Profiles

Untangling Alzheimer’s Disease — DNA Damage in Alzheimer’s

Drs. Hyundong Song and Yujun Hou, standing together here in their lab, are postdoctoral fellows working to find ways that doctors may one day effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease.

Given that Alzheimer’s is such a complex disease with many causes and pathways, it is not surprising that the search for effective treatments has proven difficult. So I spoke with Drs. Yujun Hou and Hyundong Song, postdoctoral fellows in the IRP’s Laboratory of Molecular Gerontology at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to learn more about their approaches to meeting the challenge.

LabTV: Curious About Fatigue Related to Cancer Therapy

Reblogged from the NIH Director's Blog. Originally posted on September 10, 2015.

As this LabTV profile of an outstanding nurse-scientist shows, there are many different paths to a career in biomedical research. Leorey Saligan grew up in the Philippines, where the challenges and rewards of caring for sick family members inspired him to become a nurse. His first job was at a nursing home in Midland, TX, and the next at a nearby hospital. Later, Saligan moved to Norfolk, VA, where as a nurse practitioner he began caring for people with sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that affects several organ systems.

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Meet A Real Biochemist and Biophysicist

Have you ever wondered why someone becomes a biochemist or a biophysicist, or how to find a career in both fields at the same time? Peter Bandettini, Ph.D., is Director of the Functional Magnetic Resonance Facility and Chief of the Unit on Functional Imaging Methods at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). In the interview below, he shares some thoughts on what motivates him and what it's like working at the NIH IRP.

LabTV: Young Scientist Curious About The Immune System

Reblogged from the NIH Director's Blog. Originally posted by Dr. Francis Collins, NIH Director, on March 19, 2015.

Welcome to LabTV! If you haven’t already, take a look at this video. I hope you will enjoy meeting the first young scientist featured in this brand new series that I’ve chosen to highlight on my blog. The inspiration for LabTV comes from Jay Walker, who is the founder of PriceLine, and curator and chairman of TEDMED, an annual conference focused on new ideas in health and medicine.

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We Appreciate Postdocs

Postdocs help power aging research. They receive NIA funding for training. They work with and for NIA grantees. In-house at NIA, they are a critical component of research conducted in NIA labs, which we call “intramural” research. Across the research community, postdoctoral research fellows contribute the long hours necessary to organize and implement research activities. I know this because I am one of them, and colleagues, I see how hard you work!

A headshot of Dr. Erez Eitan. He wears a grey sweater. A headshot of Dr. Sarah Mitchell, in front of a photographic backdrop. She is smiling, and wearing an orange and white shirt with a necklace. And a headshot of Dr. Peter Sykora. He wears a yellow and blue striped polo shirt.

Meet Jill Koshiol, Epidemiologist and Stadtman Investigator

Jill is pictured in Linxian, China starting a pilot study to evaluate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as a possible link to the high rate of esophageal cancer in the region (top). In Linxian, China, Jill is present for the set-up of a surgery to remove the top part of the stomach (gastrectomy) (bottom).

Jill Koshiol, Ph.D., is an epidemiologist and one of eight Stadtman Investigators who joined the NIH IRP in 2009-2010, the search's inaugural recruitment year. As a tenure-track principal investigator within the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG), Dr. Koshiol and her team study the epidemiology of infectious agents and cancer, and they are increasingly interested in the role of immune stimulation and inflammation in carcinogenesis.

In the following Q&A, Dr. Koshiol shares some thoughts on how she became a scientist and what's its like to conduct biomedical research at the NIH IRP.

Careers In Science Series: Introducing Robin Stanley

Just a few decades ago, there weren’t many opportunities for women in science, but thankfully today’s environment is far more welcoming. Robin Stanley, a recently hired NIH Earl Stadtman Investigator, is one young scientist inspired to follow her career path by some of the early female pioneers in her field of research.