MVI said it recently named “some of the world’s most eminent malaria scientists and vaccinologists to its Vaccine Science Portfolio Advisory Council (VSPAC) — “a group of external experts tasked with providing strategic input and advice on the MVI’s scientific portfolio and overall research and development (R&D) program.” The new members of the VSPAC are: Dr. Norman Baylor, President and CEO of Biologics Consulting Group, Inc. and former Director of the Office of Vaccines Research and Review (OVRR) in the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research; Dr. Kamini Mendis, an independent consultant on malaria and tropical medicine, formerly the Coordinator of Malaria Treatment and Malaria Elimination at WHO; Dr. Rafick-Pierre Sékaly, Co-Director and Chief Scientific Officer of VGTI Florida; and Dr. Fidel Zavala, Professor at the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University. Dr. David C. Kaslow, director of MVI and former chair of the VSPAC, said, “We’re fortunate to have some of the world’s most distinguished scientists advising us on MVI’s malaria vaccine research and development strategy. The expertise of the VSPAC members is a critical resource to realizing our near-term strategic goal of supporting development of a first-generation malaria vaccine that could protect millions against disease and death, as well as our long-term goals of developing more highly effective second-generation vaccines, including vaccines to support future elimination and eradication efforts.”

http://www.path.org/news/pr120814-mvi-vspac.php