Thumbs Down on Expensive, Hotly Debated Trial of NIH AIDS Vaccine

摘要

When he scuttled plans for a huge AIDS vaccine efficacy trial last week, Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), erased any doubts that he is willing to buck his own advisers when necessary. Fauci made his decision even though NIAID's AIDS Vaccine Research Subcommittee (AVRS) voted in May in favor of a study of a candidate designed by scientists at his own institute. "Voting is important provided you have the opportunity to ask people why did you vote that way," says Fauci, who spoke with several subcommittee members after the meeting. "When you ask [them] for the scientific rationale, they often change their minds."