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From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research

CRISPI and the Evolution of Clinical Informatics at NIH

Data is as essential to research as water is to life. Its flow nourishes our thirst for knowledge; its purity invigorates. Similarly, research vitality is jeopardized in the face of floods, reservoir breaches, poor data quality, and overtly restricted use. How, then, can we best enable the flow of data in a changing and challenging climate characterized by new regulations on data use, ever-present security threats, and an unprecedented deluge of information made available through advanced technologies and raw computational power? Such is the key question addressed by the Clinical Research Informatics Strategic Planning Initiative, or CRISPI.

Photographic Moment

Searching for Signs of Life Beyond Our Solar System

As NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope searches for signs of life beyond our solar system, it will provide clues on how the early universe evolved.

NIH Issues Licenses to World Health Organization for 11 COVID-19-related Technologies

BY LARISA GEARHART-SERNA, NCI

NIH has issued licenses for 11 COVID-19 technologies to the World Health Organization (WHO) so that global manufacturers may develop COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics for low- and middle-income countries, where access to essential medicines is severely lacking.

News You Can Use: Safety

NIH Security and Emergency Response Office Ensures Everyone’s Safety

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we had 27,000 people on NIH’s 300-acre campus in Bethesda, Maryland, each day. We are expecting a return to these levels at some point. This, coupled with the construction and potential hazards of offices left empty for so long, makes it important to review safety. Read on to learn more about Emergency Management, Police, and Fire and Rescue Services and when to contact them in the event of an emergency.

News You Can Use: Green Labs

In NIDDK Labs, It IS Easy Being Green

NIDDK Focuses on Environmental Sustainability

At the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, even small changes made lab by lab are making a big impact in environmental sustainability in the scientific workplace.

Research Briefs

Read about NIH scientific advances and discoveries by intramural scientists: retinal cell map may advance precise therapy for blinding diseases; uterine cancer deaths on the rise especially among Black women; identifying veterans with highest risk of cancer; genes in the placenta that regulate birthweight; promising vaccine against mosquito-transmitted viruses; virtual CT scans reduce radiation exposure; dietary supplement slows age-related macular degeneration without increasing risk for lung cancer; smoking rates declining in adults with major depression or substance-use disorders.

What Community Can Do for You

Working as a trainee at NIH is exciting, but being in an unfamiliar environment and coping with worries about housing, potential roommates, taxes, transportation, climate, and more, can make the experience a little overwhelming. Connecting with others who are at a similar training stage or who share your social or research interests is important and can help you build supportive communities.

The NIH Academy on Health Disparities: Improving Health Equity

The NIH Academy on Health Disparities offers postbac trainees the opportunity to learn about health disparities and investigate what is being done to address them.

The SIG Beat: SGHD webinar

News from and About the Scientific Interest Groups

Sex and Gender in Health and Disease (SGHD) SIG Panel Discussion

“Incorporating Sex and Gender in NIH Research”

The Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) sponsored this SGHD SIG webinar, which featured three presentations followed by a panel discussion focusing on sex differences in taste and smell perception, sex-based differences in cancer, and more.

News From and About the Scientific Interest Groups

Two new SIGs and one with a new name: The QIS and Quantum Sensing in Biology SIG will provide information and resources on studies in quantum information sciences (QIS) and quantum sensing in biology (QSB); the Science of Science Communication SIG will focus on the scientific design and evaluation of science communication the shed light on how to effectively communicate research results to a broad range of audiences; the Patent Law & Technology Transfer Interest Group has been expanded and renamed the Patent Law, Industry, & Technology Transfer Interest Group to include the biotechnology industry.

Announcements: Kudos

Three New NIH Members of the National Academy of Sciences

Congratulations to the three NIHers who were recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences: Michael Lichten (NCI-CCR); Deborah Morrison (NCI-CCR); and Julie Segre (NHGRI).

Announcements

News about events, deadlines, and lectures at NIH including 10th anniversary of NCI’s pediatric program in CAR-T-cell therapy; OTT has new website; virtual poster day for summer interns; and more.