AEGiS-Reuters: William Paul resigns from U.S. AIDS research office

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

William Paul resigns from U.S. AIDS research office

Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - Friday October 3 6:19 PM EDT

WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuter) - Dr. William Paul, Director of the Office of AIDS Research at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, said on Friday he had resigned so that he could work on a vaccine against the deadly syndrome.

In a letter to associates and journalists, Paul said he was leaving with a "true sense of accomplishment" but he wanted to return to research.

"I believe that such a vaccine is an urgent global public health imperative," Paul, a top immunologist, wrote.

"I also believe that the development of an effective HIV vaccine will provide the foundation for the discovery of vaccines for other life-threatening illnesses."

An international group of doctors said this month they wanted to try out one of the most promising vaccines n themselves, but the NIH told them it was too soon.

The AIDS Treatment Action Group, which lobbies for development of a vaccine and for availability of drugs, said Paul's resignation would be a great loss.

"We...call upon President (Bill) Clinton, the Congress, Varmus to ensure the recruitment of an outstanding scientist with leadership capacity to take over at the helm of the OAR," they said in a statement.

Under Paul's leadership, the NIH restructured its research on a vaccine for HIV and funded much of the work that has led to the development of so-called cocktail therapy against the infection.

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