Noah, 22, of Lusby, Maryland, is a poet and writer, and has been an NIH study participant since she was 2 years old, when she was diagnosed with a rare metabolic disorder called abetalipoproteinemia (ABL). In addition to participating in an IRP study of metabolic disorders like ABL, Noah also has been part of the NIH’s Undiagnosed Diseases Program for several years, since many of the symptoms that make daily life difficult for her cannot be explained by her ABL diagnosis. Noah credits William Shakespeare with instilling a love of literature in her. When she’s not reading world literature, she’s writing plays and short stories as well as poetry that her mom, an artist, illustrates. You can learn more about Noah’s story by visiting the website of The Children’s Inn at NIH, where she stays free of charge when she is receiving treatment or undergoing tests at the NIH.
Robin Arnette, Ph.D., is a science writer and editor at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. As a member of the NIEHS Office of Communications and Public Liaison, Arnette shares stories about NIEHS research by developing press releases, producing science videos, and contributing to the Environmental Factor, the NIEHS newsletter.
Robin Stanley, Ph.D., is an NIH Earl Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator in the Signal Transduction Laboratory at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Prior to her appointment at NIEHS, Robin was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), where she studied autophagy, a cellular process that literally means “self-eating.”
Sara Lioi is a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), where she studies lysosomal acidification using fluorescence imaging of live cells.
Simona Patange is a Ph.D. candidate in biophysics with the UMD-NCI Partnership for Integrative Cancer Research. She first came to NIH in 2010 as a college junior from Portland, Oregon, hoping to have awesome summer internship in the NIH Intramural Research Program and see the sights of Washington, DC. After graduating, she returned to the IRP for a post-baccalaureate fellowship at NIH's NHLBI and graduate lab rotations at the NCI and NIBIB. Now a graduate student at NCI, she looks forward to sharing her stories of the IRP and the incredible people who make it a great place to work and learn.
Swagata Basu is a postdoctoral fellow at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and is studying the role of Neuregulin-ErbB receptor signaling pathway in cortical excitability. She received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Texas at Dallas and used slice electrophysiology and cognition to understand the neural mechanisms underlying attention and impulsive behavior.
Valerie Bonham, J.D., is a Senior Attorney in the NIH Branch of the DHHS Office of the General Counsel, where she advises on various matters, including human subjects protection; privacy, confidentiality, and HIPAA; data sharing; information and data quality; stem cell research; public-private partnerships; and oversight. She is the NIH Branch coordinating attorney for human subjects protection, privacy and clinical issues. From 2010 to 2102, Val served as the first Executive Director of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, an independent committee of the nation’s leaders in medicine, science, ethics, religion law, and engineering appointed by President Obama to advise on bioethical issues. Val speaks frequently on issues of human subjects protection, ethics, and legal risks in clinical and biomedical research. In 2014-2015 she is participating in the DHHS competitive SES Candidate Development Program. As part of that work she led development of the NIH Office of Intramural Research (OIR)’s Human Data Sharing Policy.
Victoria L. Chiou, M.D., is a medical oncology fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center for Cancer Research (CCR). Dr. Chiou’s research interests include early phase clinical trials testing combinations of novel therapeutics and immunotherapy in breast and ovarian cancer.
Yannis Grammatikakis, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow in the RNA Regulation Section of the National Institute on Aging (NIA). His goal is to advance his career in the scientific field by exploring the molecular mechanisms of post-transcriptional gene regulation at the RNA level. When not busy at the bench, he likes running and playing soccer to help keep his physical and mental health in balance. He also enjoys watching movies, reading books and, more recently, writing blog posts.
Hello! Thank you for visiting the I Am Intramural Blog. Our goal is to bring you thoughts and experiences from scientists and clinicians of the NIH Intramural Research Program. If you have questions about the blog, please email IRPinfo@mail.nih.gov.
