government allowing scientific and cultural exchanges between the two countries. In November 2009, Agre made the first of six trips to Cuba when he led a group of scientists from AAAS to Havana. Two years later, Agre led an extensive series of visits to the Cuban Academy of Sciences and leading Cuban scientific institutions including the institutes for biotechnology, pharmaceutical and vaccine development, a teaching hospital and ELAM (Latin American School of Medicine) Cuba. Invited to lecture at the University of Havana, Agre also met with Fidel Castro who discussed numerous topics including the need for universal health care as one cause for the Cuban Revolution. Agre subsequently led another AAAS visit and served as Honorary President of Biotecnologia Habana 2012 and Plenary Lecturer at Quimcuba 2015. Despite animosities, Cuba and the U.S. have had a long tradition of scientific interactions that dated from 1900. The outbreak of Yellow Fever at the time of the Spanish–American War resulted in the Yellow Fever Commission led by US Army Major Walter Reed. Working together, Cuban medical scientist, Carlos Finlay, and a young Johns Hopkins faculty member, Jesse William Lazear, proved for the first time that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes. In a fateful experiment, Lazear allowed himself to be bitten by mosquitoes that had fed upon yellow fever patients, and he died of the disease. This discovery led to conquest of Yellow Fever. Cuba always felt that Finlay and Lazear never received proper credit, an issue partially ameliorated by the 2015 visit by the Johns Hopkins Health Advisory Board and plaque unveiling. Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) Referred to as the "Hermit Kingdom," the DPRK has been nearly totally isolated from the world since the negotiated ceasefire in 1953. Requests for entry by US organizations were rebuffed. Working through the DPRK Ambassador to the UN, an invitation was issued to the Nobel Laureate-led AAAS team in partnership with CRDF Global for a visit hosted by the DPRK State Academy of Sciences in December 2009. Avoiding issues related to weapons development, requests to visit 15 research institutes, universities, the Grand People's Study House, and a hospital were all granted. In most cases, the leadership of these institutions had never seen or met an American previously. Potential future scientific collaboration in the life sciences such as medicine development and agricultural research received extensive and enthusiastic discussion. A follow up visits by