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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A.1: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2013. The Unique U.S.-Russian Relationship in Biological Science and Biotechnology: Recent Experience and Future Directions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18277.
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Appendix A.1

Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

Peter H. Raven (committee Co-Chair) is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is president emeritus of the Missouri Botanical Garden, after serving as president for three decades, and is recognized as one of the world’s leading botanists and advocates for conservation and biodiversity. He received the National Medal of Science in December 2000. He has also received numerous other awards, including the Society for Conservation Biology Distinguished Service Award, International Prize for Biology from the government of Japan, Environmental Prize of the Institute de la Vie, Volvo Environment Prize, Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, and Sasakawa Environment Prize. He is Engleman Professor of Botany at Washington University and chairman of the National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research and Exploration. He has served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and as a member of the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology. He served for 12 years as home secretary of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a member of academies of science in Argentina, China, India, Italy, and Russia. He was first chair of the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation. He has received honorary degrees from universities throughout the world.

Valentin Vlassov (committee Co-Chair) is a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and vice chairman of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 2008. He also currently serves as the director of the Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine of the Siberian Branch of RAS and as professor of molecular biology and chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at Novosibirsk State University. He also is chair of the Bio-

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A.1: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2013. The Unique U.S.-Russian Relationship in Biological Science and Biotechnology: Recent Experience and Future Directions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18277.
×

logical Council of the Siberian Branch of RAS, which coordinates research at biological academic institutes in Siberia. He has more than 300 scientific publications that include research on RNA structure, antisense technologies, and circulating nucleic acids. He has received several awards, including the State Prize for scientific achievement. Current activity is focused on development of approaches for translational medicine, including postgenomic technologies-based diagnostic methods, design of gene-targeted therapeutics, and cell technologies.

Kavita M. Berger is the associate program director of the Center for Science, Technology, and Security Policy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Since joining AAAS in 2006, she has addressed complex biosecurity policy issues, such as personnel reliability and misuse of biological research, by actively interacting with the scientific community, facilitating open dialogue between the scientific and security communities, and providing a voice for the scientific community in timely policy debates. Through these projects and other activities, she has helped enable scientists to contribute to addressing biosecurity risks at the local, national, and international levels. During a short absence from AAAS, she worked with the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues as the staff lead on evaluation of the ethical issues associated with pediatric medical countermeasures research. She received her Ph.D. degree in genetics and molecular biology at Emory University and conducted her postdoctoral research on preclinical research and development on HIV and smallpox vaccines.

David Franz (Consultant) has recently served as vice president and chief biological scientist of MRIGlobal and senior advisor (biosecurity engagement) to the Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs. Dr. Franz was the chief inspector on three UN Special Commission biological warfare missions to Iraq and served as technical advisor on long-term monitoring. He also served as a member of the first two U.S.-U.K. teams that visited Russia in support of the Trilateral Joint Statement on Biological Weapons and as a member of the Trilateral Experts’ Committee for biological weapons negotiations. Dr. Franz served in the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command for 23 of 27 years on active duty and retired as colonel. He served as commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) and as deputy commander of the Medical Research and Materiel Command. Prior to joining the Command, he served as group veterinarian for the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). The current focus of his activities relates to the role of international engagement in the life sciences as a component of national security policy. Dr. Franz holds a D.V.M. from Kansas State University and a Ph.D. in physiology from Baylor College of Medicine.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A.1: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2013. The Unique U.S.-Russian Relationship in Biological Science and Biotechnology: Recent Experience and Future Directions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18277.
×

Tatiana Gremyakova is chief science coordinator of biotechnology at the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) in Moscow. She graduated from the Medical-Biological Faculty of Moscow Medical Institute (1979) and received her Ph.D. degree at the Moscow Mechnikov Institute of Vaccine and Sera (1983). She joined the State Research Center for Applied Microbiology in Obolensk, and received her doctor of medical sciences degree in 2004. Her areas of interest are microbiology, biochemistry, diagnostics, drug and vaccine development, biosafety, and biosecurity. She is the author of nearly 70 Russian and international scientific publications. She has served as chair of the ISTC’s BioCom, where she developed and managed projects with governmental and business partners. She has participated in developing more than 150 international projects (R&D and science infrastructure) in medicine, pharmacology, agriculture, industrial biotech, biosafety, and physical security in Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. Currently, she serves as an expert at the Analytical Center of the Russian Government, where she supports projects of interest to the President’s Commission on Modernization and Technological Development. She is a member of the International Society of Infectious Diseases.

Oleg Kiselev is a member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. He is director of the Research Institute of Influenza in St. Petersburg. Currently a professor of molecular virology, he graduated from the internal medicine faculty of the I.P. Pavlov First Medical Institute. In 1972, he received his Ph.D. degree in biochemical genetics at this Institute in mitochondrial biogenesis, and in 1979, he received a doctor of science degree in molecular biology. Later, he moved to the Ministry of Microbiological Industry as head of the Division of Genetic Engineering for development and manufacture of recombinant interferon. He received patents for IL-2 and IFN-alpha producer strains and technology for their production. Beginning in 1988, he has served as director of the Research Institute of Influenza. The institute has become the national World Health Organization (WHO) Center for Influenza Control and Surveillance. The institute includes a Clinical Department headed by Professor Kiselev, where every year new influenza vaccines are tested and approved according to WHO recommendations. He has been the project leader on a number of international grants: DelNS–vaccine development and production (Green Hills Biotechnology); Antiinfluenza siRNA (SirnaOmics); new antiviral drugs and production technology—Triazavirin—with wide spectra of antiviral activity; and others in the field of influenza. He has published 12 books in the fields of influenza, prions, herpes virus infection treatment, papilloma virus pathogenesis, and cancer development.

James LeDuc is director of the Galveston National Laboratory (GNL) located on the campus of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. He is also a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and holds the Robert E. Shope and John S. Dunn Distinguished Chair in Global Health. He

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A.1: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2013. The Unique U.S.-Russian Relationship in Biological Science and Biotechnology: Recent Experience and Future Directions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18277.
×

relocated to Galveston in 2006 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he was the influenza coordinator. He also served as director, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, coordinating research activities, prevention initiatives, and outbreak investigations for viral and rickettsial pathogens, including viral hemorrhagic fevers, influenza and other respiratory infections, childhood viral diseases, and newly emerging diseases such as SARS. He served as the associate director for global health in the Office of the Director, National Center for Infectious Diseases at CDC, and he was a medical officer in charge of arboviruses and viral hemorrhagic fevers at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland (1992–1996). He also held leadership positions during a 23-year career as a U.S. Army officer in the medical research and development command, with assignments in Brazil, in Panama, and at various locations in the United States, including the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. He has published more than 200 scientific articles and book chapters.

Sergey Netesov is a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He has been vice rector (research) at Novosibirsk State University since 2007. Previously, he served for 30 years at the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology, Vector; and in 1990, he became its deputy director for research. He graduated from Novosibirsk State University (1975), joined Vector (1977), and received his Ph.D. (1983) and doctor of biology (1993) degrees. He is a member of the European Academy of Sciences, American Society for Virology, American and European Biosafety Associations, and the Russian Society of Epidemiologists, Microbiologists, and Parasitologists; he is also a member of the Filovirus Study Group of ICTV. In the beginning of his research career he developed original methods of isolation of restriction endonucleases and reverse transcriptase. Later, he was a principal investigator (PI) of a few national projects of pioneer sequencing the genomes of the following viruses: Marburg, Ebola, Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis (VEEV), Eastern and Western Equine encephalitis, tick-borne encephalitis, and influenza. He also was a PI of the reverse genetics project on the VEE virus reconstruction from cDNA fragments. He also was involved in the development of an inactivated hepatitis A vaccine and recombinant hepatitis B vaccine and ran a project on the development of a recombinant vaccine against VEE virus. Recently, he successfully completed a few projects focused on the study of molecular diversity and epidemiology of viral hepatitis in Siberia and participated in other molecular epidemiology projects. Dr. Netesov is twice a winner of the prize awarded by the government of the Russian Federation in the area of science and technology (1998 and 2006). His research interests include virology, biotechnology, and biosafety. He is the author of more than 140 publications in Russian and international journals.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A.1: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2013. The Unique U.S.-Russian Relationship in Biological Science and Biotechnology: Recent Experience and Future Directions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18277.
×

Peter Palese is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is professor of microbiology and chair of the Department of Microbiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. His research is in the area of RNA-containing viruses with a special emphasis on influenza viruses. Specifically, he established the first genetic maps for influenza A, B, and C viruses, identified the function of several viral genes, and defined the mechanism of neuraminidase inhibitors (which are now FDA-approved antivirals). He was also a pioneer in the field of reverse genetics for negative strand RNA viruses, which allows the introduction of site-specific mutations into the genomes of these viruses. This technique is crucial for the study of the structure and function relationships of viral genes, for investigation of viral pathogenicity, and for development and manufacture of novel vaccines. In addition, an improvement of the technique has been effectively used by him and his colleagues to reconstruct and study the pathogenicity of the highly virulent, but extinct, 1918 pandemic influenza virus. His recent work in collaboration with Garcia-Sastre has revealed that most negative strand RNA viruses possess proteins with interferon antagonist activity, enabling them to counteract the antiviral response of the infected host. At present, he serves on the editorial board for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Palese was president of the Harvey Society in 2004, president of the American Society for Virology in 2005, a recipient of the Robert Koch Prize in 2006, and a recipient of the European Virology Award (EVA) in 2010.

Richard Witter is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He served as a veterinary medical officer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory (ADOL) in East Lansing, Michigan, for 38 years (1964–2002). He currently serves as collaborator with the ADOL and as adjunct professor with the Department of Pathobiology and Clinical Investigations at Michigan State University. He helped develop the first successful vaccine in the United States against Marek’s disease and has documented the evolution of this virus to greater virulence. He has received numerous awards and recognition for his research. For more than 22 years, as director and research leader of ADOL, he administered a multidisciplinary research program on the biology of important avian viral neoplasms, as well as programs on recombinant DNA vaccines, immunogenetics, transgenic chickens, and genome mapping. He returned to the bench in 1998, where he pursued research on Marek’s disease and avian leukosis until his retirement in 2002. He has been active in international activities involving grants programs in the Middle East and Central Asia. He helped initiate the ARS-Former Soviet Union Scientific Cooperation Program and has served as a scientific consultant to this program since its inception. He received his B.S. and D.V.M. from Michigan State University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Cornell University.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A.1: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2013. The Unique U.S.-Russian Relationship in Biological Science and Biotechnology: Recent Experience and Future Directions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18277.
×

Russ Zajtchuk, a national expert in telemedicine, is currently president of Chicago Hospitals International. For more than 27 years, he served in various positions in the U.S. Army, most recently as commanding general of the Army Medical Research and Material Command at Fort Detrick, Maryland, where he led development of a sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure to speed diagnostics, lab analyses, and consulting expertise worldwide. He is a cardiovascular surgeon who was professor and chairman of the division of cardiothoracic surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He also served as assistant surgeon general for research and development for the Department of the Army and as chief operating officer for the Department of Defense telemedicine test bed. He has served on several committees of the National Research Council concerning scientific developments in the former Soviet Union.

Sergey Zavriev is a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He is head of the Molecular Diagnostics Department and head of the International Scientific Relation Department at the Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences. His research during the past 10 years has been aimed at investigating plant virus genome structure and expression; cloning and expression of virus-specific genes, allergens and other proteins, and their application for functional studies; producing antibodies against different recombinant antigens, including allergens; development of technologies for PCR and RT-PCR-based detection of DNA- and RNA-containing pathogens; immuno-PCR technologies; and diagnostic kit production. He was previously a visiting professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of North Carolina, where he worked on plant molecular virology. He has been awarded several international grants from INCO-Copernicus, INTAS, and European Commission FP6-FP7. He is a member of several international teams participating in the meetings and symposia on strategic studies of bioterrorism and biosecurity problems. He is the author of more than 140 articles, book chapters, and patents.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A.1: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2013. The Unique U.S.-Russian Relationship in Biological Science and Biotechnology: Recent Experience and Future Directions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18277.
×
Page 125
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A.1: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2013. The Unique U.S.-Russian Relationship in Biological Science and Biotechnology: Recent Experience and Future Directions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18277.
×
Page 126
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A.1: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2013. The Unique U.S.-Russian Relationship in Biological Science and Biotechnology: Recent Experience and Future Directions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18277.
×
Page 127
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A.1: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2013. The Unique U.S.-Russian Relationship in Biological Science and Biotechnology: Recent Experience and Future Directions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18277.
×
Page 128
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A.1: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2013. The Unique U.S.-Russian Relationship in Biological Science and Biotechnology: Recent Experience and Future Directions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18277.
×
Page 129
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A.1: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2013. The Unique U.S.-Russian Relationship in Biological Science and Biotechnology: Recent Experience and Future Directions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18277.
×
Page 130
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In the fall of 2010, the U.S. National Academies (consisting of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine) and the Russian Academy of Sciences (in cooperation with the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences) initiated a joint study of U.S.-Russian bilateral engagement in the biological sciences and biotechnology (hereinafter collectively referred to as bioengagement). The U.S. Department of State and the Russian Academy of Sciences provided support for the study. The academies established a joint committee of 12 leading scientists from the two countries to assess bioengagement activities since 1996 and to provide recommendations as to collaborative efforts in the near future. The Unique U.S.-Russian Relationship in Biological Science and Biotechnology: Recent Experience and Future Directions summarizes the principal conclusions and recommendations of the study.

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