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bureau briefs

GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine and the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation are conducting the nation’s first clinical trial of a live recombinant tuberculosis vaccine. Five volunteers were inoculated Feb. 17 with the new vaccine at St. Louis University, Mo. Others are being recruited at another trial site in North Carolina. The vaccine, known as rBCG30, was constructed by Marcus Horwitz and his research team at the medical school. “The development of the vaccine required a decade-long effort, and we are gratified to see the vaccine progress to clinical trials,” said Horwitz, professor of medicine and microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics. The current TB vaccine, BCG, almost a century old, has limited efficacy. Each year 8 million people develop TB, and 2 million people die of the disease — nearly all of them in the developing world.

TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

A growing number of staff and faculty are taking the bus to work despite having to pay a little more for every ride, according to UCLA Transportation Services. In 2003, 2,351 staff and faculty used their BruinCard, plus 25 cents, to get to and from work aboard Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus and the Culver CityBus. That’s an increase of 195 passengers over 2002, when
cardholders could ride for free on workdays, said Transportation Services Director Renee Fortier. The 25-cent fare was added to cover increasing costs of the BruinGo! program. Riders who don’t want to hassle with dropping a quarter in the fare box can purchase a BruinGo! Flash Pass for $22.50 each quarter. More details: www.transportation.ucla.edu.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

The University of California recently renegotiated a five-year agreement with publishing giant Reed Elsevier, whose ScienceDirect online database contains such premier titles as The Lancet, Brain Research and Nuclear Physics A and B. UC’s new contract with Reed Elsevier calls for a reduction in inflationary price caps from an annual 6.5% to a rate that builds to 5% over the life of the contract. “It’s a much better inflation rate and a better cost overall,” said Cynthia Shelton, UCLA associate university librarian of collection management and scholarly communication. “The package is about 200 titles smaller, but we’ve eliminated the titles that actually were not part of any UC campus’ print subscription base, anyway.”