NIH experts discuss lessons learned from Ebola outbreak

In an issue this month for the medical journal Clinical Trials, leading researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), described the series of challenges and lessons learned to prevent future outbreaks.

Among the authors in the newest issue, Lori E. Dodd, a mathematical statistician in NIAID’s division of clinical research, edited the new issue to highlight the different approaches to trial design from the various organizations that contributed towards valuable research in containing the outbreak.

NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, Clifford Lane, NIAID deputy director for clinical research and special projects, and Hilary D. Marston, NIAID medical officer and policy advisor for global health, jointly discuss in a perspective piece an outline of a set of core clinical research principles. The principles include collaborating with local partners, prioritizing candidate treatments and vaccines with plausible benefit, and promoting transparency through prompt dissemination of results – all to mitigate any potential harm to participants.

Additional articles provided by NIAID researchers include a discussion on the statistical considerations and design of various ebola vaccine trials and clinical trials of investigational ebola treatments.