[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 15 (Tuesday, February 2, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EARMARK DECLARATION

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER JOHN LEE

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 2, 2010

  Mr. LEE of New York. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican 
Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following 
information regarding earmarks I received as part of the FY10 Defense 
Appropriations bill.
  Requesting Member: Congressman Christopher John Lee (NY-26)
  Bill Number: H.R. 3326
  Account: RDT&E, Army
  Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Hauptman Woodward Medical Research 
Institute (HWI)
  Address of Requesting Entity: 700 Ellicott St., Buffalo, NY 14203
  Description of Request: Provide an earmark of $2,000,000 for 
identification of new drug targets in multi-drug resistant bacteria 
causing opportunistic infections.
  This project will address the recent rapid increase of severe 
opportunistic post-wound infections in the warfighter caused by the 
drug and multi-drug resistant bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii. HWI 
will identify new antibacterial drug targets and develop novel lead 
drug compounds with the goal of acquiring effective treatments against 
difficult and dangerous infections.
  Warfighters wounded during battle are highly susceptible to 
opportunistic infections, greatly complicating their treatment and 
recovery. Their susceptibility to post-wound infections is due to the 
difficulty in cleaning traumatic deep tissue wounds and the near 
impossibility of maintaining sterile conditions during front line 
medical care. Opportunistic infections of wounded warfighters greatly 
extend hospital stays and increase costs. Wounded warfighters are 
routinely treated immediately with antibiotics in an effort to prevent 
opportunistic infections. Unfortunately, the occurrence of drug and 
multi-drug resistant strains of A. baumannii is rapidly increasing. 
Currently, 50 percent of these infections are resistant to treatment by 
at least one antibiotic, and 1 in 10 infections can't be treated by any 
antibiotic in routine use. Infections by drug resistant strains of A. 
baumannii often result in limb amputation or even death.
  This project will address this militarily important problem by 
identifying new drug targets within A. baumannii, determining the 
molecular structure of the proteins, and then identifying chemicals 
that will serve as the starting points for developing desperately 
needed new antibiotic drugs effective against multi-drug resistant A. 
baumannii. HWI has already identified and begun characterization of 
several proteins that are potential drug targets.

                          ____________________