Aid Malaria Unit Acts To Regain Credibility As Probe Continues

Ex-chief Erickson pleads guilty, and a University of Illinois scientist is ousted from his laboratory. WASHINGTON--A new team at the U.S. Agency for International Development is cleaning up the mess left by the convicted ex-chief of its malaria research program. But some scientists who are looking for a vaccine for the deadly disease say that the bad odor left by the scandal leaves them wondering where their next dollar will come from. The scarcity of funds will certainly hamper the progress

Geoffrey Brown

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Ex-chief Erickson pleads guilty, and a University of Illinois scientist is ousted from his laboratory.

WASHINGTON--A new team at the U.S. Agency for International Development is cleaning up the mess left by the convicted ex-chief of its malaria research program. But some scientists who are looking for a vaccine for the deadly disease say that the bad odor left by the scandal leaves them wondering where their next dollar will come from.

The scarcity of funds will certainly hamper the progress of finding a vaccine to protect against a disease, spread by the Anopheles mosquito, that kills 3 million people a year and may be heading to Western urban areas. But other scientists believe that the uncovering of waste and greed within the malaria research program at AID may be a blessing in disguise by deflating unrealistic expectations and providing needed oversight for the field.

The darkest chapter in the ...

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