| CATALYTIC REACTIONS | ||
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In response to the Call for Catalytic Reactions, I would like to register the following: On Research Challenges One of the key challenges in responding to many of the scientific issues we need to address is the paucity of clinical research staff both on campus, as well as extramurally on the domestic and global scenes (particularly in countries where some of the most urgent disease problems exist). In order to move the burgeoning basic research findings through translational and then clinical and population-based studies, the research personnel issues must be addressed. Doubling the NIH research budget without doubling and tripling the budget for research training and career development may be the most important challenge facing us. On Special Interest Group (SIG) Effectiveness Perhaps the SIGs have reports and recommendations that might be disseminated broadly, not only to IC Scientific Directors but to IC Directors and their planning offices as well as to program directors administering both intramural and extramural portfolios. On Catalyst Coverage It might be edifying to learn about international collaborations that evolve from initial collaborative research projects between and among intramural scientists and Visiting Scientists. Once foreign scientists return to their home countries, are there continuing collaborations and are there new collaborations that evolve with our extramural scientist communities? These case studies might be useful not only in justifying the various programs but in stimulating additional needed international collaborative research. —Lois
K. Cohen, Director, |
—Regarding
extramural funding for clinical research training, NIH launched three
award programs in fiscal 1999:
Since their inception, NIH has funded a cumulative total of 496 K23 awards and 215 K24 awards; 57 K30 awards were made in FY 2001. An additional NCRR-funded clinical career development award to help institutions develop degree-granting programs in clinical research was launched in FY 2002. It is anticipated that 10 programs will be funded during the pilot phase. —Belinda Seto, OER —Regarding the next chapter in the research lives of visiting scientists once they go back home, see "GRIP Strength: Building Bridges to Developing Countries One Scientist at a Time" on a related NIH program—Ed On Important Questions in Biomedical Research Today What is the earth's sustainable population and how can we humanely reduce our population to that level? —Carl Henn, OD |
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BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES RESOURCES AT THE NIH LIBRARY The NIH Library offers access to key resources relevant to the behavioral and social sciences—many available via a desktop computer from the Library’s web page. Below is a guide to some of the more important resources. (The Library also conducts training classes, personal tutorials, and online animated tutorials in effective search techniques; click on "Training" at the Library’s website.) ——HAPI (Health and Psychosocial Instruments) provides information on measurement instruments in the health fields, psychosocial sciences, and organizational behavior and identifies measures needed for research studies, grant proposals, client/patient assessment, and program evaluation. ——PsycINFO covers the professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines, indexing more than 1,300 journals from 1887 on. The alert service provides e-mail updates. —WEB OF SCIENCE allows searching the Social Sciences Citation Index, which contains bibliographic information and cited references from more than 1,700 social sciences journals from 1980 on. The Porpoise alert service provides weekly e-mail updates. ——MATHSCINET provides access to Mathematical Reviews and Current Mathematical Publications from 1940 on. Bibliographic data and review texts are available from 1975 on. The Library
also provides Customized Library Services for a fee to groups
needing assistance with large projects. Librarians can develop search
strategies, conduct online database searches, and develop databases
using bibliographic software such as EndNote or Reference Manager.
For more info on custom services, call Susan
Whitmore at 301-496-1157.
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The Clinical Research Curriculum Award (K30) enables institutions
to provide didactic training on the fundamentals of conducting clinical
research. Courses may include, but are not limited to, study design,
biostatistics, bioethics, and regulatory issues. |
HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH CELEBRATION: TWO PARTS "Language and Access to Care" is the theme of the 2002 NIH Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration, Part 1, taking place Thursday, September 19, 9:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m., in Lipsett Auditorium, Building 10. Remarks by Marta Leon-Monzon, president of the NIH Hispanic Employee Organization, NIH Director Elias Zerhouni, and US Surgeon General Richard Carmona will precede lectures by Thomas Münte on "How to Handle Two Languages with One Brain: A Neuroscience Perspective," Nilda Peragallo on "Language and Culture: Bridges or Barriers," and Carlos Zarate on "Pilot Hispanic Research Initiative in Mood Disorder Patients." An exhibit and reception follow at the Building 10 Visitor Information Center, 12:30–2:00 p.m. Part 2—NIH Hispanic Scientists Day—will be held at Lipsett Thursday, October 10, 12 noon–3:00 p.m. It kicks off with a talk by Antonio Fojo on "Multidrug Resistance in Cancer: Laboratory Studies and Clinical Correlates," followed by a talk on NIH grant opportunities and positions by Milton Hernandez. and concludes with posters and a reception at the Visitor Center. For more info, contact Leon-Monzon at 496-4564. Sign language
interpretation will be provided. For reasonable accommodations to
participate in this event please contact the NIH Office
of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management at 301-496-6301.
Additional information is available at this website.
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The Center for Scientific Review (CSR) is seeking new recruits for its Review Internship Program, which offers scientists training and experience in scientific research administration. Interns will work with a diverse and dedicated group of scientists in their fields and help coordinate state-of-the-art scientific review meetings. This year, CSR is encouraging NIH intramural scientists as well as those in academia and industry to apply. Applications submitted by November 1, 2002, will be considered for positions starting no sooner than February 2003. Applications submitted by February 1, 2003, will be considered for positions starting in August 2003. Additional information about the program, application forms, and other requirements can be found on the CSR website. General inquiries
about this new program can be directed to Mary
Elizabeth Mason at 301-435-1114. |
| SALZMAN
AWARD
The Foundation for the NIH and the NIH Virology Interest Group announce the Fourth Annual Norman P. Salzman Memorial Award in Virology. This award has been established to recognize an outstanding research accomplishment by a postdoctoral fellow or research trainee working in the field of virology at NIH. The award honors Salzman’s 40-year career in virology research and his accomplishments in mentoring young scientists. The winning fellow will receive a plaque and an unrestricted gift of $2,500; the mentor will receive a plaque. Information about the award and the Norman P. Salzman symposium to be held at NIH on November 7th can be found at the interest group website. Application
deadline for the award is September 21,
2002.
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| GENETICALLY
MODIFIED MOUSE
STRAINS AVAILABLE
The network of Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Centers (MMRRC), established to accept mutant mice from donating investigators for the purpose of transferring the strains to requesting investigators or institutions, now has six available strains. These genetically modified strains include models for studies of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and epilepsy. Strains are supplied either from a production colony or from a colony recovered from cryopreservation. Details of available strains as well as a list of new strains currently under development can be found at the MMRRC website, where investigators may now register their interest in new strains. The site includes information on distribution policies and fees. Fees are intended to defray the costs of specialized mouse breeding, genetic quality control, animal health monitoring, and cryopreservation. Material Transfer Agreements, also reviewed at the website, are required to ensure fair and reasonable balance for donors and recipients in the sharing of these mouse strains among researchers for internal noncommercial research. The MMRRC network is supported by NCRR and currently includes four repository-distribution facilities located at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of California at Davis, Taconic Farms in New York, and Harlan Sprague Dawley, Inc., in collaboration with the University of Missouri. Contact information for each MMRRC is available at the NCRR website (linked from "announcements"). Each MMRRC facility is equipped to cryopreserve embryos or gametes, rederive strains as needed, and characterize the genetic and phenotypic makeup of the mutants so that models are validated and may optimally serve as models of human disease. Efficient
facility systems provide genetic quality control and disease safeguards.
The MMRRCs offer expertise in the biology of laboratory mice—covering
areas of cryobiology, genetics, comparative pathology, behavioral
science, and infectious disease. |
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GRAND ROUNDS WITH GREAT TEACHERS The 2002–2003 series of NIH/CC Grand Rounds in Contemporary Clinical Medicine opens September 18 and continues monthly through June—12 noon to 1:00 p.m., Wednesdays, in the Lipsett Amphitheater, Building 10.
This CME series carries a maximum of 48 hours in category 1 credit toward the AMA Physician Recognition Award. For reasonable
accommodations, call 496-2563 at least five business days in advance.
Lectures will be videocast.
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Nominees for the 2002 NIH Distinguished Clinical Teacher’s Award (DCTA) will be honored at the Clinical Center Grand Rounds, September 25, 12:00–1:00 p.m., in the Lipsett Auditorium. The DCTA is the highest honor bestowed collectively by the NIH Clinical Fellows on an NIH senior clinician, staff clinician, or tenure-track/tenured clinical investigator for excellence in mentoring, teaching, and research. Clinical Fellows from nine institutes nominated 14 individuals. They are:
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