T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
The Chronicle
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011
ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH YEAR, ISSUE 70
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
Jackson urges consideration Duke: NC Med Board ‘inaccurate’ of environmental issues University says board misstated Duke’s conclusions about Potti
by Matt Barnett THE CHRONICLE
A leader in environmental policy highlighted pressing concerns facing the Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson addressed more than 500 people about environmental policies and challenges the EPA faces, particularly given the economic downturn and political climate. Jackson leads an 18,000-person department in an effort to protect and enhance the environment and public health. Deemed the 2011 Duke Environment and Society Lecture, Jackson’s talk was sponsored by the Nicholas School of the Environment and took place at Reynolds Industries Theater. Jackson commended the Obama administration’s stance on environmental issues, discounting the notion that economic productivity and environmental health are mutually exclusive. “President [Barack] Obama knows and has said the choice between the economy being healthy and the environment being healthy is a false choice,” Jackson said. She noted that both economists and industry groups recognize that regulations are almost never the cause of economic problems or layoffs. The opposite is often true, as regulations encourage innovation and often result in a net increase in job creation, Jackson said. Environmental health has traditionally been a bipartisan issue. The EPA, which SEE EPA ON PAGE 6
by Julian Spector THE CHRONICLE
TORI POWERS/THE CHRONICLE
Duke is disputing a state agency’s characterization of the University’s findings regarding the credentials of Dr. Anil Potti. The North Carolina Medical Board formally reprimanded the former Duke oncologist late last month for unprofessional conduct. The medical board investigated Potti after learning of allegations that he misrepresented his qualifications and may have committed research misconduct. In the reprimand, the board wrote that Duke Medical Center, after reviewing Potti’s credentials, had concluded that the errors “were largely the result of carelessness and honest errors with Anil Potti no clear intention to mislead.” This statement prompted the objection from Duke. Duke’s Associate Counsel Ann Bradley sent a letter of complaint to Medical Board President Dr. Ralph Loomis Monday, refuting the board’s description of Duke’s conclusions following an investigation into Potti’s curriculum vitae and biographical sketch. The letter calls the board’s description “incomplete” and “inaccurate” and refers back to a statement from Provost Peter Lange issued in August 2010 where Lange noted that “issues of substantial concern were identified” regarding Potti’s CV and biographical sketch, adding that investigators later deemed the errors in these documents as “serious concerns.”
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson speaks at Reynolds Industries Theater to a crowd of more than 500 people Tuesday afternoon.
SEE POTTI ON PAGE 5
Researchers receive funding to develop HIV vaccine by Lucy Hicks THE CHRONICLE
Duke University Medical Center researchers have received grants totaling $37.2 million to continue work developing an effective HIV vaccine. Duke researchers are working to develop a vaccine that is designed to prevent recipients from contracting HIV, which can cause AIDS—the syndrome that results in the progressive failure of the David Montefiori human immune system. Last week, researcher David Montefiori, professor and director of the Laboratory for AIDS Vaccine Research and Development, received a five-year $24.6 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—the largest of the three awarded grants. Montefiori’s research
Sidewalk becomes Hootli, Page 3
largely focuses on identifying the varying effectiveness of antibodies against different strands of HIV in hopes of developing a vaccine. “One of the crucial aspects of the work that we do is look at the ability of the antibodies to block the many different strains of HIV... [which] allows people to identify the more promising candidates and to weed out the weaker vaccine candidates so more work can be done in the more promising approaches,” Montefiori said. One of the major issues in prevention of HIV has been developing an effective vaccine that protects against the variations of the virus around the world, Montefiori said. There are nine major genetic variations of HIV, and when a patient becomes infected with two different types, they can combine into circulating recombinant forms, which make the vaccine development process
much more complicated. The World Health Organization has estimated that 34 million people worldwide are infected with HIV as of 2010, a number that has been steadily growing for years. The Gates Foundation grants will fund the Medical Center’s HIV and AIDS prevention work in the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery program, which is an international network of researchers attempting to develop vaccines and clinical trials. The program was created by the Gates Foundation in 2006 and has awarded grants that support 94 institutions in 19 countries. Duke researchers joined the collaboration in 2006, when it received a $31.5 million grant that allowed the Medical Center to establish the Comprehensive Antibody Vaccine Immune Monitoring Consortium, which is led by Montefiori. Another recipient of a Gates Foundation grant is Dr. Barton Haynes, director
ONTHERECORD
“Look—a lot of people are insensitive, insufferable bigots and that’s just the way they are.” —Indu Ramesh in “No offense, but...” See column page 11
of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology and Frederic M. Hanes professor of medicine and immunology. Haynes, who received a three-year $11.7 million grant, focuses on developing the next generation of HIV vaccines based on previous trials by examining immune cells from vaccinated people in order to determine which antibodies are effective. Haynes said he is currently analyzing antibodies from a vaccine trial carried out by the U.S. Army and the government of Thailand in 2009. Of 18,000 Thai citizens, 30 percent of participants were protected against the virus. Although that ratio of success was not high, the study contained important implications for vaccine development, he said. “The trial gave us hope that indeed a vaccine could be made,” Haynes said. SEE HIV ON PAGE 6
Blue Devils look to bounce back from loss, Page 7