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On
Expanding Programs I’m responding to the second question on the back page of the July-August 2000 issue on ways the new director of graduate program partnerships can improve and expand programs for graduate students. The NICHD’s National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) research initiatives include "training scientists for medical rehabilitation research." I would recommend that NIH support this goal by facilitating PhD-level training/fellowships between the Clinical Center (CC) Rehabilitation Medicine Department and programs such as the Rehabilitation Sciences program at University of Maryland and the developing Clinical Leadership program at George Washington University [in Washington, D.C.]. This type of arrangement may be supported in many ways such as work commitment/tuition reimbursement agreements (for intramural scientists) and laboratory rotations. Investing in the clinical research expertise of the CC staff and students/scientists from participating local universities would prove to honor the goals of NCMRR and benefit the patient and scientific community at large. —Michael Harris-Love, CC
Dear Michael, Your recommendation that NIH support PhD-level research training for clinical scientists is very appreciated. It strongly reflects the current thinking and a future goal of the Graduate Program Partnership Office (GPP). The multi-institutional partnering model you envision for the MCMRR and universities is one rapidly emerging across the nation and world. As the GPP initiates new graduate training programs, we look to the leadership of the NIH faculty and fellows for their scientific direction and ideas. The GPP looks forward to working with you and many others to move graduate training ideas into graduate degree programs. —Mary DeLong, Ph.D., Director, GPP
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Meeting: Antiviral Drug Resistance The HIV Drug Resistance Program (DRP) of the National Cancer Institute will hold its First HIV DRP Symposium, "Understanding Antiviral Drug Resistance," at the Westfields International Conference Center, Chantilly, Va., near Dulles Airport. The program begins with dinner Sunday, December 3, 2000, and closes after lunch Wednesday, December 6. The symposium will assemble researchers who work in diverse viral systems yet share a common interest in mechanisms of antiviral drug action and resistance. Each session will focus on a different class of molecular targets for antiviral therapy, with emphasis on normal structure and function, interactions with antiviral drugs, and the evolutionary basis and specific mechanisms of viral resistance. For more information, see the meeting web site. Early registration
is encouraged. Contact symposium coordinator, Margaret Fanning by
phone 301-846-1995 or e-mail.
by November 10 to request assistance, assistive devices, or sign
language interpretation. |
| Meeting:
AWIS Seminar Series
The annual seminar series of the Bethesda chapter of the Association of Women in Science—Strategies for Success in Science—announces the following 2000–2001 schedule. Tuesday, September 19, "Exploring Bioinformatics Careers: Paths in the Neurosciences and Molecular Biology." Tuesday, October 31, "A Report on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT: An Update." Thursday, January 25, "Employment Opportunities for Scientists at Other Federal Agencies." Tuesday, March 6, "Science and Business: Working in Industry." Thursday, April 26, "Career and Family: Challenges and Rewards." All seminars
are held in the Chapel at the Cloisters (Building 60). Light refreshments
are available from 4:30 pm, and seminars usually start at 5:00 pm—except
for October 31, when refreshments will be served at 3:30 pm and
the presentation will begin at 4:00 pm. For more information, call
Marion Zatz at 301-594-2379 or Mini Varughese at 800-446-0035. |
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Disability
Awareness: To showcase the skills and talents of 7.8 million workers with disabilities, two events will take place on the NIH campus in October in conjunction with "National Disability Employment Awareness Month." The kick-off is Wednesday, October 4, with a fast and furious game of basketball played by 10 persons in wheelchairs. The NIH Police are challenging the Baltimore Ravens Wheelchair Basketball Team! Tip-off time is high noon on the Building 1 parking lot. Ruth Kirschstein, NIH principal deputy director, will throw the first jump ball. For those who can’t make the noon game, another match is scheduled for later that evening in the Building 10 Gymnasium, on the 14th floor. A Disability Awareness Fair will be held Tuesday, October 24, in the Building 10 Visitors Center, where national and local vendors will display disability-related resources and services from 11 am to 2:30 pm. The objective is to highlight the benefits of tapping into the labor pool of persons with disabilities and provide practical information and resources about assistive technologies to NIH community. For assistance
or special accommodations, call Carlton Coleman, of OEO, at 496-2906.
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NIH
Fellows Create The NIH Fellows’ Job/Alumni Network is a new online resource for NIH fellows nearing completion of their fellowships and looking for job leads. The Network will soon be accessible through the Fellows Committee web page and is seeking volunteers to provide info about potential employers. If you are a postdoctoral fellow leaving NIH and would like to serve as a contact for other fellows seeking jobs in the future, or if you would like to advertise a temporary or permanent position, please send the following information to this e-mail address: 1) Type of
job (such as research, administrative, teaching, marketing/sales)
The database
is maintained by volunteers from the Web Subcommittee of the NIH
Fellows Committee. Information supplied from volunteers will be
posted for a period of up to two years. The database will grow only
with input from NIH fellows, who are encouraged to submit their
job information as they depart NIH—or at any time they have
knowledge of an opening. |
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Phases of Life.The third annual "Faces and Phases of Life" weekly seminar series, sponsored by the NIH Work and Family Life Center (WFLC), in conjunction with the Employee Assistance Program, kicks off in September. The October schedule follows. "Helping Your Child Apply to College," Tuesday, Sept. 26, 12:00—1:30, Bldg. 31, Rm. 6C10 "The Basics of Collaborative Problem-Solving," Tuesday, Oct. 3, 12:00—1:30, Bldg. 31, Rm. 6C6 "The Nuts and Bolts of Choosing Child Care," Wednesday, Oct. 11, 12:00—1:30, Bldg. 31, Rm. 6C6 "Life Coping Skills (and Avoiding the Pitfalls)," Tuesday, Oct. 17, 12:30—2:00, Bldg. 31, Rm. 6C10 "Creating an Individual Development Plan," Wednesday, Oct. 25, 12:00—2:00, Bldg 31, Rm. 6C10 Seminars are free and videocast. To register for a seminar, call 301-435-1619 or e-mail. A full schedule is available at the WFLC web site. Lactation Program. The two-year-old pilot NIH Lactation Program has been so successful that come October it becomes a permanent WFLC program. Thus far, the WFLC lactation consultant has assisted more than 300 women. Services include:
On-site lactation rooms, equipped with breast pumps, are in buildings 10, 31, 45, 49, Rockledge II, the Neuroscience Research Center at 6001 Executive Blvd, and a temporary location in the EPN-EPS complex. Additional information and an online registration form are available online and from the lactation program’s administrator Jane Balkam at (301) 435-7850. WFLC is in Building 31, Room B3C15. For more information about services and programs, call 301-435-1619 or visit the web site. Resource Fair. A resource fair, "Real People, Real Choices: Quality of Work Life at NIH" will be held Thursday, October 5, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. at the Building 10 Visitor Information Center (lower level exhibit area). Sponsored by the NIH Quality of Work Life Committee, the fair will showcase the services of 26 NIH offices and organizations created to help enhance the quality of life of NIH employees. Included are:
Keynoter
Linda Breen Pierce, author of Choosing Simplicity: Real People
Finding Peace & Fulfillment in a Complex World, will speak
at noon in Lipsett Auditorium. For more information, call 301-435-1619
or visit the WFLC web site.
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New Interest Group Forming Around End-of-Life Issues The organizational meeting for the End-Of-Life Special Interest Group will be on Wednesday October 4 at 4PM in Bldg 31, Room 6C7. For more information, contact Ann Knebel at 301-402-6796 or <knebela@mail.nih.gov>. |
| A New Flag |
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Richard
Wyatt (center), OIR executuve director, was sworn in as assistant
surgeon in August by Deputy Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu, as
his wife, Linda, lends a steadying hand.
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| Alex Dent was an NCI postdoc from 1992 to mid-1998 and Catalyst cartoonist since the publication began in 1993. Notorious for his trenchant humor about the life of NIH postdocs, his cartoons are now inspired by being an assistant professor and PI at Indiana University School of Medicine. The above cartoon dramatizes some of the difficulties of starting out as a PI. The author would like to emphasize that the pessimistic tone portrayed in the cartoon is to be taken tongue-in-cheek and, importantly, the author does not wish to dissuade anyone from entering the scientific profession. |