Malaria immunity and vaccine research

Evaluation covered the period 4/87-7/89. Numerous managerial problems have severely hampered progress. The major difficulty has been confusion over the division of responsibilities among AIBS, A.I.D., and the network members. These problems are due in large part to the continuous decline of A.I.D."s operating budget, which has hampered its ability to supervise the project. The Agency has relied substantially on temporary staff rather than on the more experienced direct hire personnel. Interviews with Principal Investigators revealed other concerns: questionable usefulness of site visits by large teams; dubious management of primates; and a lack of feedback from AIBS and A.I.D. Nevertheless, AIBS has kept the network functioning during a period of great difficulty, so that the necessary tasks have been performed and primary goals reached in the umbrella project. AIBS has generally adhered to A.I.D. contract obligations and has made important contributions to the malaria research network, including site visits and subproject evaluations; effective organization of meetings and conferences; and the development of a consultant roster which has proven effective in selecting panels for reviewing and evaluating proposals and in arranging site visit teams. While AIBS" contribution to the malaria research network are many, the activities defined in the scope of work of the current contract are no longer valid. Consequently, it is recommended that changes be made to redefine AIBS and A.I.D. managerial and technical responsibilities in proportion to institutional ability to do the job. In an appended comment, S&T Health takes exception to two specific recommendations: (1) to give AIBS more autonomy; and (2) for A.I.D. to give full oversight responsibility to a permanently assigned, direct-hire Cognizant Technical Officer. S&T/H feels that moe authority can be delegated to AIBS, but continued oversight by A.I.D. is both necessary and appropriate. A single CTO, acting without assistance, could not long remain technically cognizant of a program of this size and complexity in which management is contracted out.