April 2007

Symposium on HIV and Hepatitis Vaccines To Be Held on May 10

Distinguished health and medical experts will participate in a symposium addressing critical issues on the challenges of developing an
HIV vaccine and ensuring the eradication of Hepatitis B, on May 10 at
the Library of Congress.

The symposium, titled “Combating HIV and Hepatitis B,” will coincide
with World AIDS Vaccine Day on May 18 and Hepatitis Awareness Week, May
7-11.

The program will begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 10, in Room 119 of
the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C. The
experts will focus on HIV in the morning and on Hepatitis B at 2 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public; tickets are not required.

THE SYMPOSIUM WILL BE CYBERCAST LIVE AT www.loc.gov. After May 10, the
webcast can be seen at http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc.

The Kluge Center is holding the symposium in partnership with the
International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and the Hepatitis B
Foundation (HBF), with support from the Dana Foundation.

The development of an HIV vaccine is one of the most important global
public health priorities, according to experts. Nearly three million
deaths from AIDS occurred in 2006 alone. Each day, nearly 12,000
individuals become infected with HIV, with 95 percent of the cases in
the developing world. The development of a safe and effective AIDS
vaccine is the world’s best hope to end the pandemic.

Although the number of people chronically infected with Hepatitis B
worldwide (300 million) is not challenged, HBF has suggested that the
number of people in the United States who are chronically infected has
been significantly underestimated. There is a safe and effective vaccine
to immunize people against Hepatitis B, but HBF suggests that
vaccine-induced “escape mutants” are emerging to threaten current
worldwide control strategy.

The symposium was organized by Raymond Dwek, Oxford University
professor and head of the glycobiology department. Dwek is the holder of
the Chair of Technology and Society at the Kluge Center.

In addition to Dwek, participants include: Seth Berkley and Wayne Koff,
IAVI; Timothy M. Block, HBF and Drexel College of Medicine; Baruch S.
Blumberg, Fox Chase Cancer Center; Dennis Burton, Scripps Research
Institute; Paul F. Coleman, Abbott Laboratories; Molly Conti, HBF;
Alison Evans, HBF and Drexel University School of Public Health; Mary C.
Kuhns, Abbott Laboratories; Gary J. Nabel, National Institutes of
Health; David Thomas, Johns Hopkins University; Bruce Walker, Harvard
Medical School; and John Ward, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.

Through a generous endowment from John W. Kluge, the Library
established the Kluge Center in 2000 to bring together the world’s
best thinkers to stimulate, energize and distill wisdom from the
Library’s resources and to interact with policymakers in Washington.
For more information, visit www.loc.gov/kluge.

The mission of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) is to
ensure the development of safe, effective, accessible, preventive AIDS
vaccines for use throughout the world. For more information about IAVI,
visit www.iavi.org.

The Hepatitis B Foundation of America (HBF) works on important state
and federal initiatives that advance hepatitis B as an urgent public
health priority. For more information about HBF, visit www.hepb.org.

The Dana Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation with
principal interests in brain science, immunology and arts education. It
was founded in 1950 by Charles A. Dana, a New York state legislator,
industrialist and philanthropist. For more information, visit
www.dana.org.