Ex-general joins team on anthrax
Special to The News Journal/DAVID W. HOWELL
By GARY HABER
The News Journal
It may seem an unlikely fit for a military man to get involved with a nonprofit institution like the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology, where researchers work to develop plant-based vaccines to combat biohazards such as anthrax and plague, and diseases such as flu and sleeping sickness.
Then again, James T. Hill is no ordinary military man.
A retired four-star U.S. Army general from Coral Gables, Fla., Hill's most recent post was regional combatant commander for the U.S. Southern Command in Miami. Hill headed military operations for all branches of the U.S. armed forces in Central and South America and the Caribbean. He oversaw an $880 million budget -- the size of a substantial corporation -- and was responsible for thousands of troops.
In December, Hill, 59, was named an unpaid member of the board of Fraunhofer USA, the parent organization that oversees Fraunhofer's five U.S. technology research centers, including the Center for Molecular Biotechnology at the Delaware Technology Park in Newark.
An anthrax vaccine is one of the most significant potential products the center is working on, said Vidadi Yusibov, its executive director. The U.S. government is likely to be the only customer for such a vaccine, and Hill will help that effort in a number of ways.
Hill will give advice about the military and government procurement process, Yusibov said. He will give suggestions about which form of vaccine, such as an injectable, pill, or nasal spray, would be most beneficial to and most likely to be purchased by the government.
Hill also can advise Fraunhofer about which government agencies offer grants for anthrax research, and his reputation will bring Fraunhofer added credibility, Yusibov said.
Anthrax has been a concern of the military since the 1980s, said Hill, a 36-year Army veteran who retired in January 2005.
"There's a military angle to what we're doing here," Hill said Friday during a visit to the center.
Hill, who served in Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm, knows firsthand how Fraunhofer's research could have an important impact on the armed forces. Developing an anthrax vaccine that could be easily administered to thousands of troops in the field would be an important advance, he said.
Earlier military efforts to inoculate combat troops against anthrax were cumbersome, Hill said. It was difficult to ensure an adequate supply of the vaccine, which required five shots administered over 18 months, making recordkeeping difficult as troops moved from one unit to another.
Hill, who already has made three visits to the center since joining the Fraunhofer board, brings, "an enormous experience and knowledge of the practical side of things," Yusibov said.
"This is a person who can really help us improve our planning and strategic development," Yusibov said.
Hill also serves on the board of Integrated Biopharma, a New Jersey-based company that has the license to commercialize the vaccines that the Center for Molecular Biotechnology develops. He also runs a consulting firm in Coral Gables that specializes in strategic leadership and security, military and political issues in Latin America.
Hill has attended post-graduate executive programs at the University of Virginia's business school, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Center for Creative Leadership at the University of San Diego.
He's spoken at Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University's Fletcher School of Diplomacy, among other places.
President Bush appointed Hill to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which makes recommendations on which military bases should be closed.
Hill says he's excited about his role with Fraunhofer, which he sees as another way of giving back to his nation.
"I'm still serving my country,'" he said. "Just in a different manner."
By GARY HABER
The News Journal
It may seem an unlikely fit for a military man to get involved with a nonprofit institution like the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology, where researchers work to develop plant-based vaccines to combat biohazards such as anthrax and plague, and diseases such as flu and sleeping sickness.
Then again, James T. Hill is no ordinary military man.
A retired four-star U.S. Army general from Coral Gables, Fla., Hill's most recent post was regional combatant commander for the U.S. Southern Command in Miami. Hill headed military operations for all branches of the U.S. armed forces in Central and South America and the Caribbean. He oversaw an $880 million budget -- the size of a substantial corporation -- and was responsible for thousands of troops.
In December, Hill, 59, was named an unpaid member of the board of Fraunhofer USA, the parent organization that oversees Fraunhofer's five U.S. technology research centers, including the Center for Molecular Biotechnology at the Delaware Technology Park in Newark.
An anthrax vaccine is one of the most significant potential products the center is working on, said Vidadi Yusibov, its executive director. The U.S. government is likely to be the only customer for such a vaccine, and Hill will help that effort in a number of ways.
Hill will give advice about the military and government procurement process, Yusibov said. He will give suggestions about which form of vaccine, such as an injectable, pill, or nasal spray, would be most beneficial to and most likely to be purchased by the government.
Hill also can advise Fraunhofer about which government agencies offer grants for anthrax research, and his reputation will bring Fraunhofer added credibility, Yusibov said.
Anthrax has been a concern of the military since the 1980s, said Hill, a 36-year Army veteran who retired in January 2005.
"There's a military angle to what we're doing here," Hill said Friday during a visit to the center.
Hill, who served in Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm, knows firsthand how Fraunhofer's research could have an important impact on the armed forces. Developing an anthrax vaccine that could be easily administered to thousands of troops in the field would be an important advance, he said.
Earlier military efforts to inoculate combat troops against anthrax were cumbersome, Hill said. It was difficult to ensure an adequate supply of the vaccine, which required five shots administered over 18 months, making recordkeeping difficult as troops moved from one unit to another.
Hill, who already has made three visits to the center since joining the Fraunhofer board, brings, "an enormous experience and knowledge of the practical side of things," Yusibov said.
"This is a person who can really help us improve our planning and strategic development," Yusibov said.
Hill also serves on the board of Integrated Biopharma, a New Jersey-based company that has the license to commercialize the vaccines that the Center for Molecular Biotechnology develops. He also runs a consulting firm in Coral Gables that specializes in strategic leadership and security, military and political issues in Latin America.
Hill has attended post-graduate executive programs at the University of Virginia's business school, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Center for Creative Leadership at the University of San Diego.
He's spoken at Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University's Fletcher School of Diplomacy, among other places.
President Bush appointed Hill to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which makes recommendations on which military bases should be closed.
Hill says he's excited about his role with Fraunhofer, which he sees as another way of giving back to his nation.
"I'm still serving my country,'" he said. "Just in a different manner."
