IRP Life

IRP Resources Pop Quiz: What Can We Do for Your Science?

As an “I Am Intramural” Blog reader, you likely know that the IRP is comprised of more than 6,000 scientists conducting basic, translational, and clinical research in more than 50 buildings on six different IRP campuses around the U.S.But, do you know the answers to the questions in the following IRP Pop Quiz?

Researchers at the NIH IRP have access to:

a) Laboratory equipment sales, rental, repairs, and maintenance
b) Plants and marine organisms for research
c) High-throughput DNA sequencing
d) A and C
e) All of the above

Learn the answer...

Mentoring in Science

In Greek mythology, Mentor was the person whom Odysseus left in charge of his son Telemachus before leaving to fight in the Trojan War. According to Homer’s Odyssey, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, disguised herself as Mentor and visited Telemachus several times to advise him while his father was away. Today, the term “mentor” denotes someone who passes his or her knowledge and wisdom to somebody with less experience.

Mentor and Telemachus, by Tito Angelini

Careers in Science Series: Preparing for Academic Job Interviews

I was super excited when I got invited for my first in-person interview. If you have gotten invited for an interview, congratulations! Getting selected for an interview is a huge accomplishment and the first step towards securing an academic position. Your odds of getting the job at this point are also much higher as departments typically interview three to eight people for each position. Take a day or two to celebrate, and then you should really start to prepare for the interview. Before you go on any interview there are three important things that you need to do in advance to prepare.

New Job Just Ahead

Top 5 Reasons to Study Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases

What is a rare disease? And how rare is “rare”? When I began my research at the NIH, I had a textbook understanding of rare diseases, but now, after four years as a postdoc in the IRP, I understand a bit more of what it means to the patients and researchers who try to help them.

Rare Diseases Population

Robot Superheroes to Big Data

As a child I liked robots. Growing up in Korea, I liked cartoons and movies where people were on a mission to save the world with the robots they invented, and I wanted to develop a superhero robot someday, too. While my robot isn’t yet complete, the path I followed in pursuit of my goals eventually led me to explore data analysis.

And here I am, a postdoc at the NIH—probably the largest healthcare research institution in the world—in the Imaging Biomarkers and Computer-Aided Diagnosis Laboratory led by Dr. Ronald M. Summers. Our lab is part of the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at the NIH Clinical Center.

Hoo-Chang Shin and Holger Roth

Careers in Science Series: The Post-Application Submission Waiting Game

Waiting to hear back from places that you submit job applications to is always a very stressful experience! There really is no general rule of thumb in terms of the timeline for when you can hope to hear back. For one school, I was invited for an interview one week after the application was submitted, but for other places it was a little over two months. I know a friend who submitted an application in September and did not get invited for an interview until February, but in the end was offered the job!

Blank chalk board

Real-Time MRI Upgrades Heart Surgery

Using real-time MRI, Dr. Keith Horvath's group at the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) can precisely implant a replacement porcine heart valve using a collapsible stent more safely and quickly than with standard techniques.

"The reason for using [real-time] MRI is three-fold," Dr. Horvath explains...

Keith Horvath real time MRI Imaging

NIH Medical Oncology Fellow at a Glance

When I was growing up, my grandfather would visit and try to teach me thermodynamics. At the time, I thought that this was normal conversation between a grandfather and a little girl. It was several years before I realized that he was an eminent scientist in his home country. My grandfather would always ask me, “How is your science?”

Victoria Chiou at AACR

The New OIR Web Site: Your Definitive “Source(book)”

Following on the successful launch and continued expansion of the IRP Web site, we turned our attention to developing a new, allied Web site to give people a broader view of the programs overseen by the Office of Intramural Research (OIR). The new site (oir.nih.gov), which is officially making its debut today, is intended to provide “one-stop shopping” regarding the oversight and coordination of the research, training, and technology transfer activities that take place within each Institute’s and Center’s intramural program, across all of our research campuses nationwide.

New OIR Website and Sourcebook

Next Big Thing in Genome Modification: the CRISPR/Cas9 System

Ever since the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA, scientists have sought ways to edit the genome. Altering gene expression partially and transiently via small interfering RNA has come a long way, and the progress has been spectacular. However, achieving complete and sustained modification of gene expression in a cell remains a tedious procedure that is often costly and time-consuming. For molecular biologists working with cell lines, quick and efficient knock out of one or more genes would provide a powerful tool for their studies. The CRISPR technology arrived two years ago to potentially fulfill that need.

CRISPR genome editing