Announcements

STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION

Wednesday, May 16, 2012
10:00–11:00 a.m.
Lipsett Auditorium (Building 10)

Kenneth M. Yamada, chief of NIDCR’s Laboratory of Cell and Developmental Biology, will give a presentation as part of NIH’s 40th annual Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month observance. For questions or to request special accommodation, call Tyrone Banks (301-451-9692).

NIH CAREER SYMPOSIUM

Friday, May 18, 2012
8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Natcher Conference Center (Building 45); Lister Hill Auditorium (Building 38A)

The Office of Intramural Training and Education invites NIH graduate students and postdoctoral trainees to learn about scientific career options. Panel sessions cover academic, government, industry, and nonprofit career paths. More than 80 speakers will provide insights into the pluses and minuses of their current jobs and how they got there. To register, visit http://www.training.nih.gov/.

REGULATING SYNAPTIC PLASTICITY

Friday, May 18, 2012
12:00–1:00 p.m.
Wilson Hall (Building 1)

As part of the Director’s Seminar Series, Serena Dudek (NIEHS) will present “New Insights Into Regulating Synaptic Plasticity from an Unexpected Place.” For questions or to request special accommodation, call 301-496-1921.

AUTHOR THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN AT NIH

Thursday, May 24, 2012
3:00–4:00 p.m.
Masur Auditorium (Building 10)

Journalist, columnist, author, and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas L. Friedman (author of The World is Flat) will present the annual J. Edward Rall Cultural Lecture in a talk entitled “That Used to Be Us: How America Lost Its Way and How We Find Our Way Back.” The lecture will be broadcast live and later archived at http://videocast.nih.gov/. For more information or to request reasonable accommodation, contact Jacqueline Roberts (robertsjm@mail.nih.gov or 301-594-6747).

INTERAGENCY ONCOLOGY TASK FORCE (IOTF) FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Applications Accepted Until May 31, 2012

The IOTF, an initiative between NCI and FDA, is offering joint fellowship training opportunities for Ph.D.s, M.D.s, and M.D.-Ph.D.s or their equivalents in cancer-related scientific research and research-related regulatory review. Fellowships begin in September 2012. For more information, visit http://iotftraining.nci.nih.gov/review.html and http://iotftraining.nci.nih.gov/.

STETTEN SYMPOSIUM—NIH HISTORY Wednesday, June 6, 2012

12:00–5:00 p.m.
Wilson Hall (Building 1)

The four Dewitt Stetten fellows in the NIH Office of History will present progress reports on their projects: biostatistics and biometry at the NIH, the problem of Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy, Joseph Kinyoun (the founder of the forerunner of NIH/NIAID), and the origins of NIAAA and NIDA in the 1970s. For more information and to download a conference program, visit http://history.nih.gov/about/conferences.html or contact Sejal Patel (patelss2@mail.nih.gov or 301-451-9431).

NIH GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL FAIR

Friday, July 20, 2012
9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
Natcher Conference Center (Building 45); Lister Hall Auditorium (Building 38A)

Summer interns and postbacs are invited. More than 100 colleges and universities will send representatives of their graduate schools, medical and dental schools, schools of public health, and other biomedical programs in hopes of recruiting NIH trainees. The event includes exhibits (10:00 a.m.–1:45 p.m.) and career and professional-development workshops. For more information, visit https://www.training.nih.gov/gp_fair.

PROFESSIONAL-DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS

Do you want to take your scientific career to the next level? It may be time to assess where you are professionally and consider options available via the NIH Training Center. Workshops include “Managing Up: Communicating with Your Boss” (1019); “Making Effective Presentations” (4006); “Time Management and Organizational Skills” (5110); and “Problem Solving for Results” (1022). For details about these and other courses, check out the “Professional Development” workshops in the course catalog at http://trainingcenter.nih.gov/ or call 301-496-6211.

VOLUNTEER TO READ FOR THE BLIND

Learning Ally, formerly Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, provides digitally recorded textbooks and literature titles to more than 300,000 K-12, college, and graduate students who cannot read standard print due to blindness, visual impairments, or learning disabilities. If you can spare at least an hour a week, consider volunteering to come to the Building 31 studio to read and record science textbooks. To learn more, contact Kathryn Sparks (ksparks@learningally.org or 202-244-8990) or visit http://www.LearningAlly.org/.

LEARNING ALLY OFFERS DISCOUNT

For a limited time, Learning Ally is offering NIH employees a discount on an at-home one-year membership. If you have a child with a learning disability or visual impairment, he or she can receive unlimited access to audio and other textbooks for only $79 (a $20 discount off the regular price). You can also order free reading software (while supplies last). To apply for membership, visit http://www.LearningAlly.org/ and click on “Register Now” or e-mail Custservp@LearningAlly.org or call 800-635-1403. Use promo code NIHREG20.

RESEARCHERS WITHOUT BORDERS

World Cup time is bound to get a little crazier around here. Soon we will have more visitors from Brazil and Canada, as the NIH intramural program prepares to launch two new international training programs.

Actually, both countries independently approached NIH about starting these programs. Late last year, NIH signed a training agreement with Brazil’s National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, known by the Portuguese abbreviation CNPq (http://www.cnpq.br/). The Brazilian government had previously announced its Science Without Borders program (http://www.cienciasemfronteiras.gov.br/web/csf-eng/) with the ambitious goal of training 101,000 Brazilian students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Brazil is supporting the program with an annual investment of more than $2 billion (U.S. dollars). Many will be trained outside of Brazil.

The CNPq approached the NIH about hosting a yet unspecified number of postdoctoral trainees for two years. The CNPq will select and support the trainees with a modest stipends; NIH will provide some supplementary funds, laboratory space and resources, and mentors who are interested in hosting the visiting fellow. During the first phase of this program, the CNPq will provide $25,000 in support of Brazilian fellows who are already in NIH intramural laboratories and who plan to return to their home country in two years. With the approval of their scientific directors, such fellows may apply for the NIH-CNPq fellowship. The CNPq would review the application and, if the fellowship is granted, NIH can supplement the fellowship with NIH funds to bring each fellow up to the standard Visiting Fellow stipend. These CNPq stipends can be activated at the next anniversary of the fellow’s appointment. All visa requirements, including the five-year limitation on J1 visas, would need to be satisfied. Applications for this NIH-CNPq postdoctoral fellowship program are welcome as soon as possible.

On March 22, 2012, NIH signed another agreement with the Fonds de Recherche du Quebec, or FRQ (http://www.fqrsc.gouv.qc.ca/fr/accueil.php), for the NIH-FRQ Research Career Transition Award Program for early-career scientists. The program will bring up to six top doctoral graduates annually from the Canadian province of Quebec to the NIH for fellowships lasting two to three years. NIH will receive an infusion of top talent from Quebec, and those fellows will have the opportunity to broaden their horizons and kick-start their careers by training with NIH research scientists in their chosen fields who are interested in hosting them.

The FRQ will select and support the trainees. Upon return to Quebec, fellows will receive $25,000 for laboratory start-up costs as well as assistance in finding permanent faculty positions. The program encourages all research disciplines, although there is a special focus on areas of women’s health, gender, or sex differences. The fellows will be encouraged to identify NIH principal investigators as mentors before applying. Let your scientific director know if you are aware of fellows from Quebec who are not already here and who would qualify for this program.

Any principal investigator who is willing to participate in either of these programs should let their scientific director know. In the meantime, you might want to brush up on your French and Portuguese and help welcome these trainees as they arrive later this year. Vive la différence; viva a diferença.

Deadline for Announcements for July-August issue of The NIH Catalyst is June 15. E-mail CATALYST@NIH.GOV.