drs Fred Kramer and Sanjay Tyagi was awarded the first prize for best poster at the Third Annual Inter-School Technology Symposium, which was held at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School on April 12th 2011. The award constituted a mini-grant to support services rendered at UMDNJ’s deep sequencing core facility.
	03.21.11	PHRI Scientist and faculty member Dr. Therase Chang is featured in an editorial on women in science and engineering, which was published in the February issue of Science. To download a PDF copy of the editorial click here.
	03.18.11	Dr. Gilla Kaplan, professor and senior faculty member at PHRI, was interviewed about her ongoing research on how to fight Tuberculosis, and her story was published in International Innovation, a leading global resource for the scientific, technology and research communities. To download a PDF copy of her article, click here, and to visit the web site of International Innovation, follow this link.
	03.18.11	PHRI Scientists, Drs. Karl Drlica and David Perlin published a new book entitled: Antibiotic Resistance: Understanding and Responding to an Emerging Crisis. For more information, please visit this link.
	12.13.10	The Public Health Research Institute Center at the UMDNJ – New Jersey Medical School organized the 2010 PHRI Symposium on Infectious Diseases. The title of this year's simposium was: "Recent advances towards an HIV vaccine: Understanding the protective humoral response towards HIV." For a number of years, PHRI has been sponsoring annual symposia on infectious diseases that are open to scientists, physicians and students from the local NY-NJ institutions. This year's symposium focused on HIV immunology and vaccine development. Talks were presented by a distinguished group of investigators on topics, including Env structure and function, Env evolution, immunological responses to infection, and lessons learned from recent vaccine trials. Guest speakers included Joe Sodroski (Harvard), George Shaw (UAB), Gary Nabel (VRC), Sanjay Phogat (IAVI) and Rob O'Connell (WRAIR).
	11.12.10	Mona Batish, graduate student in the laboratory of Drs. Sanjay Tyagi and Fred Russell Kramer was awarded with the first prize for best oral presentation during the 17th graduate student research symposium, which was held on November 8, 2010. The annual symposium showcases the variety of research being carried out in all the departments of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UMDNJ.
	10.04.10	We are very proud to announce that Dr. Xilin Zhao, PHRI faculty member and Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, was selected as a recipient of the 2010 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. Dr. Zhao received this prestigious award for his ground-breaking research on a novel, gas-based therapy of tuberculosis, a disease that infects a third of the world’s population and kills almost 2 million people every year. For more details about Dr. Zhao’s research and this award, please visit his laboratory's web site and the NIH's Roadmap web site.
	09.17.10	A new NHLBI grant for 2.9 million dollars has just been awarded to Dr. Marila Gennaro at PHRI and Department of Medicine/NJMS at UMDNJ. The grant also includes as Co-Principal Investigators Richard Pine, Alfred Lardizabal, Gilla Kaplan (PHRI, Global TB Institute, and Department of Medicine/NJMS at UMDNJ), Gabor Balazsi (U. Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center) and Eduardo Sontag (Rutgers U.). The grant is entitled "Mapping and modeling host-pathogen interactions in TB latency and reactivation" and has been awarded for a period of four years. The multi-disciplinary project will seek to understand how intercellular networks operating between tubercle bacillus and lung macrophage govern the transitions to/from latency at the level of genetic programs and cellular metabolism. The project will combine statistical pathway analyses and bottom-up and top-down modeling strategies utilizing publicly available data, data contributed by on-going research in participating laboratories, and data generated in the project from ex vivo infection of human primary lung macrophages with M. tuberculosis. Funding of this project establishes UMDNJ and collaborating institutions as one of five TB Systems Biology Centers funded by the NHLBI in the country. The Centers will interact with each other and with a Data Coordinating Center newly established for this program.
	08.17.10	A new NIH grant for 3 million dollars has just been awarded to Drs. Gloria Marcela Rodriguez and Issar Smith (Co-Principal Investigators) of the PHRI center and the Department of Medicine at the New Jersey Medical School-UMDNJ. The grant is entitled "Mechanisms and Regulation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis iron acquisition" and is awarded for a period of 5 years. The project has long been a subject of Dr. Rodriguez and Dr. Smith's work, and in the new grant period, they seek to understand the mechanisms of how the pathogen M. tuberculosis acquires the essential element iron and to use this information to develop new anti-tubercular therapies.
	07.27.10	PHRI organizes the 2010 Summer High School Research Internship Program. For more information visit the Summer Internship's web site
	05.24.10	Dr. Gilla Kaplan, professor and senior faculty member at PHRI, was honored with an "Excellence in Research Award" by the UMDNJ Foundation as a recognition for her outstanding research during the past academic year. She received her award at the 2010 New Jersey Medical School Convocation, which was held on May 24, 2010, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark.
	05.23.10	Angella Dorsey-Oresto, a PhD candidate in the laboratory of Dr. Karl Drlica at PHRI, was honored with the 2010 “Outstanding Student of the Year” award in recognition of excellence in academics, research, and service. The award was presented by the UMDNJ Faculty Organization.
	04.08.10	Thomas Reuters reports on the Celgene Corporation, a multinational biopharmaceutical company, and the vital contributions of PHRI scientist Gilla Kaplan in developing the company. Please visit the following link to download a pdf copy of this article.
	03.26.10	We are extremely pleased to report that Dr. Abraham Pinter, a senior faculty member at PHRI, has been awarded a five year $15.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's HIVRAD program (HIV Research and Development) to help develop a novel HIV vaccine platform. In addition, PHRI is actively recruiting two other well funded HIV specialists to establish a cluster of excellence in HIV research at PHRI. The basis for Dr. Pinter's vaccine strategy is the long-standing recognition that, unlike other types of viral infections, infection with HIV fails to elicit a broadly protective antibody response. Thus, despite the production of high antibody titers in HIV-infected subjects, these antibodies usually fail to neutralize typical viruses isolated from patients. Dr. Pinter's group has been studying the mechanisms for the resistance of primary HIV isolates to neutralization by common antibodies, and has identified conformational masking of sensitive neutralization targets as a major factor for this effect. These studies have identified a new class of 'quaternary' epitopes that are not susceptible to masking and are recognized by antibodies present in some immune sera. These epitopes are dependent on the native trimeric surface protein structures of HIV. The goal of Dr. Pinter's new program is to define the sequences and structure of this novel class of target, and to develop new vaccines that incorporate these antigens and are capable of inducing related antibody activities. This vaccine program involves a collaboration with several core laboratories at PHRI - NJMS along with researchers from three other institutions (Tulane University, the University of Washington, and the NICD in South Africa). Please follow this link to read the press release posted by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
	12.14.09	On December 14, 2009, the Public Health Research Institute Center at the UMDNJ – New Jersey Medical School hosted a symposium to celebrate the career of Dr. Lee Reichman. The symposium took place at the PHRI Center / UMDNJ – New Jersey Medical School. Presentations were provided by Gerald Friedland of Yale University Medical Center, Philip C. Hopewell of the University of California at San Francisco, Michael D. Iseman of the University of Colorado, Wafaa El-Sadr of the Harlem Hospital, Melvin Spigelman of the Global Alliance against TB, and Kenneth Castro of the CDC. The speakers have graciously agreed to publish their presentations and you may download the series of presentations in a single PDF file (size is 10.5 MB) by selecting the following link: Download Symposium Presentations
	11.02.09	Karl Drlica, PHRI faculty and member of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, was selected the 2009 Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the NJ Medical School ‘Mentor of the Year.’
	10.14.09	On October 14th, 2009, the PHRI Center organizinged its 7th Annual Summer High School Intern Program Symposium. Please download the Symposium Announcement for more details.
	12.11.08	PHRI is proud to announce that New Jersey Business magazine, in cooperation with Technology-based Trade Associations in New Jersey, has recognized PHRI Scientist Dr. Fred Russell Kramer as one of the Top 10 New Jersey Scientists. In their December 2008 issue, Fred Kramer, together with the other selected Top 10 scientists, will be featured, describing their innovative contributions to science and society. Please follow this link to download a pdf copy of the New Jersey Business magazine’s story on "NJ's Top 10 Scientists - Special Recognition." For a description of Fred Kramer’s research interest and biography, please visit this link.
	12.10.08	The Public Health Research Institute, together with the Emerging Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Discussion Group, had the privilege to organize a symposium to celebrate the career of Dr. Issar Smith (Smitty). Dr. Smith has spent over 42 years at the Public Health Research Institute studying the control of sporulation and gene regulation in Bacillus subtilis and pathogenesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The event took place on December 10, 2008, at the New York Academy of Sciences. Presentations were given by Stanley Falkow of Stanford University, David Dubnau of the PHRI, Richard M. Losick of Harvard College, Brigitte Gicquel of Institut Pasteur, David Russell of Cornell University, and Michael D. Iseman of the University of Colorado. The presentations were followed by a reception in honor of Dr. Smith. For more details on this symposium and other events at the New York Academy of Sciences, please visit the Academy's web site.
	10.15.08	6th Annual PHRI Summer High School Intern Symposium For more information on this event, please download the Symposium Announcement.
	09.24.08	Dr. Marila Genanaro of the Public Health Research Institute of the New Jersey Medical School and Dr. Mark Doherty of the Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark, under the auspices of the STOP TB Working Group on Diagnostics, and with the support of the Foundation for New and Innovative Diagnostics (FIND), the Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) at the World Health Organization, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, organized an International Conference on "Immunodiagnosis of tuberculosis: new questions, new tools." The conference, which took place from September 21 to September 23, 2008, at the Founder's Inn & Spa, Virginia Beach,VA, USA, resulted in many interdisciplinary discussions and collaborations among scientists having different but related interests. These interests range from basic microbiology and immunology, to the science of establishing field studies, and to research leading to new strategies of biomarker discovery and new assay platforms. For more information, please visit the conference's web site at www.tb-conference.com In addition, the New Jersey Medical School posted an E-news Highlight on this event. To read this news item on "Scientists Worldwide Gather for Scientific Tuberculosis Conference", please follow this link.
	09.18.08	PHRI Scientists Drs. Abe Pinter and Xilin Zhao are members of an elite group out of more than 4,000 applications to each receive $100,000 awards, as part of a new Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Explorations program. This US$100 million initiative is intended to encourage bold and unconventional global health solutions. Dr. Pinter's group proposed a novel approach to kill HIV through an immunotherapy. Dr. Zhao proposed a new approach to kill Mycobacterium Tuberculosis by inducing an altered and more sensitive physiological state in the bacterium. Both Drs. Pinter and Zhao can apply for up to $1 million in support after year 1. Dr. Arkady Mustaev, who has worked with Dr. Alex Goldfarb over the years, successfully obtained a NIH RO1 grant for his work on the mechanism of RNA polymerase in E. coli.
	08.05.08	The NY Times publishes a letter submitted by PHRI Director, David Perlin, with his commentary on an article entitled “Anthrax Case Renews Questions on Bioterror Effort and Safety”. Please follow these links to download a copy of the NY times article and the letter to the editor.
	07.15.08	Dr. Karl Drlica, a PHRI Principal Investigator, has co-edited a new volume in Springer Verlag’s series “Emerging Infectious Diseases of the 21st Century”. The title of his book is “Antimicrobial Resistance and Implications for the 21st Century”. For more information, please follow this link
	06.06.08	The Center for Applied Genomics is expanding its microarray expression profiling and SNP genotyping services beyond research to include clinical diagnostic testing. This has been made possible through a new CLIA-site license granted to the Institute of Genomic Medicine for the ICPH building. The Institute for Genomic Medicine already operates several additional CLIA-certified clinical diagnostic laboratories at their MSB location. For more information, please visit www.cag.icph.org
	06.06.08	PHRI scientist, Dr. Marila Gennaro, participates in the First HIV-TB Global Leader’s Forum, which is being held in conjunction with the meeting of the United Nation’s General Assembly on HIV/AIDS. For more information on this forum, please visit www.stoptb.org/events/hivtbleaders
	05.20.08	National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awards grant to Dr. Abraham Pinter, a PHRI scientist, to support research towards developing HIV vaccines click here to view the NIH News announcement.
	05.04.08	The Public Health Research Institute of the New Jersey Medical School and the Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark, are organizing an International Conference on "Immunodiagnosis of tuberculosis: new questions, new tools"
	12.13.07	Fourth Annual PHRI Symposium on Infectious Diseases click here for information on this event.
	10.02.07	Bill & Melinda Gates Award UMDNJ $1.5 Million Grant for Tuberculosis Study by School of Public Health Researcher click here to read the press-release
	05.11.06	Press Release: Beijing Lab Honored with Gates Grand Challenge Award in Global Health
	05.11.06	Press Release: FIND, ImmPORT, and PHRI announce collaboration to develop critical diagnostic reagents for tuberculosis