
Story about Suarez's
research 
Presidential
Award for ARS Veterinary Medical OfficerBy Marty Clark July 12, 2002Agricultural Research Service scientist
David L. Suarez received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and
Engineers (PECASE) at a ceremony today in Washington, D.C. Suarezs selection was based on research explaining how chickens and
turkeys contract avian influenza, as well as contributions to several new types
of vaccines for treating avian influenza. Suarez is a veterinary medical officer at ARS
Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory,
Athens, Ga. ARS is the chief scientific research agency in the
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since joining ARS in 1995, Suarez has assisted, at the request of the
federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, with studies of a new strain of influenza (H5N1) that appeared
in chicken and human populations of Hong Kong in 1997. Suarez has also served on the Live Bird Market working group, which is
involved with eradication efforts in the northeastern United States, and has
developed a rapid influenza detection system for use there. He has also developed a rapid diagnostic test, using standard molecular
genetics technology, that can be used for quick influenza subtyping by
diagnostic laboratories that do not work routinely on influenza viruses. The
test is being used in live bird markets in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia
and in the northeastern United States. Suarez continues to investigate why these viruses crossed species boundaries
from poultry to human--important research for the poultry industry and human
health. U.S. Department of Agriculture |