November–December 2017 | NIH Intramural Research Program

2017 Research Festival: The Brain, Inflammation, Cancer, and More

The annual Research Festival is about the science we do at NIH as well as about the people who do that science. People from across NIH meet each other, get new ideas, talk about their research, and hear about other people’s work so collaborations can start.

2017 Research Festival: Plenary Sessions

The three plenary sessions featured the BRAIN initiative, inflammatory diseases, and the Cancer Moonshot.

2017 Research Festival: Selected Concurrent Symposia

Featuring cell-based therapies; genotyping and phenotyping; neuroscience and compulsive disorders; single-cell analysis; microbiome as primer of immune system.

From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research

BY MICHAEL GOTTESMAN, DDIR

The 2017 NIH Intramural Research Festival was an amazing scientific potpourri of innovative research and new biotechnology as well as an opportunity to showcase the work of our trainees and fellows. Yet attendance was at best modest for most of the sessions. What should we do to encourage all of our scientific staff to participate more fully?

Gisela Storz, Ph.D.: Discovering Big Secrets in Small Genes

BY JENNIFER PATTERSON-WEST, NIDDK

Her colleagues laughed at her “crazy idea” when she was a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1980s. Gisela Storz had predicted that a single protein (OxyR) could sense a destructive oxidant, hydrogen peroxide, bind to DNA, and turn on genes that would neutralize the threat. But Storz has gotten the last laugh. Turns out that her hypothesis was correct.

News Briefs

In October 2017, Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless became the 15th director of the National Cancer Institute; NIH partnered with 11 leading pharmaceutical companies to accelerate the development of new cancer immunotherapy strategies.

Colleagues: Recently Tenured

Meet your recently tenured colleagues: Nihal Altan-Bonnet (NHLBI); Sonja M. Best (NIAID) [pictured]; Melissa C. Friesen (NCI-DCEG); Gretchen L. Gierach (NCI-DCEG); and Hong Xu (NHLBI).

Newest Lasker Clinical Research Scholar: Anish Thomas, M.D.

BY LAURA STEPHENSON CARTER

Meet the newest NIH Lasker Clinical Research Scholar: Anish Thomas whose clinical research focuses on small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), one of the most aggressive human cancers.

Robotic Exoskeleton Helps Alleviate Crouch Gait in Children with Cerebral Palsy

BY MOLLY H. FREIMUTH, CC

With motors, sensors, and electronic-technology-powered braces wrapped around their legs, several pediatric patients participating in a Rehabilitation Medicine clinical trial looked like characters from the Iron Man or Transformers movies–and more importantly, they felt like the superheroes they resembled.

Research Briefs

Read about how the NIH Clinical Center is providing one of the largest publicly available chest X-ray datasets to the scientific community; the ZATT protein is reversing DNA damage caused by cancer treatment; Gulf-spill oil dispersants are associated with health symptoms in cleanup workers; NCI researchers solved the DNA Linking-Number Paradox; and more.

Insights from Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy

Rising Stress: Causes and Remedies

BY SUSAN CHACKO, CIT

Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy (2014-2017) visited NIH on September 7, 2017, to talk about the public health consequences of stress in America.

History of the National Library of Medicine

A Photographic Recollection

BY ALIA SAJANI, NIAID

There have been many books and articles documenting the history of the National Library of Medicine (NLM). The latest one—Images of America: US National Library of Medicine (Arcadia Publishing)—draws on the stories of the people who have worked there and helped to shape its 180 years of service to the nation and the world.

The SIG Beat: New SIGs

NEWS FROM AND ABOUT THE SCIENTIFIC INTEREST GROUPS

Two New SIGS: Biomedical Instrumentation Development; Sex and Gender in Health and Disease

Photographic Moment

Bucking Protocol!

Buck Whitetail, the acting director of the National Institute for Cervinae, Hydropotinae, and other Deer, pauses briefly before meeting with the NIH director about the controversial deer-neutering program.

Announcements: Kudos

Three Intramural Researchers Elected to the National Academy of Medicine

Announcements

Lectures, deadlines, contests, Benefits Fair, Leave Bank, and more. Pictured: Steve Rosenberg (NCI) who will be giving the Chen Lecture on November 17, on “Cells as Anti-Cancer Drugs: Entering Mainstream Oncology.”

This page was last updated on Friday, April 8, 2022