ticks

Three-Minute Talks: A Succinct Showcase of Science

Annual Competition Tests Researchers’ Communication Skills

alarm clock

Everyone recognizes that science can’t just stay in the lab — it can only do good if it finds applications out in the wider world, whether that’s in the form of new technologies, new medical treatments, or a change in public policy. However, the importance of getting scientists out of the lab to engage with the public has been emphasized much less until recently. One of NIH’s approaches to solving that problem is its annual Three-Minute Talks (TmT) competition, which encourages NIH postbaccalaureate fellows, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows to figure out a way to succinctly explain their research to people who may know nothing at all about what they do.

Early Vaccine Research: Rickettsial Diseases in 1951

Only one building was restricted during the 1951 NIH open house—Building 7, specially designed for infectious disease research. Children under 16 were not admitted. And there was only one demonstration: Dr. Karl Habel of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) showed the special procedures necessary in the collecting and handling of material for research on and vaccine development for rickettsial diseases carried by ticks. In this photo, is Dr. Habel following his own advice?

Karl Habel, NIH NIAID

Ticks Make History

Rocky Mountain wood ticks, or dermacentor andersoni, carry many diseases including Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), which can be fatal. Research on the cause, prevention, and treatment of tick-borne diseases began about 1900 at what is now the NIAID’s Rocky Mountain Laboratory (RML).

Ticks being fed