September 26, 2014, NIH Record, Vol. LXVI, No. 20
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SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 The Second Best Thing About Payday VOL. LXVI, NO. 20 ‘Sweep’ Under Way for Select Agents, Toxins By Rich McManus ABOVE · You would smile too if you were rompted by the Food and Drug Administration’s July 1 discovery of vials of about to foil the flu. See story on p. 8. Psmallpox virus in Bldg. 29A, NIH has embarked on Operation Clean Sweep, a two-part, top-to-bottom inventory of all NIH laboratories that starts first with all features institutes and centers, followed by an audit conducted by specialists in occupational safety and health. 1 After discovery of 12 boxes containing 327 vials of infectious agents such as small- Comprehensive Search Under Way For Mislaid, Forgotten Samples pox, dengue, influenza, Q fever and rickettsia, NIH director Dr. Francis Collins in- formed employees, “We have developed a plan of action for the conduct of this search. 3 It requires investigators to examine all freezers, refrigerators, cold rooms, storage Blaser To Give Kinyoun Lecture shelves and cabinets, as well as all other areas of storage such as offices associated 5 with laboratories.” Keller Lecture Highlights Alcohol The IC portion of the sweep has two parts, said Jeff Potts, NIH biorisk manager in Research the Division of Occupational Health and Safety (DOHS). “In phase 1, research staff at 12 all NIH facilities are responsible for going through their areas to search for unregis- BIG Training Session Targets STEM, tered select agents [such as Ebola, anthrax and H5N1 bird flu]. They must also inven- Personal Health tory all human pathogenic material that is handled at BSL [biosafety level] 2 or higher, human blood and body fluids and any toxins.” This is scheduled to be done by Sept. 30. see sweep, page 6 departments Schadt To Give Briefs 2 Mahoney Letters 8 Lecture, Oct. 1 Digest 9 Dr. Eric Schadt will Milestones 10 discuss “A Multiscale Biology Approach for Dissecting the Complex Processes Underlying Aging and Aging-Related Pheno- types” Oct. 1 at 3 p.m. Exercise was a theme for the Aug. 27 event. in Masur Auditorium, A Healthier You Dr. Eric Schadt Bldg. 10. His presen- NIH’ers Get a Workout, Useful Advice tation is the annual During Safety, Health and Wellness Day Florence Mahoney Lecture on Aging, sponsored By Dana Talesnik by NIA, and part of the NIH Director’s Wednes- day Afternoon Lecture Series. Life’s a series of choices. We can choose to Schadt is an expert on the generation and adopt healthier habits and protect ourselves integration of very large-scale sequence varia- from common hazards. Along the way, it never tion, molecular profiling and clinical data in hurts to learn some tips that might steer us on disease populations for constructing molecu- a healthier, safer path. lar networks that define disease states and link molecular biology to physiology. He has called The NIH Record is recyclable Improving employee health and safety both as office white paper. on and off the job was at the heart of the 3rd for a shift in molecular biology toward a net- see safety, page 4 see schadt, page 8 NLM To Host HHS Next- Generation Internet Symposium, Oct. 15 On Oct. 15, NLM will host an all-day briefs symposium for leaders from NIH and all of Career Development Open House, Oct. 8 HHS to learn about the significance of the next- All NIH employees are invited to attend the generation Internet “Passport to Learning” career development (IPv6) and its impact on open house at the NIH Training Center. The event the programs and mis- Vint Cerf is free and will be held Wednesday, Oct. 8 from sion of HHS. The event, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 6705 Rockledge Dr. (Rock- to be held in Lister Hill Auditorium, Bldg. 38A, will ledge 1), Suite 4000. be videocast for those who cannot attend in person. The day includes: Watch for registration information and the agenda in an upcoming global email. Mini Training Sessions on Critical Thinking and Decision Making Skills, Negotiation Skills, Vint Cerf, the legendary father of the Internet, Conflict Resolution and Retirement Planning will serve as keynote speaker. The event will also feature experts from Internet registries/organiza- An Overview of NIH Leadership Development tions, Internet service providers, cellular telecom Programs providers, major IT product vendors and in-house Professional Development Opportunities government experts who will share their insight, best practices and lessons learned in the imple- The Future of Learning: Technology in the mentation of IPv6. Classroom The event would be a great opportunity to learn: For more information and to RSVP, visit http:// The NIH Record is published biweekly at trainingcenter.nih.gov/news.html. Why we should be moving to IPv6 now Bethesda, MD by the Editorial Operations Branch, Office of Communications and Public What is the level of maturity of IPv6 across the Liaison, for the information of employees of APAO Solicits Awards Nominations the National Institutes of Health, Department Internet of Health and Human Services. The content is The NIH Asian & Pacific Islander American How best to implement IPv6 successfully in our reprintable without permission. Pictures may Organization (APAO) will continue its tradition be available upon request. Use of funds for organization. printing this periodical has been approved by of honoring employees in the NIH Asian Pacific the director of the Office of Management and American community for their excellence. Nomi- Budget through September 30, 2014. nations are solicited for three categories: Scientific Achievement Award—for scientists/ To receive alerts to our latest issue, send an email to [email protected] with the words researchers who have made significant accom- “Subscribe NIHRECORD” in the message body. plishments in biomedical research; Leadership NIH Record Office Bldg. 31, Rm. 5B41 Excellence Award—for non-scientists who Phone (301) 496-2125 Fax (301) 402-1485 exemplify leadership excellence by example, mentorship and empowerment of Asian and Web address http://nihrecord.nih.gov/ Pacific Americans to promote diversity and sup- Editor port the overall mission of NIH; Kuan-Teh Jeang Richard McManus Distinguished Service Award—to recognize an [email protected] APAO member who has made an outstanding Associate Editor contribution or demonstrated continual high Carla Garnett quality service to the community. Nominees [email protected] must work or have previously worked (within the Staff Writers past year) at NIH. Awardees will be honored at Eric Bock the APAO holiday luncheon on Dec. 9 in Wilson [email protected] Hall, Bldg. 1. Dana Talesnik [email protected] Submit a 1-page narrative/statement to support why you think an individual deserves recogni- Belle Waring ‘After You, M’Deer’ [email protected] tion and include a CV of the nominee. A review committee composed of APAO members and A deer and an NIH staffer surprised each other on The NIH Record reserves the right to make non-members representing several ICs and the staircase rising from the Bldg. 21 “pit” to Bldg. corrections, changes or deletions in submitted 1 recently. The deer, accustomed to eating acorns on copy in conformity with the policies of the former award recipients will evaluate all paper and HHS. nominations. Submit your nominations elec- the lawn of Bldg. 1, and an NIH commuter found themselves with a decision to make about who got NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health tronically no later than COB on Oct. 27 to Dr. Shioko Kimura at [email protected]. For to the stairs first and thus had right of way. The more details, you may ask for the 2-page award situation resolved amicably. nomination manual. photo: lydia polimeni NIH RECORD SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 2 SEPTEMBER2 26, 2014 SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 VOL. LXVI, NO. 20 Microbiologist Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Launches New Web Site Blaser To Give NIAID Kinyoun NIH’s EEO and anti-discrimination office has changed both its name and its web Lecture presence recently. The new Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) replac- es what had been known as the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Man- Dr. Martin J. Bla- agement. Debra Chew, who directs EDI, launched the change with a concept she ser will deliver the calls “EDI 365.” 2014 Joseph J. “EDI 365 is about each and every leader at the NIH thinking about how their Kinyoun Memorial contributions impact the success in diversity and inclusion each and every day of Lecture on Tues- the year,” she said. “It is not just something we do during Black History Month day, Oct. 7 at 3 p.m. or Women’s History Month, but something that we have to operationalize as a in Lipsett Amphi- part of our overall leadership strategy and our business model.” theater, Bldg. 10. Blaser will discuss Over the past 2 years, the office gathered feedback from the NIH community photo: carl glenn how the human to strengthen NIH’s diversity and inclusion efforts. After numerous listening microbiome influences metabolism, immunity sessions, consultations with senior leadership and solicitations for input from and disease early in life. employees, “we reorganized our services and rebranded our image to align with customer needs,” Chew said. “We understood early on that EDI needed to recon- The gastrointestinal tract contains a dense and nect with our customers and position the right services in front of them, in an complex microbial environment where bacteri- accessible way, to enhance the work they do, every single day of the year.” al and human cells coexist and affect the equi- librium and health of our bodies. This environ- “We’re not only going to plan for the commemorative months,” said Kendrick ment forms early in life; the way in which the Gibbs, director of guidance, education and marketing at EDI.