Thursday, February 21, 2019, 9:00 am to 4:45 pm
NIH Natcher Conference Center (Building 45)
This is the premier event for NIH graduate students to showcase their research to the NIH community. All graduate students performing their Ph.D. dissertation research at NIH are highly encouraged to present, and all members of the NIH community are invited to attend! This year's symposium features posters on the dissertation research of NIH graduate students; a keynote address by Dr. David Dinges, Professor and Director, Unit for Experimental Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania; oral presentations by current NIH graduate students selected based on their abstract submission; an elevator pitch competition by NIH graduate students; the NIH Graduate Student Research Awards (NGSRA), granted by postdoctoral, staff scientist, and staff clinician judges to students with the best posters; a graduation ceremony honoring those students who have recently defended their dissertations; and the presentation of the annual Graduate Partnership Program Outstanding Mentor Awards.
Thursday, February 28, 2019, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm (registration required)
NIH Natcher Conference Center (Building 45)
Sponsored by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Rare Disease Day at NIH aims to raise awareness about rare diseases, the people they affect, and NIH research collaborations under way to address scientific challenges and to advance new treatments. The goals are to: demonstrate the NIH commitment to helping people with rare diseases through research; highlight NIH-supported rare diseases research and the development of diagnostics and treatments; initiate a mutually beneficial dialogue among public and private researchers, patients, patient advocates and policymakers; exchange the latest rare diseases information with stakeholders to advance research and therapeutic efforts; and put a face on rare diseases by sharing stories of patients, their families and their communities.
This year’s event will feature interactive panel discussions on collective research models for rare diseases; patient registries; rare cancer research initiatives; and no disease left behind, no patient left behind. New this year will be a presentation of the first ever Zebbie award for the NCATS Rare Diseases are Not Rare! Challenge. Other highlights include posters and exhibits by rare disease groups and researchers as well as artwork, videos, and tours of the NIH Clinical Center.
Admission is free, registration is required, and the event is open to the public, including patients, patient advocates, health care providers, researchers, industry representatives, and government employees. Be sure to follow the event on social media using #RDDNIH.
From Data to Decisions: Large-Scale Causal Inference in Biomedicine
Wednesday, March 6, 2019, 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
NIH Lister Hill Center Auditorium (Building 38A)
The collection of massive observational datasets has led to unprecedented opportunities for causal inference, such as using electronic health records to identify risk factors for disease. However, our ability to understand these complex data sets has not grown at the same pace as our ability to collect them. While causal inference has traditionally focused on pair-wise relationships between variables, biological systems are highly complex and knowing when events may happen is often as important as knowing whether they will. Motivated by the analysis of intensive care unit data, this talk discusses new methods to automatically extract causal relationships from data and how these have been applied to gain new insight into stroke recovery. Finally, the speaker will discuss recent findings in cognitive science and how they can help us make better use of causal information for decision-making.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019 to Wednesday, April 3, 2019 (abstract submissions close February 17)
NIH John Edward Porter Neuroscience Research Center (Building 35A)
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) invite you to attend the 2019 Heart and Soul Workshop, which will bring together world experts on gene dosage effects in brain and cardiac development. Copy number variations in 7q11.23 (Williams Syndrome and the Duplication 7 syndrome) as well as in 22q11.2 (deletion and duplication syndromes) will serve as model conditions for this discussion. Speakers and participants will describe genotype-phenotype links, the molecular mechanisms by which gene dosage results in the syndrome phenotypes, and potential for therapeutic intervention, thus providing a rich and unique learning environment. The meeting will include a dynamic range of invited speakers with clinical and scientific expertise in Williams-Beuren deletion or duplication syndromes (7q11.23) and 22q11.2 deletion and duplication. Topics will include clinical, neurobehavioral, and neuroimaging phenotypes; cardiovascular disease; genetics; and treatment strategies. Animal models will also be highlighted.
Trainees are welcome to attend and are encouraged to present. Short presentations will be selected from abstracts and a poster session is planned. Abstract awards will also be given. Abstract submitters are invited to address topics related to Williams/22q that include or extend beyond the heart and brain.
Thursday, April 11, 2019 to Friday, April 12, 2019 (register by March 25)
NIH Natcher Auditorium (Building 45)
RNA biology has emerged as one of the most influential areas in modern biology and biomedicine. The discovery of numerous new classes of RNAs and their function in a wide spectrum of biological processes has revolutionized molecular biology and has profound implications for clinical sciences. Key areas of current research include the elucidation of RNA biogenesis and structure, the identification of functions for various classes of RNAs, establishing the role of RNA in disease, and the exploration of RNA-based-and RNA-targeted therapies.
Organized by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center for Cancer Research's Initiative in RNA Biology, this symposium will bring together internationally renowned experts in the field of RNA biology, with a focus on RNA processing; RNA structure and mechanism; non-classical RNAs; and RNA therapy. The symposium offers the opportunity to learn more about the current status of RNA biology in development and disease, share research, network with leading figures in the field, and discuss the use and implications of these advances for clinical applications.
Monday, August 12, 2019 to Friday, August 16, 2019 (application required)
The four-day Health Disparities Research Institute (HDRI), hosted by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), aims to support the research career development of promising minority health/health disparities research scientists early in their careers and stimulate research in the disciplines supported by health disparities science.
The program will feature lectures on minority health and health disparities research, small group discussions, mock grant review, and seminars. Institute participants will also have the opportunity to meet with NIH scientific staff engaged in related health disparities research across the various NIH Institutes and Centers.
Lectures and seminars will include etiology of health disparities, methods and measurement, intervention and implementation research. Participants will receive consultation on the development of research interests into an application – R21, R01, K award, as well as consultation on research strategies and methodologies for proposed studies, and opportunities to meet with NIMHD and other NIH program officials.
