Departments

From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research

Once and Future Graduate Education

BY MICHAEL GOTTESMAN, DDIR

This issue of the Catalyst includes an article by Meghan Mott about the history and current status of the NIH Graduate Partnerships Program. The article summarizes the birth of the program as a natural progression of NIH’s long-term interest in supporting graduate students in our laboratories and clinics and describes the outstanding situation for our graduate students in formal partnerships as well as those in individual agreements with degree-granting universities. The article and my discussions with the author evoked some happy (and not so happy) memories that I thought I would share.

Photographic Moment

Sky Horizon

Samarendra Singh, a visiting postdoctoral fellow in NIDDK’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology, took this photo on an eerily overcast day in April.

Research Briefs

NIEHS: CELLULAR DAMAGE FROM NORMAL METABOLISM MAY CAUSE CANCER

NIEHS researchers and their collaborators have identified DNA regions in yeast and in some cancers that have a disproportionately high number of mutations. The findings represent an exception to the traditional view that mutations accumulate over time, and may explain one of the mechanisms behind cancer development.

News You Can Use

NIEHS's Environmental Polymorphisms Registry and BTRIS Help Center

BY ROBIN ARNETTE (NIEHS) and JIM DELEO (CC)

This issue of the Catalyst features two "News You Can Use" items: NIEHS's Environmental Polymorphisms Registry; and an information/help center for the Biomedical Translational Research Information System (BTRIS).

News From and About the NIH Scientific Interest Groups

Read about the BTRIS Interest Group, which brings together users of the Biomedical Translational Research Information System; and the Neuro-infectious Disease Interest Group (NIDIG) a forum for the exchange of ideas for developing research projects on the effects of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other infections on the brain and the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for these infections.

The Training Page

Women’s Education—Women’s Empowerment

A Panel Discussion on Women’s Leadership

By Silviya Zustiak, NICHD

(Left to right) Yvonne Maddox (deputy director for NICHD), Susan Shurin (acting director for NHLBI), Belinda Seto (deputy director for NIBIB), and Janine Clayton (acting director for ORWH) shared their stories of being pioneers in a male-dominated scientific world.

Colleagues: Recently Tenured

Meet two of NIH's recently tenured scientists: JAMES BLAIR (National Institute of Mental Health) and WILLIAM DOUGLAS FIGG (National Cancer Institute-Center for Cancer Research)

SPECIAL NIH DIRECTOR’S LECTURE (WALS SUMMER LECTURE)

Wednesday, July 25, 2012; 3:00–4:00 p.m.; Masur Auditorium (Building 10)

National Science Foundation Director Subra Suresh will give a lecture on basic research at the convergence of physical and life sciences with a particular focus on human diseases. For more information, contact Jacqueline Roberts (robertsjm@od.nih.gov or 301-594-6747).