Features

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.