Ho to shift from AIDS to SARS research

David Ho, director of the New York City-based Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and one of the world's leading authorities on HIV/AIDS, announced this week that he plans to turn his attention to the new Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, The Wall Street Journal reports. In addition, Gary Nabel, director of the National Institutes of Health's Vaccine Research Center, said he is shifting 30 employees from work on HIV and Ebola vaccines to begin research on SARS. Ho said he has agreed to work on potential treatments and vaccines for SARS at his research laboratory in Hong Kong "at least for the short term." He added, "Given all the lessons we've learned from HIV, this one looks easier." Other researchers at the Aaron Diamond center will continue to focus on HIV/AIDS research.