From September 15 on, the Masur Auditorium is the place to be Wednesdays at 3 pm. The Wednesday Afternoon Lectures are back. Here’s the fall schedule. For more info, go to the web:

–Sept. 15: Wolfram Schultz, "Reward Processing in Primate Basal Ganglia and Frontal Cortex"

–Sept. 22: Vilayanur Ramachandran, "What Neurology Can Tell Us about Human Nature"

–Sept. 29: Robert Tjian, "The Biochemistry of Eukaryotic Transcription: More Surprises and Complexities"

–Oct. 6: Research Fest: No Lecture

–Oct. 13: Virginia Zakian, "A Tale of Two Helicases: The Saccharomyces Pif1p and Rrm3p Helicases Have Antagonostic Effects on Replication of Both Telomeric and Ribosomal DNA"

–Oct. 20: James Spudich, "Single-Molecule Biomechanics and the Myosin Family of Molecular Motors"

–Special Thursday Lecture, Oct. 28: Tim Mitchison, "Biochemical and Small-Molecule Approaches to Dissecting Mitosis"

–Special Tuesday Lecture, Nov. 2: Leland Hartwell, "Studying the Fundamentals of Cancer in Yeast"

–Nov. 3: Allen Steere, Jr., "The Elucidation of Lyme Arthritis"

–Special Starting Time: 2:45, Nov. 10: Franklyn Prendergast, "Elegant Photosynthesis in the Green Fluorescent Protein"; Bernard Witkop, "Introduction to the Life of Percy Julian"

–Nov. 17: Purnell Choppin, "A Role fort Private Support of Biomedical Research"

–Nov. 24: Thanksgiving Break

–Dec. 1: Shirley Tilghman, "The Mechanism and Function of Genomic Imprinting in Mammals"

–Dec. 8: Patrick Brown, "The Living Genome"

–Dec. 15: Stephen Harrison, "Viruses as Molecular Machines"

–Dec. 22–Jan. 5: Winter Break

Marty Rodbell

Speakers include Al Gilman, with whom Rodbell shared the Nobel, and Dean Londos, a former Rodbell postdoc and current NIDDK investigator, who will close the symposium with reflections on Rodbell, including portions of a video done at NIEHS and shown at the memorial service held there this past February.

A reception in the ACRF lobby will follow, with refreshments and a brief ceremony to open a Rodbell memorial exhibit. Sponsored by NIDDK and the DeWitt Stetten, Jr., Museum of Medical Research, the exhibit, "Martin Rodbell: Discovering How Cells Respond to Signals," will run indefinitely in the ACRF portion of the NIH Clinical Center.The exhibit traces Rodbell’s early work on lipid metabolism in isolated fat cells through pioneering experiments that transformed understanding of how cells respond to signals. He demonstrated that there must be an intermediary—a "transducer"—that carries the external signal (one of many hormones) from its receptor on a cell to the molecule that activates the hormones. The discovery of the transducer molecules, called "G proteins," provided the basis for explaining not only how hormones function, but also how light and odors are perceived, how signals travel between neurons in the brain, and how some diseases affect the body.

—Victoria Harden, Ph.D.
NIH Historian
Director, DeWitt Stetten, Jr., Museum of Medical Research

–Thurs. Sept. 16: "Science in Forensic Medicine," Jerry Spencer, medical examiner, and Jeannie Willard, DNA specialist, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology

–Tues. Jan. 18: "Careers in Science Writing and Editing," Alison Davis, science writer, NIGMS, and Laura Garwin, North American editor of Nature

–Tues.March 14: "Patents and Intellectual Property," Susan Cullen, consultant, and Prema Mertz, primary examiner, U.S. Patent and Trademarks Office

–Tues. April 25: "Reflections on a Scientific Career," Janet Rowley, University of Chicago

And one will be held at the FAES Social Center, 9109 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda:

–Thurs. Nov. 18: "Women’s Health Research in the 21st Century," Vivian Pinn, Director, Office of Research on Women’s Health, NIH, and Jill Panetta, research manager, Lilly Center for Women’s Health, Eli Lilly.

Research Festivities

–Tues. Oct. 5, 10–3: Postdoc Job Fair

–Wed Oct. 6, 8:30–10 and 10:30–12, Masur: Plenary Sessions on Advances in Medical Imaging and Advances in Transplantation Research; 12:30–2: poster session; 2-4: six simultaneous mini-symposia; 4:30–6:30, picnic tent behind Natcher: picnic dinner and The Battle of the Bands/Dance, featuring "The NIH Directors" vs "Wild Type" (ever hear of Francis Collins, Rick Klausner, Steve Katz, Bert Vogelstein, Bruce Springsteen? At least four of these will be rockin’ at Natcher)

–Thurs. Oct. 7, 8:30–10, 12:30–2: poster sessions; 10:30–12: Plenary Session on Advances in Gene Therapy; 2–4: six simultaneous mini-symposia

–Thurs. Oct. 7, 9:30–3:30, and Fri. Oct. 8, 9:30–2:30: tent in Natcher visitor parking lot: Technical Sales Association Exhibits

This year’s organizing committee was chaired by Jeffrey Trent, NHGRI SD, with NINDS SD Story Landis and Clinical Center Director John Gallin; Job Fair organizers were OE’s Brenda Hanning and Shirley Forehand. More on the web.

Phases of Life

–Sept. 2, 2–3, 1/Wilson Hall: "Stress Wars: The Workplace Menace"
–Sept. 22, 12–1, 31/6C6: "Aging: The Unfinished Business of Living"
–Sept. 30, 1–3, 31/6C10: "Jumpstarting Your Career"
–Oct. 5, 12–1:30, 31/6C6: "Home Alone: Helping Your School-Age Child Be Safe"
–Oct. 6, 1–3, Masur Auditorium: "Enough is Enough! Practical Tools for Regaining Control of Your Life in Today’s Fast-Paced World"
–Oct. 13, 11:30–1, 31/2C19: Trinity College: "Graduate Program Options"
–Oct. 21, 2–3:30 , 1/Wilson Hall: "Legal Issues Concerning Older Relatives"
–Nov. 2, 12–1:30, 31/6C6: "Dual Career Relationships: Coping Strategies for Couples Who Work"
–Nov. 10, 12–1:30, 31/6C10: "How to Help Your Child Do Better in School"
–Nov. 17, 12–1:30, 31/6C10: "Where Will My Older Relative Live?"
–Nov. 30, 11–1 , 31/6: "Navigating the Course of Your Career: Setting Career Goals"
–Dec. 1, 12–1:30, 31/6C6: "Survival Tactics for Managing the Holidays"

Sign language interpretation and televideo at most sites are available. Call WFLC at 301-435-1619 (TTY: 301-480-0690). Visit the web for more info on each talk.

25 Candles for NIDA

NIDA’s 25th anniversary will be celebrated Monday, September 27, in a day-long event that includes a scientific symposium from 1–5 pm in the Masur Auditorium, morning and evening poster sessions, and a program for the public beginning at 7 pm.The afternoon session is geared to clinicians and researchers and addresses addiction vulnerability, treatment research, neuroimaging, and HIV. The evening talks cover drug-abuse research in general and adolescent issues in particular. For more info, call 301-443-1124 or check NIDA’s web site.

For more info, contact Sandy Jones, 301-496-7700, ext. 285, or Wendy Leech, 301-402-8676.