IVI Board elects Prof. Norrby new Chairman Prof. Ragnar Norrby, Director General of the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, was elected to be the new Chairman of the IVI Board of Trustees on April 12. Prof. Norrby, 63, has had a distinguished career in infectious diseases in academia, clinical medicine and industry. With a Ph.D. in medicine from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, he served as a professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology at the University of Lund, Sweden for over 20 years. He has been on the IVI Board since 2004, as one of five members representing the IVI’s signatory countries. In the three-day meeting held in Seoul, the Board approved IVI’s budget of US$25 million for the fiscal year 2007, up from US$16 million this year. The budget reflects a growing need for research funds as the Institute strives to expand the scope of its programs. “The IVI is moving into research on vaccines against additional diseases of importance, including pandemic influenza and tuberculosis,” said Dr. John Clemens, Director General of the IVI in his report to the Board. In a bid to spur research on vaccines against emerging diseases, the IVI plans to complete the construction of a BSL-3 laboratory later this year. The BSL-3 lab will allow the IVI to detect and analyze highly virulent pathogens, including the deadly H5N1 flu virus, which is essential to the development of new vaccines to combat a potential pandemic flu. In the ninth annual meeting, the Board also called on the IVI to step up ongoing efforts to develop and introduce new vaccines against “neglected diseases.” These include diarrheal and respiratory diseases and mosquito-born infections that collectively kill some 5 million of the poorest people worldwide each year. IVI scientists recently discovered that incidence rates of Japanese encephalitis among children under 10 years of age in the Indonesian resort island of Bali were much higher than previously thought. The study, cited in the open access journal BMC Medicine on April 7, prompted the Balinese government to expand its JE immunization program to cover all children under 10 on the island. “This study suggests the future direction of the IVI,” said Prof. Norrby. “The IVI must double efforts to ensure that such important discoveries from its studies are actually translated into policy actions by developing country policymakers in order to make affordable vaccines available to the world’s poorest people.” The Board also stressed the need to invite member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and other countries to join the IVI as Signatories to extend its resource base and global outreach. Prof. Nay Htun of UN Peace University, who chairs the IVI’s Institute Support Council, said, “If the IVI is to harness these many opportunities to ensure its sustainability and growth, further support of the Institute by donors and member states will be essential.” Message from the new Chairman As the new Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Vaccine Institute, I would like to thank my predecessor, Professor Samuel L. Katz, for his outstanding support for the Institute and its mission. During his time as chairman, the institute has grown and has proven its importance for alleviating the burden of neglected infectious diseases in children living in poor countries. I look forward to working with the leadership of IVI to support ongoing and planned projects aiming at bringing new and affordable vaccines against diarrheal and respiratory tract infections as well as dengue to these children. A major goal for the coming years will be to increase the support for IVI from the 38 signatory countries that have promised to support its mission.