From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about the Conduct of Research in NIH’s Intramural Program

BY MICHAEL GOTTESMAN, DDIR

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New Methods

OSIRIS Prolonging Life

Homegrown Forensics

BY KATHRYN MCKAY, NLM

A software tool named after the god of the dead in Egyptian mythology and that began as a way to identify the dead is now, ironically, helping to prolong life.

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Alan Schechter and His Former Postdocs

Where Are They Now?

BY LAURA STEPHENSON CARTER

On July 1, 1965, Alan Schechter drove his light blue VW bug to the NIH for his very first day on the job. The car didn’t last long on Maryland’s roads, but the driver is showing little sign of wear. “The fact he is still here 50 years later is a testimony to him,” Bob Adelstein told the crowd that had gathered for a symposium he helped organize to honor Schechter.

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Alumni News

Alan Schechter's Former Postdocs

NIDDK scientist Alan Schechter. who's been at NIH for 50 years, has trained a number of postdocs who have gone on to have successful careers. Here's a few of them and what they had to say about their beloved mentor.

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Leslie Ungerleider: Reading Faces

How the Brain Recognizes Faces and Their Expressions of Emotions

BY MANJU BHASKAR, NINDS

“Face recognition is a remarkable ability, given the tens of thousands of different faces one can recognize, automatically and effortlessly, sometimes even many years after a single encounter,” said National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) neuroscientist Leslie Ungerleider. Her research has helped to identify how different regions of the brain work together to identify faces as well as to read facial expressions of emotion.

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Colleagues: Recently Tenured

Meet your recently tenured colleagues: Charles Bradberry (NIDA); Jennifer Lee (NHLBI); Matthias Machner (NICHD); Helen Su (NIAID); Carmen Williams (pictured, NIEHS)

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News Briefs

New institute directors: Joshua Gordon (pictured) at NIMH and Diana Bianchi at NICHD; changes at the NIH Clinical Center

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Featured Fellow

Andrea Burke: Rare Ambition

Finding Treatments for Rare Bone Diseases

BY LAURA STEPHENSON CARTER

The young teenage girl “just wanted to get better and look normal,” recalled NIH dental clinical research fellow Andrea Burke. The girl’s face was asymmetrical, with one eye higher than the other, and the underlying bones were deformed. “It was difficult for her to be around her peers.”

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Research Briefs

Intramural research highlights: Promising news for Zika vaccine; genetic mutation leads to loss of motor function; new potential treatment for Gaucher and Parkinson diseases; high concentrations of acetaminophen associated with decreased male fertility; new principle in chemotherapy resistance; new medication shows promise against liver fibrosis; how cell-signaling molecules regulate the mammary genome; and new standardized guidelines for brown-fat research.

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The Training Page

Lasker Lessons in Leadership

Experts Advise Graduate Students Not to Try to Lead Too Soon

BY LAURA STEPHENSON CARTER

“I never intended to be running an academic hospital and research institute like Sloan Kettering,” said Craig Thompson, who has been the president and CEO of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York since 2010. Thompson was one of several professionals sharing leadership secrets with NIH graduate students during the Lasker Lessons in Leadership Program.

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From the Annals of NIH History

It Came from Beneath the Dental Chair

BY ALANNA NATANSON, OFFICE OF NIH HISTORY

If someone thought a visit to the dentist was torture, one glance at this corkscrew-like wisdom-tooth extractor would likely confirm those fears.

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The SIG Beat

NEWS FROM AND ABOUT THE SCIENTIC INTEREST GROUPS

Learn about the Pancreatic Cancer Scientific Interest Group and the Special Populations Research Forum.

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Announcements: Kudos

NIAAA Director Receives French Legion of Honor

BY JOHN BOWERSOX, NIAAA

George F. Koob, recognized as one of the founders of the field of addiction research, became a Knight of the French Legion of Honor in recognition of his leadership in developing scientific collaborations between France and the United States.

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