Research Festival to Celebrate NIH Past, Present, and Future

Three Days of Peace and Science

BY THE NIH CATALYST STAFF

Immerse yourself in a sea of intramural research at the 2024 NIH Research Festival on September 23–25 in and around Building 10 on the Bethesda campus.

Delve into NIH history, hear the latest biomedical breakthroughs, and glimpse fresh research directions from outstanding new investigators. From lectures to workshops to a bountiful spread of career- and science-supporting resources, attendees can expect a communal atmosphere to connect with colleagues old and new.

Here's a peek at what's happening. Click here to see the full agenda for times and locations.

Inspired by the past

Scientists of all career levels will be inspired by the NIH National Academy of Sciences (NAS) mini-symposium on September 24, at which three NIH PIs newly elected to the NAS—Thomas Kunkel (NIEHS), Kyung J. Kwon-Chung (NIAID), and Giorgio Trinchieri (NCI)—will share insights about their scientific journeys, challenges, and breakthroughs that led to their distinguished accolade. (Part two of the NAS mini-symposium will be held on November 13 with NCI’s Steven Rosenberg and Sandra Wolin.)

Read more on the "I Am Intramural Blog" about Kunkel's discoveries on DNA replication, Kwon-Chung's research on fungal diseases, and Trinchieri's work on cancer immunotherapies. 

New to the festival is the Victoria A. Harden Lecture in NIH History on September 25, at which Christopher Phillips, professor of history at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh), will speak about the impact of early biostatisticians at the NIH. Did you know that clinicians had once ignored statistical concepts because they were interested in individuals, not averages, but that NIH showed how statistics were in fact essential to concepts such as causation and efficacy?

Bridging the past with the current will be the Philip S. Chen Jr., Ph.D., Distinguished Lecture on Innovation and Technology Transfer, also on September 25, presented by Stephen Whitehead, senior investigator and chief at NIAID’s Arbovirus Vaccine Research Section. Whitehead will explain how the unique environment of the NIH Intramural Research Program has enabled him to develop, patent, and test a dengue vaccine—no trivial matter considering how the dengue virus has four distinct variations, or serotypes, and immunity to just one serotype is the greatest risk factor for more severe disease upon secondary infection with a different serotype.

“Protection to all four serotypes is required, since partial protection is not only inadequate, it is also unsafe,” Whitehead told the Catalyst. “Other dengue vaccines are recommended only for use in boosting or rounding out naturally acquired immunity. The NIH vaccine [now in clinical trials] is designed to elicit primary, complete immunity after a single dose.”

Equipped for the present

A microcosm of all that NIH provides will be on display at the NIH Resource Information Fair on September 23. Chat with representatives from the Collaborative Research Exchange, Center for Information Technology, Office of Technology Transfer, Child and Family Programs, and many more, all of whom will commandeer the Building 10 South Lobby.

Over at the NIH Library and in the FAES classrooms, join any of a dozen concurrent workshops. From behavioral (Stigma Scientific Interest Group), to occupational (Lab Managers Working Group and Division of International Services), to basic science (TGF Beta), there's surely a topic to pique your interest.

One such workshop is the Bioinformatics Community Fair at the NIH Library. Ask NCI’s Keith Hughitt and Amy Stonelake anything on the topic of bioinformatics and data science and learn the basics of artificial intelligence (AI). Content is suitable for beginners to AI, bioinformatics, and data science.

Broader yet will be vendor exhibits and workshops on September 24–25. Learn about new tools and techniques from more than 150 vendors supporting biomedical endeavors. Additionally, the Green Labs Fair will take place on September 26.

Eyes on the future

Sense the pulse of the tremendous diversity of intramural research by perusing one of five poster sessions, including four in-person sessions on September 23, comprising more than 400 posters, as well as a virtual poster session on September 24, for presenters from NIH satellite campuses.

Concurrent with the posters, early- and mid-career principal investigators with a commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in the biomedical research workforce will speak about their research at the NIH Distinguished Scholars Program (DSP) symposium on September 23.

Yukiko Asada, a tenure-track investigator in the CC Department of Bioethics, is a member of the 2023 DSP cohort and one such presenter. “The DSP exemplifies the excellent NIH research environment that operates under the principles of intellectual curiosity, trust, freedom, and public good,” Asada said about the program. Asada is PI of the FairLab What Makes a Good Life Study, which aims to draw insights from the public about the concept of social disadvantage through community dialogues, the subject of her lecture.

DSP science talks you don't want to miss include those from Julieta Lischinsky, a Stadtman tenure-track investigator at NIEHS who will discuss the interplay between nature and nurture by investigating the developmental, cellular, and circuit mechanisms for the establishment of innate social behaviors in the limbic system across infancy and adulthood; Tijana Ivanovic, a tenure-track investigator at NIAID who will present on her group’s discovery of a viral adaptation strategy based on the variable shape of virus particles—a strategy used by many viral pathogens including some with pandemic potential; and Florencia Pratto, a Stadtman tenure-track investigator at NIDDK who will talk about how DNA replication influences the location and repair of DNA double-stranded breaks during mammalian meiosis.

Along with introducing the new 2024 scholars, the DSP also is welcoming senior faculty to serve as new mentors, namely Alan Hinnebusch (NICHD), Stephanie London (NIEHS), and Pamela Schwartzberg (NIAID), who will begin two-year terms working with scholar mentees.

Current mentors—Susan Buchanan (NIDDK), Sharon Savage (NCI), and Paul Wade (NIEHS)—are serving their last year with the DSP. “The scientists I have gotten to know in my two cohorts are among the most talented people at the NIH and truly represent our future,” said Buchanan. “The DSP brings in exceptionally qualified PIs in fascinating research areas.”

Firmly rooted in the past, the first NIH Research Festival was held in 1986, then called NIH Research Day. Today, nearly four decades on, the event continues to represent the ever-advancing spirit of science and brings together the best that NIH offers. Will you be there?