More New Inter-Institute Interest Groups

A sixth major interest group has joined the ranks: the Molecular Biology Biology/Biochemistry Interest Group will inform the large and diverse community of molecular biologists and biochemists at NIH about the work of their colleagues and will provide a forum for distinguished investigators in molecular biology from outside NIH. To join this group, please mail the following information to Cori De Graff (Bldg. 5, Room 324) or fax it to her (496-0201): Name, Laboratory/Section, Phone, Fax,

Areas of research interest. The other major interest groups on campus are Cell Biology, Immunology, Genetics, Neurobiology, and Structural Biology.

In addition, five new narrower-focus interest groups are getting off the ground. Two long-established groups, the Yeast Club and the Lambda Lunch, are adding their names to The Catalyst's official list.

The NIH Developmental Biology Interest Group is seeking members. This group might act as an "umbrella organization" for the existing mouse, frog, and fly clubs, which deal mostly with developmental questions. The interest group would also hope to serve the communication needs of developmental biologists in other fields and provide an opportunity for postdocs and investigators with similar interests to meet and interact. The proposed activity for the group is a one-day meeting, once or twice a year. The first meeting is tentatively scheduled for mid-July, and the group plans to have one or two outside speakers, several NIH speakers, posters, and refreshments. If you are interested in joining the Developmental Biology Interest Group, please send your name, fax number, and mailing and e-mail address to either Igor Dawid (Bldg. 6B, Room 413; phone: 496-4448; fax: 496-0243; e-mail: IDA@NIHCU.BITNET) or Joram Piatigorsky (Bldg. 6, Room 201; phone: 496-9467; fax: 402-0781). Indicate whether you want to participate in the planned July meeting, and give a title if you wish to speak or give a poster. Planning for the July meeting is under way, and responses should be sent immediately.

The NIH Apoptosis Interest Group (AIG) meets once a month on a Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. in Building 30, Conference Room 117, to exchange ideas, frustrations, techniques, and protocols on research involving apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Currently, there are more than 50 individuals at NIH and in the Washington-Baltimore-Frederick area who directly or indirectly study apoptosis in specific cell, tissue, and organ systems; their collective knowledge represents a tremendous resource. To further expand this expertise, the AIG also sponsors occasional outside speakers. Meetings typically consist of presentations by two members followed by informal discussions and refreshments. The date of the next meeting will be posted on the DCRT NIH Centralized Bulletin Board System (listed as AIG) and in the "NIH Calendar of Events." For more information, call Dennis Mangan at 594-7641, Pierre Henkart at 496-1554, or Huber Warner at 496-6402.

The NIH Inter-Institute Hard Tissue Disorders Club has recently been formed by several investigators on the NIH campus with common interests in skeletal research. This group plans to meet on a regular basis to discuss basic and clinical aspects of hard tissue disorders, with occasional outside speakers who work in this area. For further information, contact Pamela Gehron Robey (phone: 496-6255 or fax: 480-2880).

A Nucleic Acids Biochemistry Interest Group, focusing on structure and mechanism, has formed to bring together scientists interested in various aspects of nucleic acid biochemistry, including structures, enzymology, and mechanism. Members can learn what others in the field are working on, make suggestions, and network. The group's monthly meetings feature short talks in an informal atmosphere followed by discussion and social interaction. Previous talks include "The use of Phosphorothiolate Oligonucleotides in Lambda Site-specific Recombination" and "A Kinetic Model Describing the Homology Search by RecA Protein." Anyone interested in joining should call Janet Yancey-Wrona (phone: 496-2038) or Alex Burgin (phone: 496-6934).

A Matrix Metalloproteinase Working Group has been formed to explore extracellular matrix turnover and remodeling. The purpose of this group is to enhance communication between intramural investigators at all levels and to provide a forum for distinguished extramural and intramural speakers. Monthly meetings will be held in Building 30, first floor conference room. Next month's speaker: Henning Birkedal-Hansen, D.D.S., Ph.D.

To join, please fax or mail your name, affilliation, NIH address, phone number, fax number, and area of interest to W.G. Stetler-Stevenson, Building 10, Room 2A33; Fax: 2-2628; Phone: 6-2687.

The NIH Yeast Club meets every two weeks on Friday from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Bldg. 49, Conference Rm. A. This meeting is only for NIH yeast people, and is designed to be informal and to allow everyone a chance to present faily frequently. Interested people can contact Henry Levin (Bldg. 6B, Room 220; phone: 402-4281 or fax: 496-0243). For a list of the Washington area yeast meetings contact Reed B. Wickner (Bldg. 8, Room. 207; phone: 496-3452 or fax: 402-0240) or Alan Hinnebusch (Bldg. 6B, Room 309; phone: 496-4480).

Lambda Lunch, possibly the longest-running interest group on campus, meets weekly on Thursdays at 11:00 a.m., usually in Building 36, Room 1B13. Basic research on mechanisms of gene regulation, recombination, replication, and cell division in prokaryotic systems form the core interests of this group. The Lambda Lunch schedule is available via anonymous FTP. The computer address is FTP.CU.NIH.GOV and the directory is "LAMBDA_LUNCH." There are two files in this directory; "MAIL" contains the current schedule.