July–August 2020 | NIH Intramural Research Program

Cloistered in the Cloister

Taking Refuge in NIH’s Oldest Building During the COVID-19 Pandemic

BY BIJETA PRASAI, NHLBI

The Cloister sheltered nuns for decades. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it sheltered NIH Medical Research Scholars.

Guest Editorial

All Lives Are Sacred

Building Good Relationships with Communities

BY ALVIN D. HINTON, CHIEF OF THE NIH POLICE

The tragic death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer and subsequent police shootings throughout our country have drawn worldwide attention to the use of force by the men and women from some of the 18,000 law-enforcement agencies in the United States. A main concern is that use of deadly force is disproportionally applied to Black people. I believe that all lives are sacred. But as you might imagine, the attitudes and demographics of police officers reflect the same attitudes and demographics of America—with both its virtues and faults.

Taking the Conference Hall to the Computer Screen

2020 Postbac Poster Day Goes Virtual

BY MEGAN KALOMIRIS, NIAID

Postbac Poster Day is a yearly tradition marked by the familiar sight of crowded halls of postbacs, all professionally dressed and eager to share their hard work—via colorful posters—with family, friends, and colleagues. This year, however, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the United States, large gatherings of all kinds were prohibited. But the three-day poster day event took place after all—virtually.

Nine Types of NIH Zoom Callers

BY LYDIA MERRICK (ARTIST) AND NIH CATALYST STAFF (CONCEPT)

Highlights May–June 2020

COMPILED BY LAURA STEPHENSON CARTER

Highlights of what COVID-19-related activities were going on at NIH.

Quiet Leavings

BY ALIA PEDERSON, NIDCD

Recently, a colleague from another lab sent a heartfelt goodbye to our all-institute intramural email list. He had just finished his postbaccalaureate fellowship at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. His leaving is a public symbol of the many quiet leavings during the pandemic.

Cellular Signaling Proteins As Potential Targets for Novel Antidiabetic Drugs

NIDDK Researchers Shed New Light on the Mechanisms of Diabetes

BY MEGAN KALOMIRIS, NIAID

A research group led by Jürgen Wess in NIDDK recently published three papers that shed new light on the mechanisms of diabetes and show promise for possible treatments.

OITE Wellness Support

BY CHARLESICE HAWKINS, OITE

Although doing research requires perseverance and tolerating setbacks, the COVID-19 pandemic has sent the world reeling—especially for NIH trainees. Now with the the stress and uncertainties brought on by the pandemic, OITE has vigorously expanded their wellness resources and brought them online.

NCATS Annual Postbac Poster Day Goes Virtual

BY STEVEN BENOWITZ, NCATS

Like many of us, NCATS postbac Alex Renn has had an unexpected crash course in COVID-19. He presented his team’s work on April 20, 2020, at the NCATS annual postbac poster day event that for the first time went online. His poster described a state-of-the-art screening technique to develop antibodies effective against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Research Briefs: COVID-19

Highlights of NIH COVID-19 research and initiatives.

Research Briefs

Read about NIH scientific advances and discoveries by intramural scientists: how the immune system keeps viruses from infecting the brain; less toxic treatment for Burkitt’s lymphoma; biomarkers may predict risk complications after mild traumatic brain injury; new blood test may improve liver cancer screening; and more.

Colleagues: Recently Tenured

Meet your recently tenured colleagues: Elodie Ghedin (NIAID, pictured), Markus Hafner (NIAMS), Michael J. Krashes (NIDDK), P’ng Loke (NIAID), Niki Moutsopoulos (NIDCR), and Argyris Stringaris (NIMH).

Illustration Moment

Capturing a Moment in Time

Illustration by 10-year-old Ashlyn Roberts of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Announcements: Kudos

John T. Schiller and Robert Tycko have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2020; NIH Director Francis Collins was selected as the 2020 Templeton Prize Laureate.

Announcements

News about events, deadlines, lectures including COVID-19 lecture series, NIH Data Science Town Hall, “Behind the Mask” initiative to collect your stories, and more.

This page was last updated on Wednesday, March 23, 2022