July–August 2021 | NIH Intramural Research Program

Accelerating an End to Dementia

New NIH Center for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias

BY MICHAEL TABASKO, OD

A formidable new player has arrived in the fight against neurodegenerative diseases: NIH’s Center for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (CARD). The center will draw on the wealth of resources across NIH and around the world to develop treatments and preventions for Alzheimer disease and related dementias.

From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research

Being Mindful of Diversity and Inclusion When Selecting Scientific Speakers at NIH

BY MICHAEL GOTTESMAN AND ROLAND OWENS

Those of us who organize seminar series and symposia have a great deal of control over the speed of dissemination of new scientific concepts. It is therefore important for us to be mindful and intentional about hearing from the full breadth of talented researchers.

A Fortuitous Connection

Vice President Kamala Harris’s Mother and Her NIH Collaborations

BY MICHAEL TABASKO

Vice President Kamala Harris was raised in a family in which science was interwoven with everyday life. After all, her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, chose to make NIH a vital part of her remarkable career as a breast-cancer researcher. “NIH was such a huge part of my youth,” said Harris. She was visiting NIH on January 26, 2021, to receive her second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

New Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity

Marie Bernard Is Helping to Make Change Happen

BY LAURA STEPHENSON CARTER

Marie Bernard, NIH’s new Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity, is leading NIH’s efforts to diversify the national scientific workforce and expand recruitment and retention.

Lisa L. Cunningham, Ph.D., Named NIDCD Scientific Director

Exploring Hearing Loss

BY NIDCD COMMUNICATIONS AND LAURA S. CARTER

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) has named Lisa L. Cunningham scientific director and director of the Division of Intramural Research. In this role, she will oversee the intramural research programs, which have roughly 165 employees working in 13 labs. She assumed her new position on April 11, 2021.

From the Annals of NIH History

Stories About Marshall Nirenberg Before He Became the Man the World Knew

BY JOSEPH PATRICK

You would never believe how much meaning there can be behind catching a fly. For as long as I can remember I have had memories of my grandfather “Papa,” David Aronson, catching flies with his bare hands, right out of the air, without ever harming the fly. He learned this trick from an unlikely source: Marshall Nirenberg, who later became an NIH scientist and a recipient of the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

News Briefs

Congressional Visit

Eight U.S. Senators Visit NIH in May

FROM THE NIH RECORD

A bipartisan contingent of United States senators and staff members visited NIH on May 17, 2021, for science briefings, a lab tour, and biotech demonstration.

Colleagues: Recently Tenured

Meet your recently tenured colleagues: Anirban Banerjee (NICHD, pictured), Philip Castle (NCI-DCEG), Hoi Sung Chung (NIDDK), Rebecca F. Gottesman (NINDS), Katie Kindt (NIDCD), and Robin Stanley (NIEHS).

COVID-19 Timeline at NIH (May-June 2021)

COVID-19 Research and Activities at NIH

Highlights of the COVID-19-related activities that were going on at NIH in May and June 2021.

Research Briefs

Read about NIH scientific advances and discoveries by intramural scientists: male hormones modulate gastric inflammation in mice; compounds protect induced pluripotent stem cells; tools to identify patients at risk for post-traumatic stress; clues to the efficacy of hepatitis B treatment; and more.

Unfit to Breed: America’s Dark Tale of Eugenics

Former NIDDK Director Allen Spiegel Gives History of Medicine Lecture

BY MEGAN KALOMIRIS, NIAID

In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court endorsed the surgical sterilization of a young “feebleminded” woman to prevent her from passing her perceived feeblemindedness to future generations. The landmark decision set a legal precedent for the roughly 60,000 other forced sterilizations that followed. On April 22, 2021, former NIDDK Director Allen Spiegel gave a lecture at NIH on the unsettling history of the 20th century eugenics movement in America.

The Training Page

FROM THE VISITING FELLOWS COMMITTEE

An Interview with VFC Co-chairs Vrushali Agashe and Zeni Wu

BY ERICA WYNNE-JONES, NIAID

The Visiting Fellow’s Committee (VFC) serves the interests of visiting fellows (trainees from other countries) in their transition to life at NIH and in preparation for their future careers. The NIH Catalyst interviewed VFC co-chairs Vrushali Agashe and Zeni Wu.

Photographic Moment

Cicada Time

In the spring, millions of 17-year cicada emerged full force on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. This one seems to be checking the time.

Announcements

News about events, deadlines, lectures, and more.

This page was last updated on Thursday, February 3, 2022