Announcements

“TARGETING GLIA TO TREAT CHRONIC PAIN: MOVING FROM CONCEPT TO CLINICAL TRIALS”

Monday, May 4, at 2:00 p.m.
Lipsett Amphitheater (Building 10)

Linda R. Watkins, Ph.D., a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder, will deliver the 2015 National Institute of Cranial and Facial Research’s Seymour J. Kreshover Lecture. Her work focuses on how to control chronic pain and increase the effectiveness of analgesics while minimizing their side effects. When non-neuronal cells known as glia are activated, they can create persistent, amplified neuroinflammation, thereby promoting the transition from acute to chronic pain. Dr. Watkins’s work has shown that glial activation can also compromise the ability of opioids to suppress chronic pain, contributing to the development of drug tolerance and dependence. Her findings have advanced our understanding of how therapeutics that target a specific glial activation receptor are effective stand-alone treatments for chronic pain and can also increase the efficacy of opioids while decreasing analgesic tolerance and dependence. Two such drugs, developed in the Watkins lab, are moving toward clinical trials. To watch the lecture online, visit: http://videocast.nih.gov/. Sign language interpretation will be provided. Individuals with disabilities who need reasonable accommodation to participate in this event should contact Mary Daum (Mary.Daum@nih.gov or 301-594-7559). For additional information, visit http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/NewsAndFeatures/Announcements/Kreshover-2015.htm.

A TRIBUTE TO MARSHALL NIRENBERG

In celebration of the completion of the genetic code in 1965, an effort that was led by Marshall Nirenberg and the NIH, NIH is holding a “triplet” of events through the course of the year, beginning with a March 17 tribute to Nirenberg at the National Library of Medicine…

Tuesday, March 17, 2015, 1:00–3:30 p.m.
National Library of Medicine (NLM)
Lister Hill Auditorium (Building 38A)

This special public program will formally mark the NLM’s acquisition of Marshall Nirenberg’s Nobel prize and certificate through a generous donation by Myrna Weissman (Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health); recognize the publication of Frank Portugal’s new book about Nirenberg; and include remarks by David Serlin (University of California, San Diego), curator of NLM’s new “Turning the Pages” project that involves the Nirenberg genetic code charts.

Wednesday, May 20, 3:00–4:00 p.m.
Nirenberg Lecture
Masur Auditorium (Building 10)

The second event will held in conjunction with the Annual Marshall Nirenberg Lecture. NIH Director Francis Collins will provide a historical and scientific perspective on the genetic code. David Page, director of the Whitehead Institute (Cambridge, Mass.), will deliver the Nirenberg lecture, a scientific talk titled “Lost in Translation: Do Males and Females Read Their Genomes Differently?”

Fall 2015

This event will further explore Nirenberg’s legacy from historical, social, and scientific perspectives. Speakers and other details not yet confirmed.

MEDICINE AND THE MEDIA: A MORNING WITH SANJAY GUPTA, M.D.

March 25, 2015, 10:00–11:15 a.m.

Masur Auditorium; overflow in Lipsett Amphitheater (Building 10)
Neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta, an Emmy Award–winning journalist and chief medical correspondent for CNN, will deliver the annual J. Edward Rall Cultural Lecture. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information or to request reasonable accommodation, contact Jacqueline Roberts at 301-594-6747 or robertsjm@mail.nih.gov or the Federal Relay, 800-877-8339. To watch the lecture online, visit http://videocast.nih.gov.

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE (PRAT) PROGRAM

Accepting Applications until March 17, 2015

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences’ PRAT fellows conduct research while in an NIH intramural research program (IRP) lab. Before applying, applicants must identify a potential preceptor in the NIH IRP and develop a research proposal. PRAT fellows receive three years of stipend support and additional benefits such as health insurance, a travel allowance, and professional-development training activities, including a monthly seminar series. For more information, see http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Training/Pages/PRAT.aspx or contact Jessica Faupel-Badger at badgerje@mail.nih.gov.

WSA SCHOLARS SYMPOSIUM

March 20, 2015, 2:30 p.m.
Wilson Hall (Building One)

Each year the NIH Women Scientist Advisory (WSA) Committee selects two or three female FARE award winners to be honored as WSA Scholars for their outstanding scientific research. The 2014 WSA Scholars are Bari Ballew, Barbara Nicol, and Christine Jao, who will each give a presentation on her work. Reception follows.

Summit on Wound Care and Big Data

Monday, March 30, 2015: 8:00 a.m. (all day)
6701 Rockledge Drive, Rooms 9100/9104

NIH is co-hosting an all-day summit on wound care and big data. The summit will be of interest to those in the fields of either wound healing or big data. The co-sponsor is Healogics, a privately held disease management company that focuses on non-healing wounds and limb salvage. Speakers include experts at NIH, at U.S. universities, and from industry. The goals of the summit will be to determine how most effectively to build upon patient databases to answer questions of critical importance to the bioinformatics, healthcare economics, and clinical communities. Healogics centers have operated with a disease-specific registry for nearly 20 years and have recorded millions of unique patient visits with detailed outcome data. For more information, contact Keith Hoots, hootswk@mail.nih.gov.

OMICS IN THE CHARACTERIZATION, CLASSIFICATION, AND TREATMENT OF AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES AND CANCER

Monday, April 13, 2014, 8:25 a.m.–4:15 p.m.
Lipsett Amphitheater (Building 10)
Registration deadline: April 3
Web site: http://1.usa.gov/1EmQqvB [http://ncifrederick.cancer.gov/events/AutoimmuneDiseases/agenda.asp]

See the Web site for the agenda, featuring experts from the NIH and beyond. More information will be posted soon. For questions, contact Howard Young at younghow@mail.nih.gov. The event is sponsored by the NCI, NIAID, NIAMS, NIH Cytokine Interest Group, and the NIH Office of Research in Women’s Health.

NIH-KOREA SYMPOSIUM

Thursday, April 16–Friday, April 17, 2015
Lipsett Amphitheater (Building 10)

The symposium, which will feature lectures and a poster session, will review the relationships and collaborations between NIH and the three Korean institutes (the Korean National Institute of Health, the Korean Health Industry Development Institute, and the Korean National Cancer Center) and discuss future collaborations in order to expand research projects in infectious and chronic diseases, genome sciences, and health-technology research and development. For more information, contact Jacqueline Roberts at 301-594-6747 or robertsjm@od.nih.gov.

PRECISION MEDICINE IN ACTION

Anita B. Roberts Lecture Series: Distinguished Women Scientists at NIH
Tuesday, April 21, 1:00–2:00 p.m.
Lipsett Amphitheater (Building 10)

Dr. Hannah Valantine, NIH’s chief officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity, will present “Precision Medicine in Action: Applying Genomic Tools to Improve Patient Outcomes after Organ Transplantation.” She is internationally recognized for her work on implementing noninvasive approaches for the diagnosis of acute heart-transplant rejection. She is also nationally recognized for her transformative approaches to diversity and has studied interventions for stereotype threat, which she proposed is an important factor that impedes the advancement of women in academic medicine. Sign-language interpreters will be provided upon request. Those who need reasonable accommodation should contact Margaret McBurney at 301-496-1921 and/or the Federal Relay, 1-800-877-8339, five days before the lecture.

LECTURES ON COMPLEMENTARY/INTEGRATIVE HEALTH

Mondays (once a month), 10:00–11:00 a.m.
Web site: https://nccih.nih.gov/news/events/IMlectures

NCCIH (formerly NCCAM) offers an Integrative Medicine Research Lecture Series featuring renowned researchers in complementary and integrative health.

• April 13: Pieter Dorrestein, Ph.D. (director of the Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center and co-director of the Institute for Metabolic Medicine, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego), is developing new mass-spectrometry approaches to detect and characterize therapeutic leads as well as their biosynthesis. Location: Masur Auditorium.
• May 18: Gervasio Lamas, M.D. (chairman of medicine and chief of the Columbia University Division of Cardiology, Mount Sinai Medical Center), does research on the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease. Location: Lipsett Amphitheater.
• June 8: Steven Cole, Ph.D. (professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine), analyzes the molecular pathways by which social and environmental factors influence the activity of human, viral, and tumor genomes. Location: Lipsett Amphitheater.

POSTBAC POSTER DAY

Thursday, April 30, 2015, 10:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
Natcher Conference Center (Building 45)
Web site: https://www.training.nih.gov/postbac_poster_day

This year, Audrey J. Murrell (associate dean and professor, Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh) will present the keynote address beginning at 12:00 noon. The keynote will be followed by the presentation of The Postbac Distinguished Mentoring Award(s) to NIH investigators selected by the postbacs. Poster session I will take place before the keynote address from 10:00 a.m. to noon, and poster session II will run after the address from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. The day provides an opportunity for postbacs to share the research they have been conducting at the NIH and develop their scientific communication and networking skills. Posters will be reviewed by teams of graduate students, postdocs, and staff scientists and clinicians. Investigators, staff scientists, and scientific administrators can make a particularly important contribution to Postbac Poster Day by visiting posters and engaging their authors in discussion.

2015 NIH PI DAY CELEBRATION

March 13, 2015
Room 620/630
Porter Neuroscience Research Center (Building 35A)
Web site: http://nihpiday.nihlibrary.com

The NIH is observing Pi Day one day early, on Friday, March 13, with a half-day event of talks and activities celebrating the intersection between the quantitative and biomedical sciences. Pi Day is an annual celebration of the irregular number pi, 3.14…, on March 14. This year is extra special, with the day 3/14/15 corresponding to 3.1415. Events include “PiCo” lightning talks and networking event (8:30–10:00 a.m.); poster session (10:00–11:00 a.m.); and the inaugural Data Science Lecture given by Eric Lander, director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (11:00 a.m.–12 p.m.). The “Workshop on Reproducibility of Data Collection and Analysis” follows. For more information, check the Web site or contact Jacqueline Roberts at 301-594-6747 or robertsjm@od.nih.gov.

SECOND WORKSHOP ON REPRODUCIBILITY OF DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Modern Technologies in Structural Biology: Potentials and Pitfalls
Friday, March 13, 2015, 12:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
Room 620/630
Porter Neuroscience Research Center (Building 35A)
Web site: http://wals.od.nih.gov/reproducibility/

This is the second of three workshops sponsored by the NIH Office of the Director on the important topic of reproducibility. (The first was on cell biology.) The purpose of these workshops is to educate the NIH intramural research community about what advanced technologies can accomplish and the kinds of reproducibility problems that can arise; provide a cautionary note to scientists who hope to use but are inexperienced with various new modeling techniques; and educate others who are attempting to interpret results in the literature. For more information, visit the Web site or, for specific questions, e-mail Paul Liu at pliu@mail.nih.gov.

NIH-PFIZER CENTERS FOR THERAPEUTIC INNOVATION (CTI)

Seminar and One-on-One Meetings
Monday, April 13, 2:00–5:00 p.m.; Tuesday, April 14, by confirmed appointment
Lister Hill Auditorium (Building 38A)
Web site: http://www.ncats.nih.gov/cti.html

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) will host a seminar as well as one-on-one meetings for NIH intramural researchers interested in NIH-Pfizer CTI collaborative opportunities. The CTI model is the first NIH-wide biologics initiative with a pharmaceutical partner that NCATS will coordinate on behalf of all NIH intramural researchers; NIH investigators will be paired with Pfizer resources to pursue scientific and medical advances through joint therapeutic development. The goal of this new collaboration is to identify biologic compounds with activity in a pathway or target of interest to an NIH intramural researcher and to Pfizer. Together, the partners will work to move these compounds into the clinic to test them. The first Pfizer call for proposals from NIH intramural researchers is slated for Spring 2015. Other partners in the CTI network include 25 academic institutions and four patient foundations. For more information and to register for April 13 and 14, go to http://www.ncats.nih.gov/cti.htmlor contact Lili Portilla, NCATS Director of Strategic Alliances, at NIH-PfizerCTI@mail.nih.gov.

BUILD YOUR CAREER; SHAPE YOUR FUTURE: NIH CAREER SYMPOSIUM

Friday, May 15, 2015, 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Natcher Conference Center (Building 45)
Web site: www.training.nih.gov

The NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education invites all NIH graduate students and postdoctoral trainees, both basic scientists and clinicians, to participate in the NIH Career Symposium. The event provides an opportunity for fellows and graduate students to learn about scientific career options and to explore factors that lead to career success. This all-day program will include a keynote speaker and more than 20 breakout sessions highlighting career opportunities available to biomedical scientists. Panel sessions cover academic, government, industry, and nonprofit career paths. More than 80 speakers will provide insights into their careers: what their current job entails, its pluses and minuses, and how they got there. Visit the Web site for more information and to register.

FAES BIOTECH COURSES

Lower prices for NIH trainees
Biotech course list: http://www.faestraining.org/index.php/biotech-workshops

The Foundation for the Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) is proud to announce the expansion of its Biotechnology Laboratory Training Program (BioTech program), formerly the Bio-Trac program. FAES also offers scientific management training classes—including three-day “Scientific Management/Supervisory Training,” three-day “Project Management for Scientists,” and three-day “Leadership Skills for Scientists” classes—to help scientists develop their management and business skills for the biotechnology industry. To register for FAES training classes, go to http://www.faes.org and click on the TRAINING/CONFERENCES banner or contact the FAES Training department at 301-496-7975.

NIGMS POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE (PRAT) PROGRAM

APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED THROUGH MARCH 17

PRAT fellows conduct research in scientific areas while in an NIH intramural research program (IRP) lab. Before applying, applicants must identify a potential preceptor in the NIH IRP and develop a research proposal. PRAT fellows receive three years of stipend support and additional benefits such as health insurance, a travel allowance, and professional-development training activities, including a monthly seminar series. For more information about the program, see http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Training/Pages/PRAT.aspx or contact Jessica Faupel-Badger at badgerje@mail.nih.gov.

EVENT HONORING NLM DIRECTOR DONALD A.B. LINDBERG AS HE RETIRES

March 30, 2015, 3:30–4:30 p.m.
Ruth Kirschstein Auditorium
Natcher Conference Center (Building 45)
Deadline to RSVP or contribute to memory book: March 16

The public is invited to celebrate the contributions of National Library of Medicine Director Donald A.B. Lindberg on the occasion of his retirement. People are also invited to contribute to a memory book that will be presented to him and his wife Mary. For more information and to RSVP if you wish to attend the event, go to http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/lindberg_retirement_invite_2015.html.

NCCIH ANNOUNCES 6TH ANNUAL STEPHEN E. STRAUSS DISTINGUISHED LECTURE

“When Experts Disagree”
Monday, May 11, 2015, 10:00–11:00 a.m.
Masur Auditorium (Building 10)

Jerome Groopman, M.D. (the Dina and Raphael Recanati chair of medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of experimental medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center), and Pamela Hartzband, M.D. (assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and attending physician in the division of endocrinology at Beth Israel), will present “When Experts Disagree: The Art of Medical Decision Making.” The husband-and-wife team will present a new way to make the best medical decisions. They reveal that each of us has a “medical mind,” a highly individual approach to weighing the risks and benefits of treatment. To ascertain our unique medical minds, they will present probing questions. Are you a minimalist or a maximalist, a believer or a doubter; do you look for natural healing or the latest technology? Drs. Groopman and Hartzband explain how pitfalls in thinking and the way statistics are presented in pharmaceutical advertisements, the news media, and even scientific reports can mislead all of us. Their talk will demonstrate the contrast between the role of population guidelines with the care of the individual, and explain the complexities of end-of-life care—all the factors that contribute to a person’s “medical mind.” Drs. Groopman and Hartzband will weave vivid narratives from real patient experiences with insights from recent cognitive research to demonstrate how to arrive at choices that serve the individual best. The lecture is sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. For questions or to request reasonable accommodation, contact Prachi Patel at prachi.patel@patelpa.com or 301-275-4769.

I AM INTRAMURAL BLOG

Check out the “I am Intramural” blog at https://irp.nih.gov/blog.