August 7, 2009, NIH Record, Vol. LXI, No. 16

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August 7, 2009, NIH Record, Vol. LXI, No. 16 AUGUST 7, 2009 The Second Best Thing About Payday VOL. LXI, NO. 16 ‘Improve the System’ NIH Hosts H1N1 Flu Summit By Belle Waring ABOVE · Why do some dogs have short legs? Scientists think they know. See p. 9. n July 9, NIH hosted the White House’s H1N1 Influenza Preparedness Summit, O jointly led by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, DHS Secretary Janet Napoli- features tano and Education Secretary Arne Duncan. “I’m very grateful that all of you are taking this seriously,” President Obama said by 1 telephone link from L’Avila, Italy. “Although FAES Stays Ambitious at 50 we were fortunate not to see a more serious 3 situation in the spring, the potential for a NCMHD Holds First Health significant outbreak in the fall is looming.” Disparities Seminar The meeting assembled about 500 emer- 5 gency managers, educators, school nurses ORWH Examines Metabolic and public health officials from around the Dysfunction country, including Dr. Nicole Lurie, nomi- 12 nated as assistant secretary for prepared- Jeter’s Leaders Take ‘All-Star’ Break ness and response; Dr. Francis Collins, At NIH HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (l), DHS Secre- nominated as director of NIH; and Dr. Ray- tary Janet Napolitano (c) and Education Secretary nard Kington, acting director of NIH. Arne Duncan team up at NIH for a summit on flu. see flu summit, page 10 departments Ambitious Plans in Offing Policy To Govern Research that NIH Funds FAES Marks 50th Year at NIH Final Stem Cell Regulations Issued Briefs 2 By Rich McManus By Carla Garnett Digest 9 Milestones 11 As remarkable an invention of the federal NIH released its final Guidelines for Human government as NIH is—a common descriptor Stem Cell Research on July 6. They fulfill Exec- in recent decades has been “the crown jew- utive Order 13505, which President Obama el of government,” thank you very much— issued Mar. 9 to remove “barriers to respon- there was a handful of scientists half a cen- sible scientific research involving human stem tury ago who thought the National Institutes cells.” The guidelines, announced online and of Health was just a few ingredients shy of in a telebriefing by acting NIH director Dr. being a true Elysium. Raynard Kington, were finalized after offi- cials spent about 5 weeks reviewing more than It had a faculty—many hundreds of doctors— 49,000 public comments on the draft guide- and a leafy, sprawling campus, but no teaching lines that were received from the scientif- mission and no students, which had been such ic community, patient advocacy groups, and a source of inspiration and ferment on the cam- medical and religious organizations, as well puses from which the scientists hailed. In order as from private citizens and many members to keep the spirit of continuous education alive, of Congress. The comments are posted on the a new, complementary entity was needed. NIH stem cell information web site at http:// Thus it was that on July 2, 1959, the Founda- stemcells.nih.gov. tion for Advanced Education in the Sciences, “We believe the final guidelines we are releas- Inc., (FAES) came into being. Twelve promi- ing today achieve both of the President’s clear- nent scientists, including future Nobel laure- ly stated goals of advancing the field of human ate Dr. Christian Anfinsen, drafted eight Arti- embryonic stem cell research and raising the The NIH Record is recyclable cles of Incorporation specifying creation of a as office white paper. bar of ethical standards,” Kington said. “With see faes anniversary, page 6 see stem cells, page 4 course, including a final exam. For more informa- tion or to register, visit www.cc.nih.gov/train- ing/training/ippcr/application.html or call (301) 496-9425. briefs FAES Class on Art Songs The fall semester of FAES classes will include “Art Online Tutorials for NIH Applicants Songs, a Guided Tour,” which will feature lectures The Office of Human Resources has developed and live performances. The course will explore three online training tutorials to assist appli- European and American art songs from the clas- cants with applying to jobs at NIH. Each tutorial sical period to the 20th century. The lectures are is no longer than 15 minutes and can be viewed intended for music lovers of all kinds, whether they directly from the NIH jobs web page. All can be have formal music training, a little background or found at www.jobs.nih.gov. none at all. For more information call (301) 496- 7976 or visit www.faes.org. The How to Apply to the NIH tutorial was created to walk applicants through establishing a COPR Nomination Process is Open USAJOBS account, creating a federal résumé, creating Job Search Agents in USAJOBS and The NIH director is seeking applicants to fill vacant uploading and submitting supporting documen- appointments for the 2010 Council of Public Repre- tation into the USAJOBS system. Additionally, sentatives (COPR) roster. Nominations are due Sept. the tutorial discusses the different areas of an 25 and are available at the web address below. NIH vacancy announcement. The COPR advises the NIH director on cross-cut- The Checking Your Applicant Status tuto- ting issues related to medical research and health rial reviews the fundamentals of checking an issues of public interest that ultimately promote application’s status on USAJOBS. The tutorial individual, family and community health. The teaches applicants how to view the status of the council consists of up to 21 individuals who are The NIH Record is published biweekly at application they have submitted, reviews how to selected from among the diverse communities Bethesda, MD by the Editorial Operations request an email confirmation that their applica- that benefit from, and have an interest in, NIH Branch, Office of Communications and Public tion has been received and reviews the different research, programs and activities. Liaison, for the information of employees of application job status codes (such as Referred for the National Institutes of Health, Department For more information or to obtain a nomination of Health and Human Services. The content is Selection Consideration, Qualified Not Referred, form online, visit http://copr.nih.gov/nomina- reprintable without permission. Pictures may etc.) and what those codes mean. be available upon request. Use of funds for tion.asp. To request a nomination form by mail, printing this periodical has been approved by The third and newest tutorial is Federalizing contact the COPR staff by phone at (301) 650-8660, the director of the Office of Management and Your Résumé, which walks applicants through ext. 275, by fax at (301) 650-8676, or by email at Budget through September 30, 2009. creating a strong and informative résumé. The [email protected]. To receive alerts to our latest issue, send an tutorial examines the benefits of working for email to [email protected] with the words NIH, reviews examples of well written and poorly “Subscribe NIHRECORD” in the message body. written résumés and goes over each section of a NIH Record Office Bldg. 31, Rm. 5B41 typical résumé to assist applicants in strength- Phone (301) 496-2125 Fax (301) 402-1485 ening each section. Web address http://nihrecord.od.nih.gov In addition, the NIH Jobs web page has been Editor updated with a wealth of tools and information. Richard McManus Video clips of NIH staff discussing their jobs [email protected] and experiences have been added along with Assistant Editor employee stories, a slide show that highlights Carla Garnett available NIH jobs and new job descriptions. The [email protected] site also has a search function that allows job seekers to search all job repositories where NIH Staff Writers Jan Ehrman positions are listed, including USAJOBS, research [email protected] and training opportunities and fellowships. Valerie Lambros [email protected] Principles of Clinical Research Class Belle Waring Registration for the 2009-2010 “Introduction to Grady Receives EEO Award [email protected] the Principles and Practice of Clinical Research” is now open. The course will run from Oct. 19 The NIH Record reserves the right to make NINR director Dr. Patricia Grady (l) recently corrections, changes or deletions in submitted through Mar. 9, 2010. The deadline for register- copy in conformity with the policies of the ing is Oct. 9. Classes will be held on campus on received the Making a Difference Award from paper and HHS. Monday and Tuesday evenings from 5 to 6:30. the NIH Office of Equal Opportunity and Diver- There is no charge for the course but purchase sity Management. The purpose of the award is to of a textbook is suggested. A certificate will be recognize efforts in furthering diversity and equal awarded upon successful completion of the opportunity in the NIH workforce. Lawrence Self, OEODM director, presented the award. NIH RECORD AUGUST 7, 2009 2 AUGUST2 7, 2009 AUGUST 7, 2009 VOL. LXI, NO. 16 Researcher Describes Barriers to Health poor, mostly minority school funded by a In Poor Communities depressed tax base, filled with aging books By Valerie Lambros and facilities and taught by low-paid teach- ers, and you’ve got what Smedley calls tri- For all the talk of advances in race relations in ple jeopardy. the wake of the 2008 election, there is a lot of “It’s not the fact that our schools remain evidence that shows minorities in America have deeply segregated, it’s the lack of resources much further to go to achieve equality across associated with that segregation,” he said. the board. “Here we are some 50 years after the Brown One of the most striking categories is health.
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