Advancing Prion Science: Guidance for the National Prion Research Program: Interim Report (2003)
Chapter: Appendix: Study Methods
Appendix
Study Methods
The committee gathered information about the state of prion science from journal articles and sections of reports provided by committee staff, as well as from presentations and group dialogues during three meetings held in the summer and fall of 2002. The agendas of the open sessions of those meetings appear below.
Meeting I
July 17-18, 2002
500 5th Street, NW, Room 101, Washington, DC
Purpose of the Meeting
Discuss and reconcile any bias issues with committee members
Orient members and consultants to the National Prion Research Project
Orient members and consultants to any U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) concerns regarding the threat of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) to their food and blood supplies
Clarify the study tasks and determine a strategy for accomplishing them
Determine if the committee is lacking any area of needed expertise
Determine the format and identify presenters who should be invited to address the committee at subsequent meetings
Determine study milestones and subsequent meeting dates
OPEN SESSION, JULY 17, 2002 | |
9:15 a.m. | Introductory remarks, introductions of committee and expert consultants, and review of charge Richard T.Johnson, M.D., chair of the committee |
9:30 | Sponsor presentation-DOD Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs and DOD National Prion Research Program COL Ken Bertram, Director, Congressional Directed Medical Research Programs, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command |
10:00 | DOD stakeholder meeting summary COL Ken Bertram |
10:30 | Break |
10:45 | Protecting the DOD's food supply from TSEs COL Scott Severin, Deputy Director, DOD Veterinary Service Activity, Office of the Army Surgeon General |
11:15 | Protecting the DOD's blood supply from TSEs CDR Rebecca Sparks, Deputy Director, Armed Services Blood Program |
11:45 | Evidence for or against transmission of TSEs in blood Roger Y.Dodd, Ph.D., committee member |
12:15 p.m. | Lunch |
1:00 | Surveillance of TSEs in animals and risks to human health in the United States Elizabeth S.Williams, D.V.M., Ph.D., consultant to the committee |
1:30 | Surveillance of TSEs in humans in the United States Pierluigi Gambetti, M.D., consultant to the committee |
2:00 | New detection methods for TSEs in living sheep Katherine O'Rourke, D.V.M., Ph.D., Animal Disease Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pullman, Washington |
2:30 | Break |
2:45 | New techniques for detecting prions in animal tonsillar tissue Mike Miller, D.V.M., Ph.D., Colorado Division of Wildlife, Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, Colorado |
3:45 | Adjourn open session |
OPEN SESSION, JULY 18, 2002 | |
8:30 a.m. | Currently available assays and reagents for detecting prions David Asher, M.D., Chief, Laboratory of Bacterial, Parasitic, and Unconventional Agents, Division of Emerging and Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration |
9:15 | Commercial diagnostic testing for TSEs in Europe- Prionics Alex Raeber, Ph.D., Chief of Research, Prionics AG, Schlieren, Switzerland |
10:00 | Adjourn open session |
Meeting II
September 12-13, 2002
500 5th Street, NW, Room 203, Washington, DC
Meeting Objectives
Review information about prion structure and methods to better define its structure
Review concepts of prion conversion, pathogenesis, and detection
Review current and newer techniques useful for TSE diagnostics
Discuss the compositions of the interim report and the final study report
Develop draft recommendations regarding the essential research that will:
lead to better TSE diagnostics
address animal models, bioassays, reagents, and the research infrastructure needed for TSE research
achieve critical breakthroughs to jump-start progress in prion-disease science
OPEN SESSION, SEPTEMBER 12, 2002 | |
8:30 a.m. | Introductory remarks Richard T.Johnson, M.D., chair of the committee • Introduction of members who were not at previous meeting • Summary of the first meeting • Goal of this meeting: produce draft recommendations for the interim report |
9:00 | Group discussion • Does the outline of the final report reflect the proper direction of the study? • Review emerging topics. What should be added? |
10:00 | Critical prion research requirements and research infrastructure Stanley B.Prusiner, M.D., consultant to the committee |
11:00 | PrP conversion, mechanisms, pathogenesis, and future research needs Byron Caughey, Ph.D., Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, Hamilton, Montana |
12:00 noon | Lunch |
12:30 p.m. | Mini-symposium: prion structure and structure-based detection • Tool 1: Electron crystallography Holger Wille, Ph.D., Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of California, San Francisco • Tool 2: Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) David E.Wemmer, Ph.D., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley |
2:00 | Proteomic tools to detect prions and surrogate markers Ron Hendrickson, Ph.D., formerly of MDS Proteomics, Toronto |
3:00 | Break |
3:15 | Next-generation detection methods David A.Harris, M.D., Ph.D., consultant to the committee |
3:55 | Discussion of interim report: • Which diagnostic tools show the greatest potential for advancing prion detection, particularly antemortem detection? • What research is needed to develop these tools? |
5:00 | Adjourn session |
OPEN SESSION, SEPTEMBER 13, 2002 | |
8:30 a.m. | Extraneural pathogenesis of prion disease and research gaps Adriano Aguzzi, M.D., Ph.D., consultant to the committee |
9:30 | PrPSc diagnostics; building research capacity; international collaboration Jean-Philippe Deslys, M.D., Ph.D., Head of the Prion Group, Medical Research Department, Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France |
10:30 | Adjourn Open Session |
Meeting III
October 29-30, 2002
Arnold & Mabel Beckman Center of The National Academies Irvine, California
Meeting Objectives
Review and discuss the critical study time lines and tasks
Review and refine draft interim report and recommendations
Receive briefings on Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and chronic wasting disease (CWD) surveillance systems
Receive briefings on novel proteomic tools
Discuss agendas of Meetings IV and V
OPEN SESSION, OCTOBER 29, 2002 | |
1:00 p.m. | Mini-Symposium on TSE Surveillance Linking bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to variant CJD in the United Kingdom: lessons learned and applications to CWD in the United States Robert G.Will, M.D., committee member |
2:00 | National surveillance of CWD in captive cervids Lynn Creekmore, Staff Veterinarian/Wildlife Disease Liaison, National Animal Health Programs, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Fort Collins, Colorado Break |
3:00 | CWD surveillance of cervids from a state's perspective Sam D.Holland, D.V.M., South Dakota Animal Industry Board, Pierre, South Dakota |
4:00 | Novel techniques at the cutting edge of protein detection Roger Brent, Ph.D., Associate Director of Research, The Molecular Sciences Institute Inc., Berkeley, California |
5:00 | Adjourn open session |
