Features

Creating a “Spellchecker” for Genes

BY LISA YUAN, NIDDK

Imagine a pair of molecular scissors that could snip and tweak sections of the genetic alphabet. Or tweezers that could pluck one letter and replace it with another. These tools have become a reality in recent years, allowing scientists to correct “misspellings” in the genetic code.

The Merry Band of Stadtmans

Meet 15 New Stadtman Investigators

BY LAURA STEPHENSON CARTER

Meet 15 more investigators who have become part of the Earl Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator Program. The program, which was launched in 2009 and named for the legendary biochemist who worked at NIH for 50 years, aims to recruit a diverse group of scientists pursuing interests across the biomedical-research spectrum. (Pictured: Chandra Jackson, NIEHS and NIMHD.)

NIH Distinguished Scholars Program

BY CARL HASHIMOTO, OD

As part of an effort to enhance diversity in the scientific workplace, NIH launched the Distinguished Scholars Program (DSP), which facilitates the hiring and career progression of tenure-track investigators who have demonstrated a commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in the biomedical-research workforce.

Obituaries 2018

Former NIH scientists and other NIH-affiliated people who died in 2018.

Farewell to America’s Cancer Doctor

Alan Rabson (1926–2018)

BY MICHELE LYONS, OD

When Katie Couric told her boss that her husband had been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, the first thing he said was, “Call Al Rabson.” Couric, a television journalist, related this story at the celebration of Alan Rabson’s life on October 30th. Rabson died at the age of 92 on July 4, 2018. Guests gathered to share laughter and some tears while remembering “America’s cancer doctor.”

Finding the Elixir of Life

Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado Studies How Flatworms Regenerate

BY AMRITA MANDAL, NICHD

Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado may have found the elixir of life in a simple organism that scientists have mostly ignored: the tiny flatworm planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. The worm has an amazing ability to regenerate itself from the smallest bits of its tissue.