July–August 2018 | NIH Intramural Research Program

Machine Learning

Teaching Computers to Think

BY SUSAN CHACKO, CIT

Enter Richard Leapman’s lab at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and you’ll find a serial block-face scanning electron microscope, the size of a lab freezer, busily slicing and scanning pancreatic tissue, blood platelets, or other biological matter. In 12 hours, there will be 20,000 images of 25-nanometer-thick slices of each sample.

From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research

Creating a More Diverse and Inclusive NIH

BY MICHAEL GOTTESMAN, HANNAH VALANTINE, AND ROLAND OWENS

Evidence indicates that heterogeneous groups of talented individuals, with experience in managing diversity, are better equipped to tackle complex problems than are homogeneous groups.

Elisabeth Murray, Ph.D.

Investigating the Role of Different Brain Regions in Memory and Decision-Making

BY CLAIRE E. MCCARTHY, NCI

When you walk into Elisabeth Murray’s office, you can see a 3-D model of the brain belonging to Patient H.M., a man well known by students in psychology and neuroscience. In 1953, surgeons removed his medial temporal lobe to stop his epileptic seizures. The surgery helped, but there was an unfortunate side effect.

Let’s Talk Microbes

The Big Read at NIH Featured Author Ed Yong

BY ALLISON CROSS, NCI

Let’s talk microbes! This is what members of the NIH community were doing this spring as they came together to discuss science journalist Ed Yong’s 2016 book I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life as a part of the second annual Big Read at the NIH.

Barbra Streisand Talks Up Women’s Heart Health

J. Edward Rall Cultural Lecture

BY BRANDON LEVY, OIR

Barbra Streisand knows how to command an audience, whether she’s behind a microphone, a camera, or a podium. After a storied career beguiling theater-goers, Streisand’s new goal is not just to warm hearts but to save them from disease as well.

Research Briefs

Read about recent intramural research advances: first photoactive drug to fight Parkinson disease; possible link between gestational diabetes and early-stage kidney disease; enhancing tumor response to radiotherapy; obesity associated with lower breast-cancer risk; stopping cancer metastasis; and more.

Colleagues: Recently Tenured

Meet your recently tenured colleagues: Bibiana Bielekova (NIAID, pictured), Stephen Gilman (NICHD), Raphaela Goldbach-Mansky (NIAID), Nasser Rusan (NHLBI), Humphrey Hung-Chang Yao (NIEHS).

Announcements: Kudos

Gottesman and Waterman Elected to NAS

Michael Gottesman and Clare Waterman have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for 2018. Together they join more than 40 active NIH scientists in the NAS.

The SIG Beat

NEWS FROM AND ABOUT THE SCIENTIFIC INTEREST GROUPS

Read about the new SIG, the Metals in Biology Scientific Interest Group; Susan Harbison’s talk for the SGHD SIG about sex differences in (fruit fly) sleep; and the SBIG/MPIG Student and Postdoc Symposium that featured research on how structural biology provides a high-resolution view deep into the molecular architecture of cells.

The Training Page

Advice from an Early Career Investigator

BY JENNIFER SIZEMORE, NIGMS

Rather than feeling discouraged when an experiment yields unexpected results, try to understand what happened and why, said University of Kentucky biologist Jeramiah Smith, who visited NIH to give career advice to undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers in biomedical research.

Photographic Moment

Butterfly Effect

NIMH Visiting Fellow Joanna Cross captured this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on film recently.

Announcements

News about events, deadlines, 2018 NIH Research Festival (September 12–14), and more.

This page was last updated on Thursday, April 7, 2022