David S. Perlin, Ph.D.
Director
Public Health Research Institute

The biomedical community continues to face formidable challenges to better understand the nature of infectious diseases, which still claim more than one-third of all deaths worldwide. Epidemics continue to ravage whole populations with diseases like AIDS, malaria and TB killing more than 9 million people each year. The African sub-continent has more than 30 million people infected with HIV, and countries like India, Russia and China are experiencing exponential increases in infections. Complex interactions among humans, microbes and the rest of the environment have created unique problems that cannot be solved simply. Each year 20,000 Americans die from the influenza virus and more than 100,000 people will die from hospital-acquired infections that are largely preventable. Emerging infectious diseases such as drug resistant infections, SARS and West Nile disease occupy headlines and serve to remind us that we remain vulnerable despite our advanced knowledge. Finally, the deliberate spread of highly virulent microorganisms such as anthrax has elevated bioterrorism to a new type of challenge.

PHRI is well poised to take on many of these challenges. It is one of only a few private research institutions that emphasize infectious diseases research. PHRI is currently one of the world's leading centers for TB research and is a national outbreak center for the molecular analysis of TB. The PHRI hospital infections program provides a comprehensive evaluation of drug resistant infections in numerous New York and New Jersey hospitals, and works to help manage such infections. PHRI faculty pursue a range of other infectious disease programs on bacteria, fungi and viruses in areas such as pathogenicity and virulence, vaccine development, rapid diagnostics, drug resistance and drug discovery. With the relocation of PHRI to the International Center for Public Health (ICPH) in March 2002, PHRI scientists now enjoy working in one of the finest facilities for infectious diseases research in the Northeast. The extensive biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory space allows work with dangerous pathogens to be performed safely.

PHRI's guiding philosophy is that only through a detailed understanding of fundamental biological processes can we understand the more complex dynamics of higher organisms. Thus, the overall strength of PHRI's infectious diseases programs derives from a larger commitment to fundamental biomedical research. In this regard, PHRI has long-standing programs exploring fundamental aspects of immunology, gene expression, genomics, DNA/RNA replication and recombination, genetic competence, enzyme structure and function, and viral assembly and structure. Overall, the quality of the PHRI research environment is affirmed by the numerous peer-reviewed research papers published each year, and the continued success of investigators in obtaining funding from the NIH, other government sources, private foundations, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

An important strength at PHRI is an ability to move quickly into new research areas and establish leadership positions. The PHRI Center for Applied Genomics exemplifies this spirit. Formed several years ago, it has grown into one of the largest microarray and bioinformatics support groups in the Northeast with more than 60 academic and commercial collaborators. Biodefense is another new research focus that will enable PHRI scientists to help shape the national research agenda in this area. In a short time, this program has resulted in significant federal funding in the areas of rapid diagnostics and animal infection models.

Finally, the bridging of basic and clinical research remains a goal that is being pursued with local area hospitals and clinics, as well as through global collaborations and outreach programs. PHRI remains committed to the longstanding challenges in biomedicine and is poised to take on new challenges. Our future lies in maintaining the flexibility and creativity that have characterized our work to date, and in attracting highly talented investigators who can enrich the creative spirit at PHRI and propel it forward.