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MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                         February 9, 2000

CALTECH PRESIDENT DR. DAVID BALTIMORE TO SPEAK ON SEARCH FOR AN 
AIDS VACCINE IN JPL AND PASADENA CITY COLLEGE LECTURES

     Caltech President Dr. David Balitmore, one of the world's 
leading scientists, will speak on the search for an AIDS vaccine,
"Finding the Cure," as part of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory-sponsored
von K�rm�n Lecture Series, Thursday, Feb. 17 at JPL, and on
Friday, Feb. 18 at Pasadena City College.  Both lectures begin
at 7 p.m. Admission is free, and seating is on a first-come, 
first-served basis.

     AIDS, caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), is a 
major worldwide infectious killer, and the epidemic of HIV 
infection is not abating. Although the highly developed countries 
of North America and Western Europe have been able to ameliorate 
the symptoms of infection and reduce the rate of infection, the 
virus spreads at a phenomenal rate in Asia and Africa.  Baltimore 
will discuss the status of international research into an AIDS 
vaccine.

     Baltimore, a Nobel laureate and recently named a 1999 
recipient of the National Medal of Science by President Clinton, 
has been a major figure in Washington as head of the National 
Institutes of Health AIDS Vaccine Research Committee. In 1986 he 
was co-chair of the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of 
Medicine's committee on a national strategy for AIDS.

     He played a pivotal role in the mid-1970s in creating a 
consensus on national science policy regarding recombinant DNA 
research. This nationwide effort helped allay reservations about 
genetics research, and also established research standards that 
are followed by the genetics community to this day.

     Prior to his appointment as Caltech president in 1997, 
Baltimore was a faculty member at MIT and was founding director 
of MIT's Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. He served 
as director from the institute's creation in 1982 until 1990, 
when he became president of Rockefeller University.

     The lecture on Feb. 17 is at JPL, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., 
Pasadena, off the 210 (Foothill) freeway. The Feb. 18 lecture is 
at The Forum at Pasadena City College, 1570
E. Colorado Blvd. 

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