NIAID to Sponsor Meeting on SARS Research

To:Editors, Reporters and Producers Subject:SARS: Developing a Research Response Date:Friday, May 30, 2003 Time:9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Place:Natcher Conference Center 45 Center Drive National Institutes of Health (NIH) Bethesda, Maryland

Government, academic and industry researchers will meet at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) two weeks from today to identify the most important goals and promising avenues of SARS research. The meeting, designed to promote exchange of ideas, will feature international experts in the fields of coronavirus biology, vaccine development, clinical experience, and SARS epidemiology and etiology. These experts will discuss the scientific, technical and logistical challenges that must be addressed to develop vaccines, antiviral therapeutics and other interventions in response to SARS.

Space is limited, and advance registration is strongly recommended. For more information, visit www.niaid.nih.gov and click on the sidebar meeting notice. Parking is also limited, and attendees are encouraged to take the Metro Red Line to the Medical Center stop, which is on the NIH campus. For more information on parking, directions, and NIH security see http://www.nih.gov/about/visitor/index.htm.

The symposium will also be Webcast at http://videocast.nih.gov. For further information, contact the NIAID press office at 301-402-1663.

Press releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.