After NIH Staffing Cuts, Cancer Patient In Clinical Trial Worries She May Lose Crucial Time

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“Clinical trials are a key part of delivery of care to patients. At a large academic center, such as all the large cancer centers, clinical trials are deeply ingrained into patient care – and without clinical trials, advances in delivery of care to patients will not be made. It’s only through clinical trials that high-quality data about new treatments and cures can be developed,” said Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who has been following the changes at the NIH.

“I can also say that terminating multiyear research projects midway leads to a lot of waste of taxpayers’ dollars, because there has already been substantial investment in a project,” he said. “So if you end a study when it’s halfway done or three-quarters of the way done, then there’s no benefit to either science or to patients after there has already been substantial investment.” Read Full Article…

BGBoston Globe

Federal funds were the lifeblood of US scientific discovery. Where will the money come from now?

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The funding geyser that propelled US medical advances for much of the past century may be drying up as the Trump administration pulls back federal research money from Harvard University and other New England institutions that have been reliable engines of discovery and innovation.

“The extent of the federal investment in research, including biomedical research, is the reason the U.S. has been dominant in research worldwide,” said Dr. Dan Barouch, head of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, whose lab helped develop a COVID-19 vaccine. “If the federal government stops supporting research, the U.S. will lose its global dominance.” Read Full Article

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‘Cautious terror:’ Harvard hospitals dodge Trump’s $2.2 billion funding freeze — for now

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Dr. Dan Barouch, head of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which is also affiliated with Harvard, said it was premature to express relief.

“I’m waiting for more information,” said Barouch, whose center helped develop the COVID-19 vaccine marketed by Johnson & Johnson. “I have not received any stop work orders at the present time.”

Harvard-affiliated hospitals may be benefiting from an anomaly in how they are legally structured. Read Full Article…

Anti-vaccine sentiment may derail vaccines already awaiting FDA approval, experts fear

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This trend of lawmakers pushing to ban the use of mRNA technology is “striking” and suggests that scientists and doctors could do a “better job” of communicating with the general public, public health officials and lawmakers about the overall benefits and risks of mRNA medicines, said Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

“A complete ban on a technology would be a very striking move, as opposed to exploring a concern with a particular product. It’s like saying that there is something that you dislike about a website, so you’re going to ban the entire Internet,” Barouch said. Read Full Article…

Trump is threatening Harvard with funding cuts in the billions. But what does he want the university to do?

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Dan Barouch, head of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which is affiliated with Harvard, said $9 billion is “a huge number” that “makes me worry about the work that countless people do in countless areas.”

Barouch’s center helped develop the COVID-19 vaccine marketed by Johnson & Johnson. The center has received millions of dollars in federal funding over the past decade to work on vaccines to prevent multiple diseases, including HIV.

Barouch said he had no idea whether funding for his center’s work could be imperiled by the Trump administration’s review, and had no immediate plans to inquire about it.

“I don’t think that anybody knows,” he said. “I wouldn’t even know who to ask.”

Read full article here:

Trump has targeted Harvard. But what does he want?

What to know about measles breakthrough cases and why vaccination is still important

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“We know that the measles vaccine is highly effective,” Dr. Dan Barouch, the William Bosworth Castle professor of medicine and professor of immunology at Harvard Medical School, told ABC News.

“However, it’s not 100%, so a small percentage of people can still develop measles, even if they receive a measles vaccine,” he continued. “In most cases, such cases of measles is less severe than in an unvaccinated individual.”

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“Measles is one of the most contagious viruses that we know about, so it will spread like wildfire in an unvaccinated population,” Barouch said. “Whenever population immunity is less than 95%, then we see outbreaks. … The outbreak will continue to spread as long as a fraction of the population is unvaccinated.”

What to know about measles breakthrough cases and why vaccination is still important – ABC News

14th Annual Barouch Lab Retreat, January 2025

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Three months into 2025, US measles cases surpass total for 2024

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“As I’m seeing this outbreak unfold, it brings me back to the year 2000 when the United States declared that measles was eradicated from our country,” said Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

“The split screen of what’s happening now and the fact that it was deemed to be eradicated 25 years ago, I think highlights the deterioration of proven preventative measures,” he said. “And the current outbreak might be larger than we currently realize.” Read Full Article

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‘Short Sighted’: What Canceled FDA Meetings And WHO Withdrawal Mean For Fall Flu Vaccines

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“If you want a vaccine available for the fall, the strains included have to be decided by springtime,” said Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, adding that the meeting’s cancellation is a “clear departure from prior practice.”

The FDA has used advisory committees for the evaluation of drugs since the 1960s. Barouch said that even though the FDA has internal staff that could make these decisions by themselves, it’s important to have external input, especially from academics.

“It brings external experts from around the country, as well as an opportunity for debate and public comment,” he said. Read Full Article…

CDC Investigating Hospitalizations Of Five People Who Recently Received Chikungunya Vaccine

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Chikungunya-like reactions included “fever, joint pain, headache, rash, and can also include cardiac and neurologic conditions which were serious in two cases,” Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, (not involved in the clinical studies).

“The robust vaccine safety surveillance system often identifies extremely rare adverse effects of vaccines after approval,” said Barouch, an infectious disease expert not involved in the CDC investigation. Read Full Article…