Scientific Ties Across the Pacific

NIH-Japan Collaboration in Biomedical Research

BY SOMA CHOWDHURY AND CHRISTOPHER WANJEK

The earthquake was punishing enough, damaging more than a half-million buildings as far as 200 miles from the epicenter. But the magnitude 9.0 event on March 11, 2011, centered off the northeastern coast of Japan, will be most remembered for the harrowing tsunami that followed. The earthquake and tsunami also destroyed research facilities at Tohoku University (Sendai) and other universities in the affected areas and displaced many scientists. NIH stepped up to help in several ways.

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From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research

The Important Role of Staff Clinicians at the NIH

BY MICHAEL GOTTESMAN, DDIR

There are some 260 care providers at NIH who have the professional designation of “Staff Clinician.” Most of the institutes’ and centers’ intramural programs and the Clinical Center employ staff clinicians who play critical roles in clinical research, facilitating their own and others' research, caring for patients, consulting on difficult clinical problems, and training the next generation of clinician-scientists.

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Meet the 2014 NIH Lasker Clinical Research Scholars

Investigating Sickle-Cell Disease, Cancer, and Addiction

BY SARA LIOI, NINDS

Congratulations to Hans Ackerman, Andrea Apolo (pictured), and Falk Lohoff, the newest NIH Lasker Clinical Research Scholars. The Lasker program, now in its fourth year, is a collaborative initiative of the NIH and the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation that will nurture the next generation of clinician-scientists.

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Photographic Moment

President Barack Obama visted NIH recently and toured NIH labs at the Vaccine Research Center, including Nancy Sullivan's (pictured) and Mario Roederer's.

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Hepatitis C: Then and Now

Jay Hoofnagle, a Pioneer in Viral Hepatitis

BY SWAGATA ROYCHOWDHURY, NICHD

Once upon a time, no one knew much about hepatitis C—except to call it non-A, non-B hepatitis—unitl it was identified in 1989. Viral hepatitis pioneer Jay Hoofnagle (NIDDK) has been at the forefront of advancing hepatitis B and C therapeutics since coming to NIH in the 1970s. On Nov 12, 2014, he outlined the past and future therapies for hepatitis C at the annual Astute Clinician Lecture, part of the Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series.

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Defeating a Devastating Neuromuscular Disorder

Bryan Traynor’s Search for Genetic Links to ALS

BY SOMA CHOWDHURY

It didn’t take last summer’s Ice Bucket Challenge to get NIH scientist Bryan Traynor fired up about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He has been excited about the possibility of finding a cure for this devastating neuromuscular disease since the 1990s when as a young medical student—at University College Dublin in Ireland—he attended a memorable lecture on the subject.

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Colleagues: Recently Tenured

Meet some of your recently tenured colleagues: Avinash Bhandoola (pictured, NCI-CCR), Roberto Weigert (NIDCR), and Cuilin Zhang (NICHD)

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Commentary

Beware of Predatory Publishers

Substandard Journals Exploit Open-Access Model

BY SUSAN BATES, NCI-CCR

The e-mail began, “Dr. Susan E. Bates, Hope you are doing well Doctor!” It was from a publishing group that “would really be grateful to you if you can assist us to successfully release the upcoming issue by your energetic and enthusiastic submission of manuscript which will be published under respective Journal for this wonderful year.”

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News You Can Use

NIAID Launches ClinRegs Web Site

Navigating International Clinical Trial Regulations Couldn’t Be Easier

BY JONATHAN KAGAN, NIAID

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has launched a new Web site, ClinRegs, to help researchers explore and compare country-specific clinical-research regulatory information.

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Research Briefs

NIH researchers report that: coronary vessels are thicker in HIV-infected young adults; some chemicals in sunscreesn may reproduce fertility in men; an experimental Ebola vaccine is successful in a clinical trial; confirmation of important brain-reward pathways; how the environment contributes to several human diseases, and chronic high blood glucose may be detrimental to the developing brain of young children.

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News Briefs

NCCAM has a new name;  Nobel Laureate Santiago Ramón y Caja's original drawings of neurons are on loan from Spain at the Porter Neuroscience Building; the U.S. Senate approved a new surgeon general; and a collection of historic nursing postcards are on display at the National Library of Medicine. 

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The Training Page

Independent Research at the NIH…For This High Schooler

BY JOSH TARPLIN, NCATS

On a Thursday afternoon, the final bell rings at school, and I head to NIH in Bethesda. As I arrive on campus, excited to see how my cells are faring, I take a moment to gaze at the vast Clinical Center and wonder how many patients are being treated.

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OBITUARIES 2014

Former NIH scientists and others who died in the past year.

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Announcements

Lectures, special events, funding opportunities, and more.

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