FROM THE DIRECTOR'S OFFICE . . .
The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
250 Park Avenue, New York, NY 01077-0026
Tel: (212)551-9139 Fax: (212)986-4558
Dear Oncho Investigator:
This edition of the Greene Sheet goes to press at a time when the Foundation
and the Oncho Task Force have just completed a review of proposals for research
leading to the development of a vaccine against onchocerciasis. Following
the strategic plan prepared by the Oncho Task Force, the response to our
Request for Proposal letter in January of this year was heartening for two
reasons: first, the quality of the science was unusually high, and second,
the large number of pre-proposal letters (35). The spirit of collaboration
among the Oncho Research Group suggest to me that the Foundation's investment
in this field has been a wise one. The dark side to this, unfortunately,
is that our funds are insufficient to support all of these proposals and
some good work will not be recommended to our Trustees for funding. Proposal
selection was based on the quality of science, and the closeness of the
project to the Foundation's objective of developing a vaccine as spelled
out in the strategic plan. The plan was prepared by the Oncho Task Force
based on your own discussions at the Woods Hole meeting in April of 1994,
and I believe that it demonstrates the progress that we have made over the
last ten years as well as sets the course for the coming two or three.
Another measure of progress was recently provided by Steve Williams: Oncho
is now among the "top 20" in public entries to the NCBI GenBank!
Rice, mice and maize (among other things) are ahead of us; so, don't be
complacent.
We hope that we will be able to have another workshop next year. Please
send Cathy Steel any suggestions that you might have concerning the agenda
for that meeting. It has also been suggested that it would be useful for
investigators to have an updated version of the bibliography that was prepared
by Ralph Muller. This edition of the Greene Sheet contains a brief note
on how Dr. Mark Blaxter plans to proceed on this.
At the meeting of our Trustees on the 20th of September, Jeff Mecaskey
and I reviewed a new Program Statement recommending the expansion of our
work on the health of school-age children in Ghana and Tanzania. Over the
next twelve months, we will be working with colleagues in these two countries
to develop a strategic plan, patterned after our plans in oncho and trachoma,
to assess the health needs of this group and to map out some operational
research projects that the Foundation might undertake to improve the health
of the age group. At this same meeting, Trustees approved our plan for
another round of grants (albeit smaller) in December, 1997.
I hope that the Greene Sheet will continue to serve as a means of communication
among oncho investigators. This particular edition seems to me to record
real progress and to be full of information that will be useful to all of
you. We feel that electronic bulletin boards have not entirely replaced
a printed page yet, but, if you have thoughts on this, share them with Cathy
or me.
With best wishes,
Joseph A. Cook, Director
Tropical Disease Research