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Leadership opportunities in AMR: PACCCARB, BARDA’s new DRIVe initiative

Dear All: If you are interested in public service, two very exciting groups of opportunities have recently emerged.

First, PACCARB (the US Presidential Advisory Council for the CARB initiative) is about to have its first rotation of voting members. Of the original fifteen voting members appointed just under 3 years ago, seven us (myself included) are due to rotate off later this year (the others will rotate off next year after serving for 4 years). Nominations to fill these seven voting positions are now being sought. Newly appointed voting members would serve either a three- or four-year term. If you are interested, check out the solicitation page here. Nominations must be received by 5:00p (Washington DC time) on 30 Apr 2018. I’ve very much enjoyed my time on PACCARB and would commend it to others who are interested in this type of service.

Second, BARDA is launching an exciting new research group. Called the Division for Research, Innovation and Ventures (DRIVe), the new group seeks to develop countermeasures to protect Americans from natural and intentional health security threats. Up to 20 new federal and contractor staff are being sought in the next 60 days to support the launch of this new initiative! Many more details, including contact information and a list of possible roles, can be found below my signature.

The amount of AMR-related activity is amazing! All best wishes, –jr

John H. Rex, MD | Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd. | Expert-in-Residence, Wellcome Trust. Follow me on Twitter: @JohnRex_NewAbx. See past newsletters and subscribe for the future: http://amr.solutions/blog/

BARDA’s DRIVe initiative (text adapted from an announcement email)
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) serves the nation by partnering with industry to make available medical countermeasures against wide range of major threats to our health security.  A component of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, BARDA has been successful in delivering new therapeutics, vaccines, diagnostics and devices against serious health threats including biological, chemical, radiological, nuclear agents, emerging infectious diseases and their sequelae. 

As a priority for the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, BARDA will be launching in June 2018 a new Division for Research, Innovation and Ventures (DRIVe) to accelerate the research, development, and availability of transformative countermeasures to protect Americans from natural and intentional health security threats. DRIVe will initially accelerate the development of innovative solutions in its first two target impact areas of sepsis and pre-exposure, pre-symptomatic diagnostics. DRIVe will expand in future years to tackle additional challenges.

DRIVe will also lead BARDA’s Medical Countermeasure Innovation Partnership (MCIP) established under 21st Century Cures. DRIVe will accelerate the development of innovative medical countermeasures not only through direct research and development, the traditional BARDA model, but also through the use of an independent 3rd party partner that leverages strategic venture capital practices and methods, akin to a corporate venture capital model. Together both of these models will stimulate innovation. 

BARDA might be looking for you! DRIVe is actively looking to recruit up to 20 new federal and contractor staff in the next 60 days in preparation for its launch during June 2018. Per BARDA, “If you are interested in being part of DRIVe, to accelerate new medical countermeasures to protect America and the world against the relentless national security threats posed by terrorists, rogue nation states and naturally emerging diseases we have a place for you on our team! We want to target the innovators, the thought leaders and those who have a vision for how medicine will be practiced in the future.  Someone who won’t take no for an answer or hide behind the belief that ‘this is too hard’.”

Below are lists of the initial current positions now being recruited to support DRIVe. For more details, please contact:

    Tyler G. Merkeley 
    Health Scientist 
    Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) 
    Office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR)
    U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
    Email: DRIVe@HHS.gov

Sepsis Product Development SME (Subject Matter Expert)
Job City: Washington 
Job State: US – DC 
http://chk.tbe.taleo.net/chk05/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=TUNNELL&cws=4&rid=8930

Senior Financial and Business Development SME (Subject Matter Expert) [VC Experience 15-20 years]
Job City: Washington 
Job State: US – DC 
http://chk.tbe.taleo.net/chk05/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=TUNNELL&cws=4&rid=8932

Medical and Novel Healthcare Diagnostics SME (Subject Matter Expert)
Job City: Washington 
Job State: US – DC 
http://chk.tbe.taleo.net/chk05/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=TUNNELL&cws=4&rid=8931

Senior Research Scientist SME (Subject Matter Expert)
Job City: Washington 
Job State: US – DC 
http://chk.tbe.taleo.net/chk05/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=TUNNELL&cws=4&rid=8934

Sr. Analytical Consultant [Scientist Technology Support – 2 Positions] 
US-DC-Washington  
https://careers-aveshka.icims.com/jobs/1188/sr.-analytical-consultant/job

Business Consultant [Venture Capital Experience 6-8 years]
https://careers-aveshka.icims.com/jobs/intro
Job Locations US-DC-Washington
Link not yet available 

Executive Assistant for DRIVe
Job LocationsUS-DC-Washington
https://careers-aveshka.icims.com/jobs/1183/executive-assistant/job

Sr. Business Consultant with DARPA Experience
US-DC-Washington
https://careers-aveshka.icims.com/jobs/1185/sr.-business-consultant/job

Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community:

Dear All,
 
The IDWeek 2024 program committee is again seeking programs on novel antimicrobial agents and novel diagnostics for presentation in pipeline sessions! Here’s what is sought:

  • “Industry partners are invited to submit antimicrobials that are in preclinical stages of development (Phase II and III preferred) or recently approved after January 2024.
  • “The pipeline sessions will include antibacterials, antifungals, and antivirals (excluding COVID-19 and HIV).
  • “The committee also invites companies developing novel diagnostic technologies with a minimum of some preliminary proof of concept data to submit.” 

This is a great opportunity to tell the story of your development project! The deadline to submit is Wednesday, June 26 via the application portal. Any questions should be directed to program@idsociety.org. Please share this email with anyone you think might be interested in applying!
 
In addition, I’ll also note that those with a more general story to tell should look at the BugHub Stage (and the Global BugHub stage). Both BugHub variants seek “presentations that touch on your experience of working in infectious diseases and presentations that ultimately lead to a greater understanding of our diverse field” via a TED Talk-esque speech about your work. The deadline for applications is 26 June, the same as for the pipeline sessions.

I look forward to seeing you there! All best wishes, –jr

John H. Rex, MD | Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd. | Operating Partner, Advent Life Sciences. Follow me on Twitter: @JohnRex_NewAbx. See past newsletters and subscribe for the future: https://amr.solutions/blog/. All opinions are my own.

John’s Top Recurring Meetings

Virtual meetings are easy to attend, but regular attendance at annual in-person events is the key to building your network and gaining deeper insight. My personal favorites for such in-person meetings are below. Of particular value for developers are the AMR Conference and the ASM-ESCMID conference. Hope to see you there!

  • 27-30 April 2024 (Barcelona, Spain): 34th ECCMID, the annual meeting of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Go here for details. 
  • 17-20 Sep 2024 (Porto, Portugal): ASM/ESCMID Joint Conference on Drug Development to Meet the Challenge of Antimicrobial Resistance. Go here for the meeting’s general website. You can’t register (yet) for the 2024 event, but save the date!
  • 16-20 Oct 2024 (Los Angeles, USA): IDWeek 2024, the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Save the date! More details to come!
  • 25-26 February 2025 (Basel, Switzerland): The 9th AMR Conference 2025. Go here to register! 

Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community:

  • [NEW]  9 Apr 2024 (virtual, 830a-10a ET): GARDP’s next REVIVE webinar entitled “Progressing a discovery project – Criteria and challenges.” Register here.
  • [NEW] 9 Apr 2024 (virtual, 10a-1130a ET): CDC webinar “Impacts of Antimicrobial Resistance on Cancer Care.” Click here for details and to register.
  • 10-11 Apr 2024 (virtual): Sepsis Alliance AMR Conference, a 2-day conference focused on “Practical technologies to manage sepsis and counteract the expanding challenge of antimicrobial resistance.” Go here for details and to register.
  • 26 Apr 2024 (Barcelona, Spain): ESCMID workshop entitled “Using Data Science and Machine Learning for Infection Science: A Hands-on Introduction.” Click here to register or here for more details. 
  • 27-30 April 2024 (Barcelona, Spain): 34th ECCMID, the annual meeting of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. See Recurring Meetings list, above.
  • 26-31 May 2024 (Montreal, Canada): EDAR7, the McGill AMR Centre’s 7th edition of their Environmental Dimension of Antimicrobial Resistance conference. Go here for details; final abstract deadline is 21 Dec 2023.
  • 28-29 May 2024 (in person, Uppsala, Sweden): Uppsala Antibiotic Days, a broad-ranging 2-day program hosted by the Uppsala Antibiotic Center. Go here for details and to register.
  • [NEW] 30-31 May 2024 (face-to-face in Rockville, Maryland as well as online, 8.30-5.30p ET on 30 May, 9-2.40p on 31 May): NIAID-sponsored workshop entitled “Towards realizing the promise of adjunctive immune therapy for invasive fungal infections”. The agenda covers host immunity to invasive fungal infections, immune modulators in the context of fungal infections; and strategies for testing immune modulators as adjunctive therapy. Go here for more details and to register.
  • 9-13 June 2024 (in person, Ascona, Switzerland): “New Approaches to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, 2nd Edition” is a Sunday-Thursday residential workshop focused on the deep biology of AMR. Sponsored by NCCR AntiResist (a Swiss National Science Foundation consortium), the scientific program has the feel of a Gordon Conference. Space is limited, so you are encouraged to apply promptly — go here for details.
  • 13-17 June 2024 (Atlanta, Georgia): ASM Microbe, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. You can’t register yet, but you can go here for general details.
  • 17-20 Sep 2024 (Porto, Portugal): ASM/ESCMID Joint Conference on Drug Development to Meet the Challenge of Antimicrobial Resistance. See Recurring Meetings list, above.
  • 16-20 Oct 2024 (Los Angeles, USA): IDWeek 2024, the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. See Recurring Meetings list, above. 
  • 19-27 Oct 2024 (Annecy, France, residential in-person program): ICARe (Interdisciplinary Course on Antibiotics and Resistance). Now in its 8th year, Patrice Courvalin directs the program with the support of an all-star scientific committee and faculty. The resulting soup-to-nuts training covers all aspects of antimicrobials, is very intense, and routinely gets rave reviews! Seating is limited, so mark your calendars now if you are interested. Applications open in March 2024 — go here for more details.
  • 4-5 Dec 2024 (in person, Washington, DC): “Fungal Dx 2024: Fungal Diagnostics in Clinical Practice” is a 2-day in-person workshop organized by ISHAM‘s Fungal Diagnostics Working Group. The program and registration links are available at https://fungaldx.com/; the agenda is comprehensive and features an all-star global list of speakers.

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