ANNOUNCEMENTS:CLASSES, LECTURES, ETC., ETC.

Hispanic Heritage

Health disparities panel discussion (HIV/AIDS, diabetes, public health, obesity), September 21, 9:00–10:30 a.m., Lipsett Auditorium, Building 10

WALS Lecture on reducing disparities through health services research, October 5, 3:00 p.m., Masur Auditorium, Building 10

The Sixth NIH Hispanic Scientist Day, Wednesday, October 12, 1:30-4:30 p.m., Lipsett Auditorium (keynote on "AIDS vs. Cancer, Antiretrovirals and Their Consequences," other talks, poster session, and reception)

For more information, contact Maria Hessie at 301-435-1680 or 301-496-3981.

NIH History Day

The third annual NIH History Day will be held Thursday, September 22, beginning at 11:00 a.m. in the Lipsett Amphitheater, Building 10, and will feature NIH historian Victoria Harden, director of the Office of NIH History, speaking on "An Indescribable Experience: NIH Researchers and the AIDS Epidemic, 1981–1990."

Harden is hoping that all the intramural investigators involved in AIDS research at the time will be the audience—to stand and be recognized (and photographed for the archives).

NIAID Director Anthony Fauci and Michael Gottesman, deputy director for intramural research, will deliver welcoming remarks.

Two panels from the now-historic AIDS Memorial Quilt will be displayed.

Harden has co-edited two AIDS history books—AIDS and the Historian (NIH, 1989) and AIDS and the Public Debate: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (OS Press, 1995).

For more info, visit this website.

Nanotechnology Seminar Series

Ruth Duncan, professor of cell biology and drug delivery and director of the Centre for Polymer Therapeutics, Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University, Wales, will present the next lecture in NCI Nanotechnology Seminar Series, Tuesday, September 27, 2005, 3:00–4:00 p.m., in the Natcher Conference Center, Room E1/E2. The event will be webcast. For more information, visit this website.

Hot Off the CyberPress

To be notified when the latest issue of The NIH Catalyst comes online, send an e-mail message to this address:

<listserv@list.nih.gov>

that says: Subscribe catalyst-l Your Name—or send an e-mail request to <catalyst@nih.gov>.

Very Interesting

Inadvertently omitted from the Interest Group Directory in the July-August Catalyst:

Neural Cell Function Interest Group
Meeting time: 3rd Friday, 2:30 p.m.
Meeting place: Building 49, Room 1A51A/B
Contact 1: Lee Eiden
Phone: 301-496-4110
E-mail: <eidenl@mail.nih.gov>
Contact 2: Harold Gainer
Phone: 301-496-6719
E-mail: <gainerh@ninds.nih.gov>

Principles and Practice

Of Clinical Research

There is no charge for the course, but students must buy the required textbook. A certificate will be awarded upon successful completion of the course, including a final exam. More than 700 students registered for the 2004–2005 program, which was also broadcast to several domestic and international locations.

For additional information or to register, visit the website or call the NIH Clinical Center, Office of Clinical Research Training and Medical Education, at 301-496-9425. An e-mail confirmation will be sent to those accepted into the program.

For reasonable accommodations, call 301-496-9425 between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at least seven business days prior to the event.

Course Objectives

To become familiar with the basic epidemiologic methods involved in clinical research

To be able to discuss clinical research ethics and legal issues and the regulations involved in human subjects research, including the role of IRBs

To become familiar with the principles and issues involved in monitoring patient-oriented research

To understand the infrastructure required for clinical research and the steps involved in developing and funding research studies

The course is designed for physicians and others training for a career in clinical research.

Interested persons are strongly encouraged to take a course in biostatistics such as STAT 200 or STAT 500, currently offered by the NIH/Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences, which is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide CME for physicians.

Demystifying Medicine

Demystifying Medicine—a course to bridge the gap between PhDs trained in basic science and the medical problems to which their skills and insights could be applied—will be offered again in 2006.

Starting January 10 and ending May 2, the course will be held each Tuesday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the ground-floor auditorium of Building 50 (rooms 1227 and 1233). All presentations will be videocast and archived.

The course is geared toward graduate and medical students, clinical and PhD fellows, and staff. Those seeking academic credit can register with FAES.

Others may register at the Listserv.

The course schedule will appear in the November-December issue of The NIH Catalyst.

FAES Late Registration

The deadline for late registration for the FAES 2005–2006 session is October 7. The late fee is $10.

The FAES Course Catalog is available at at the FAES Scientific Bookstore in the Clinical Center, Bldg. 10, B1 level, and the FAES office, One Cloister Court, Bldg. 60, Suite 230—and online.

For more information, call 301-496-7976. FAES welcomes suggestions for classroom space.

Spirituality and Health

The eighth in the NCCAM Distinguished Lectures series—"Is Spirituality Good for Your Health? Historical Reflections on an Emerging Research Enterprise"—is set for October 28, 2005, from 11:00 a.m. to noon in Masur Auditorium, Building 10.

The lecture, delivered by Harvard’s Anne Harrington, will be videocast.

For more information or for reasonable accommodations (sign language interpretation will be provided), call 301-594-5595 or the Federal Relay at 1-800-877-8339. .More information about the series can be found at this website.

NCCAM Seeks Mentors
For New Fellowship Program

Intramural scientists interested in mentoring an NCCAM Director’s Fellow are invited to add their name to a list of potential mentors.

The mentor-fellow match will be determined by the fellow’s research interest and the mentor’s willingness to host the fellow, who will be selected in early 2006 from among NIH and non-NIH applicants. The two-year fellowship, fully funded by a Prince of Wales Foundation grant, is expected to begin in summer 2006.

Under the mentor’s guidance, the fellow will serve as a "bridge" between the mentor’s intramural lab, where the work will be performed, and NCCAM. The mentor will supervise the fellow in conducting clinical, translational, and/or laboratory research as he or she would any other fellow. It is suggested but not required that this research—whether at the bench or the bedside—be related to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

The intramural lab that hosts the fellow will need to provide space and the mentor’s time but will incur no cost in supporting this collaborative opportunity.

The fellowship offers full salary, benefits, professional travel, and two years of research support. The selected fellow must have an MD, DO, PhD, DC, ND, or equivalent degree and be committed to a career in CAM research.

Those interested in joining a list of available mentors or in recommending a qualified candidate for this fellowship are encouraged to contact Ruth Kirschstein, senior advisor to the NIH director.

Fellowship details are available at the website.

Town Hall Meeting on Taking Care of Business

A Town Hall Meeting to acquaint scientific and administrative staff with the NIH Business System (NBS) will be held Monday, October 31, 2005, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon in the Natcher Auditorium.

The event begins with a plenary-session discussion of scientific and administrative management perspectives, followed by a series of concurrent sessions of system demonstrations in three functional areas: acquisition/supply (iProcurement, Prism & Oracle Systems), property (Sunflower System), and finance (Oracle System).

Information about registration will be provided via e-mail closer to the date of the event. Sign language interpreters will be provided. Individuals with disabilities who need reasonable accommodation to participate in this conference should contact Leslie Linden in the NBS Project Office at 301-451-0004 or via e-mail.

On the NIMH MAP: Manji Named Director

Husseini Manji

Husseini Manji, chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Pathophysiology in the Mood and Anxiety Program (MAP), NIMH, has been appointed MAP director. Manji is a psychiatrist by training, with a special emphasis in psychopharmacology and cellular and molecular biology.

The major focus of his ongoing research is the investigation of disease- and treatment-induced changes in gene and protein expression profiles that regulate neuroplasticity and cellular resilience in mood disorders.

His laboratories' scientific goals are to build on recent insights into the signaling pathways mediating the effects of mood stabilizer to better understand the pathophysiology of severe mood disorders and to develop improved therapeutics.

The recipient of numerous distinguished research awards in his field, Manji has also been honored at NIMH with awards for excellence in clinical care and research, and Mentor of the Year and Supervisor of the Year awards.

He developed and directs the NIH Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences graduate course in the neurobiology of mental illness. He has published extensively on the molecular and cellular underpinnings of severe mood disorders and their treatments, authored many textbook chapters, and edited a book on the mechanisms of action of treatments for bipolar disorder.

He is a councilor for the Collegium Inter-nationale Neuropsychopharmacologicum and a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP); he chairs the ACNP’s Task Force on New Medication Development, and is a member of ACNP’s Credentialing Committee.

Manji serves on the advisory boards of several scientific and research organizations, is editor of two academic journals, and is a visiting professor in the Departments of Psychiatry at Columbia University in New York and Duke University in Durham, N.C.