September–October 2023 | NIH Intramural Research Program

On the Origin of Life

Scientist and Author Nick Lane Provides His Unique Perspective

Four billion years ago, life sprang up from a nonliving Earth. Perhaps the source of life was a “warm little pond” that Charles Darwin mused about more than a century and a half ago, teeming with all the necessary chemical ingredients for the first living organisms to form. Or perhaps life preexisted in the universe, and space-hardy microorganisms arrived on our planet via a meteoroid one fateful day. Nick Lane, professor of evolutionary biochemistry at University College London, favors a different idea.

From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research

What Is Leadership? (I'm Glad You Asked)

Being a leader is not something one learns to do overnight; nor is it something that only comes with a high rank and an official title. Leadership is a philosophy, a way of life, and a method through which one mentors and inspires people, shapes and develops complex programs, and implements a vision for a project or organization.

Theodore Pierson Named New VRC Scientific Director

Flavivirus Pioneer Hopes to Expand Innovation, Creativity

Senior Investigator Theodore Pierson is excited for the next chapter at the Vaccine Research Center. Pierson can be found at the center as its newly appointed Scientific Director, where he eagerly joins what he describes as an “exceptionally collaborative organization” and considers how to define the next series of scientific problems that they will work together to solve.

70 Years Onward, the NIH Clinical Center Remains a Beacon of Hope

Since its opening in July 1953, the Clinical Center has served more than 500,000 patients who have volunteered to participate in clinical research studies. This partnership between patients and scientists has led to countless medical breakthroughs, including the first time a cancerous solid tumor was cured with chemotherapy and the development of the first antiretroviral drug to treat HIV and AIDS.

Also in this article, read about how the the Magnuson Act served as a starting point for gradually easing restrictions on Chinese immigrants. Together with subsequent legislation, it nudged open the door for Chinese scientists to train and do research in the United States and at the NIH.

The Training Page

From the Fellows Committee

NIH’s National Library of Medicine Offers a Wealth of Resources

The NIH National Library of Medicine (NLM) boasts a multitude of products and services and a globally admired collection spanning ten centuries, reflecting remarkable depth and breadth. These resources and collections are available to researchers, healthcare professionals, librarians, publishers, and the public. What you might not know, however, is that the NLM has many offerings that are curated to serve the intramural research community at NIH.

Enhanced Potential Pandemic Research: To Do or Not To Do?

Weighing a Way Forward for Controversial Research

Infectious disease expert Marc Lipsitch, a Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Boston), visited the NIH and presented his thoughts on the topic of gain-of-function research.

Polishing a Diamond in the Rough

David Lovinger Is NIAAA’s New Scientific Director

In June 2023 NIAAA selected David Lovinger as the institute’s new Scientific Director (SD). A Senior Investigator and Chief of the Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience, Lovinger has dedicated his career to studying how actions are learned and controlled by the brain—and how behaviors go awry after chronic substance misuse.

News Brief

NIH Selects Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Lawrence A. Tabak, Acting NIH Director, has named Jeanne M. Marrazzo as Director of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Marrazzo is currently Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (Birmingham, Alabama) and is expected to begin her role as NIAID Director in the fall.

Technology Transfer

Making the Transfer from Bench to Bedside a Reality

The NIH Catalyst is commemorating 30 years of publishing with a series of updates to past coverage. In this issue, we highlight the exceptional evolution of technology transfer at NIH and celebrate how brilliant ideas can be translated to clinical breakthroughs.

Colleagues: Recently Tenured

Meet your recently tenured colleagues: Shanshan Zhao (NIEHS), Jinwei Zhang (NIDDK), and Katherine L. Grantz (NICHD).

A Tale of Two Labs: Quality Control of Cellular Membranes

An NIH Homecoming for Ramanujan Hegde

NIH welcomed the return of a familiar face, Ramanujan (Manu) Hegde, now Group leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (Cambridge, United Kingdom), who delivered a Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series (WALS) talk titled “How Cells Make Membrane Proteins” on June 14, 2023.

Four New Clinical Directors at the Helm

Among the 23 of the 27 NIH institutes and centers with intramural programs, 20 have a clinical research program, each led by a clinical director. This past year saw the addition of four new appointments, and five others are expected in the coming year, a reflection of a next generation of leadership sweeping across the NIH.

What We’re Reading

Articles That Capture the NIH’s Role in History or Society

Research Briefs

Read about scientific advances and discoveries by NIH intramural scientists: weaker immune response in children with mitochondrial disorders; tumor cell’s location and environment affect its identity; primitive sea creature provides clues to aging and healing; proteins in plasma portend risk of dementia; women treated for breast cancer may age faster; cells preparing for mitosis can reverse their decision to divide.

Photographic Moment

NIH Zebrafish Research Included in U.S. Postal Service’s “Life Magnified” Stamps

A microscopy image created by NIH researchers is part of the “Life Magnified” stamp panel issued on August 10 by the United States Postal Service.

WALS 2023–2024 Season: A Sneak Peek

NIH’s highest-profile lecture program, the NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series (WALS), launches its 2023–2024 season on September 13. Most lectures will be held in person on Wednesdays at 2 p.m. ET in Lipsett Amphitheater in Building 10. All events will be broadcast and archived via NIH VideoCast.

NIH Research Festival is Back!

Join us for the return of the NIH Research Festival, which has been on hiatus for the last three years. We have an entire week of activities lined up as a celebration of intramural research, from September 18 to 22. All activities are in or around Building 10.

Announcements

News about lectures, symposia, and more.

This page was last updated on Wednesday, September 13, 2023