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People on the Move and in the News
Michigan / Around the State
/ National / world
Winter 2008
Michigan
Michigan AIDS Fund Announces New Interim Executive
Director
Southfield, Mich., January 3, 2008
 The
Michigan AIDS Fund has appointed David Coulter as Interim Executive Director,
following the departure of former Executive Director Stacey Barbas. Coulter has
worked as a consultant with the Michigan AIDS Fund since 2004 in fund
development, grant writing and communications, and last year was hired as the
organization's first Director of Public Policy.
"Dave Coulter knows our work and the challenges of fighting the AIDS epidemic
today, and we're confident he'll provide a smooth transition for the people we
serve. And, his political experience will serve us well in developing strategies
to increase awareness of the disease and the need for sound public policy around
issues of HIV," said Wendy Lawson, Chair of the Michigan AIDS Fund Board of
Trustees.
Coulter is serving his third two-year term as an Oakland County Commissioner.
Coulter served 13 years in the Public Affairs department of Detroit-based
Michigan Consolidated Gas Company (MichCon), where he managed media relations,
public relations and communications. He received a B.A. in Social Science form
Michigan State University, and recently earned a certificate in ‘Senior
Executives in State and Local Government’ from Harvard University, John F.
Kennedy School of Government.
The Michigan AIDS Fund has been fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic since 1989.
Its mission is to “prevent HIV/AIDS in Michigan by increasing knowledge and
awareness and investing public and private funds effectively.” Since 1989, they
have invested more nearly $12 million across the state to HIV/AIDS
organizations. The Michigan AIDS Fund also operates AmeriCorps Team Detroit,
Positive Perspective Speakers Bureau and the MPowerment Detroit project.
See December Archives
Around the State
MAPP CEO Sworn in as Ferndale Mayor
Ferndale - MAPP CEO Craig Covey was sworn in as the Mayor of Ferndale on
January
15. His election in November received national media attention, as he is the
first openly gay mayor of this suburb of Detroit.
Covey has headed up the Midwest AIDS Prevention, with offices in Ferndale,
since 1988. The Midwest AIDS Prevention Project (MAPP) is a non-profit,
community based organization that provides HIV/AIDS education programs, and
counseling, testing and referral services in the metro Detroit area and
prevention technical assistance statewide.
National
Dr. Carl Dieffenbach Appointed Director of the NIAID
Division of AIDS
NIAID News 2/1/08
Carl W. Dieffenbach, Ph.D., has been appointed Director of the Division of AIDS
(DAIDS) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a
component of the National Institutes of Health.
“It is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of Dr. Carl
Dieffenbach as the director of the NIAID Division of AIDS,” says NIAID director
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “Dr. Dieffenbach has been instrumental in implementing
and sustaining important and innovative research programs that have
significantly improved our understanding of HIV disease.”
Dr. Fauci adds, “Dr. Dieffenbach is a proven leader who has fostered a culture
of scientific rigor, productivity and open communication in his previous roles
at NIAID. His scientific acumen and leadership ability promise to advance AIDS
science as he takes on this important position within the Institute.”
Dr. Dieffenbach has served as the acting director of DAIDS since January 2007,
and prior to that had served as the acting principal deputy director of that
Division since July 2006. In these two vital leadership roles, Dr. Dieffenbach
developed, directed and coordinated DAIDS program activities and served as a
senior advisor to Dr. Fauci on HIV/AIDS research opportunities and directions.
Dr. Dieffenbach played a key role in restructuring the DAIDS-supported clinical
trials research networks, and has actively fostered collaboration and
partnerships with other federal agencies, international research organizations,
professional societies, foundations, community advocacy groups and industry.
From 1994 to 2007, Dr. Dieffenbach served as associate director of the DAIDS
Basic Sciences program. Under his guidance, the Basic Sciences Program supported
key studies on the basic mechanisms of HIV disease, developed new approaches in
prevention and therapy, and defined on a population level the long-term
consequences of HIV disease in people receiving treatment.
“I am honored to lead the Division of AIDS at this critical time in HIV/AIDS
research,” notes Dr. Dieffenbach. “In carrying out this role, my priorities will
be to articulate and address the most important scientific questions in AIDS
science, provide the leadership needed to implement a dynamic scientific agenda,
and position NIAID to respond nimbly to emerging scientific needs and
opportunities.”
Dr. Dieffenbach joined NIAID in 1992 as chief of the Developmental Therapeutics
Branch within the Division of AIDS. In this position, he oversaw studies on pre-
and post-exposure prophylaxis using tenofovir and helped advance several novel
therapeutic agents into clinical testing.
Since joining NIH, Dr. Dieffenbach has served as an adjunct associate professor
of pathology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS)
in Bethesda, Md. In 1999, he was elected chair of the Gordon Research Conference
on AIDS Therapeutics. He is co-author of the first and second editions of PCR
Primer, published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press in 1995 and 2003,
respectively.
Dr. Dieffenbach earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry and biophysics in 1984 from
Johns Hopkins University and continued his research career studying host-virus
interactions in the Department of Pathology at USUHS. While at USUHS, he helped
clone the cellular receptor for mouse hepatitis virus, and he showed that when
infected with HIV, frontline immune cells known as macrophages have a defect in
interferon alpha production, indicating an early breakdown in this critical
innate immune response to HIV.
NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health. NIAID supports basic
and applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases such as
HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, influenza, tuberculosis,
malaria and illness from potential agents of bioterrorism. NIAID also supports
research on basic immunology, transplantation and immune-related disorders,
including autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergies.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH)--The Nation's Medical Research
Agency--includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U. S.
Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for
conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research,
and it investigates the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare
diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit
http://www.nih.gov .
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