Departments

From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research

Then and Now

BY MICHAEL GOTTESMAN, DDIR

This issue of the Catalyst includes an article about the renovation of Building 3 and reminiscences about the glory that was ours in the early 1950s when giants roamed the halls of NIH, especially Building 3. (Not to be outdone, Building 2 was no slouch either, but that is for another essay.)

Letters

Early Graduate Programs at NIH

Colleagues: Recently Tenured

MEET THE RECENTLY TENURED FOLKS: M. CATHERINE BUSHNELL, NCCAM; JEAN CELLI, NIAID; MARK LITTLE, NCI-DCEG; DORIAN MCGAVERN, NINDS; PAL PACHER, NIAAA; AND YIHONG YE, NIDDK

Research Briefs

NHGRI: HUMAN MICROBIOME PROJECT DEFINES NORMAL BACTERIAL MAKEUP OF THE BODY

For the first time, a consortium of researchers—the Human Microbiome Project (HMP)—organized by NIH has mapped the normal microbial makeup of healthy humans, producing numerous insights and a few surprises. Researchers found, for example, that nearly everyone routinely carries pathogens. In healthy individuals, however, pathogens cause no disease; they simply coexist with their host and the rest of the human microbiome, the collection of all microorganisms living in the human body. Researchers must now figure out why some pathogens turn deadly and under what conditions, likely revising current concepts of how microorganisms cause disease.

News You Can Use

Freeze...But First Move Quickly

Replacing Energy-Guzzling Freezers Saves Research Dollars

BY CHRISTOPHER WANJEK

Science at NIH is energy-intensive work in more ways than one. There’s around-the-clock labor. And then there’s the friendly neighborhood power plant providing the electricity to run all those instruments and machines…jokes about post-storm reliability aside. Science is also expensive. The typical monthly PEPCO energy bill is in the $5 million range. A not-so-insignificant portion of this amount is due to freezer use. There are at least 2,400 freezers on the Bethesda campus alone. Nearly every lab has one and many have two.

FROM THE FELLOWS COMMITTEE

Effective Poster: Planning, Preparing, Presenting

BY ROZA SELIMYAN, NIA

Award-winning posters have something in common, and it’s not just the science presented. Presenting effective scientific posters can lead to interesting scientific discussions, opportunities for networking and collaborating, and even job offers. When you are planning, preparing, and presenting a poster, it is important to remember that it is a visual tool for science communication.

News Briefs

Jeter’s Leaders Visit NIAAA

BY MEGHAN MOTT, NIAAA

Summer is baseball season, and on July 24 intramural scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) hosted the all-star team “Jeter’s Leaders” to teach them about the latest research in alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Approximately 100 high school students from Michigan and New York traveled to NIH to catch a glimpse of the big leagues in scientific research.

News from and About the NIH Scientific Interest Groups

Read about the Breastfeeding, Global Health, and Stem Cell interest groups.

Photographic Moment

Bucks Aplenty

NIH SCIENCE EDUCATION CONVERSATIONS:

Justin Halberda, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins University), will present "Basic Cognition for Numbers: Potential Impacts in the Science Classroom" on Thursday, October 25, 2012; 3:00-4:15 p.m.; Building 50, Room 1328/1334.