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July 9, 2021, NIH Record, Vol. LXXIII, No. 14 July 9, 2021 Vol . LXXIII, No . 14 near the study oncology and infectious diseases but Bethesda his interests pivoted by 2000 as genomics campus and research gained momentum. Mentors had DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS fondly recalls told him to pursue the interesting questions, visiting NIH which for him turned out to be, not the Chanock Explores Genetics of with his father, section where he was a tenured investigator, Cancer Susceptibility who worked at but the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and BY DANA TALESNIK NIAID. “Bldg. 7… Genetics, where he is currently the director. was a standard Speaking at a virtual Clinical Center Great teachers inspire as they impart Saturday Grand Rounds Great Teachers talk, Chanock wisdom. Such was the case during a recent morning play- described some of the research his genetics lecture by NCI’s Dr. Stephen Chanock, who ground for me as lab has conducted into the biology, heritabil- managed to fit his professional journey, a young child,” ity and risks of cancer. career advice, a history lesson and decades of he said. Dr . Stephen Chanock The Human Genome Project opened a research into a captivating hour. Initially, whole new world of discovery. “The excite- “Trust your instincts and follow your Chanock didn’t plan to study medicine. His ment of characterizing and sequencing interests, wherever they take you,” advised interests first took him to study music in nearly all 3.1 billion bases,” said Chanock, Chanock, who called his professional path college. But then he wound up on Long Wood “gives us the opportunity to over and over a tale of two long woods. He began his NCI Ave., in Cambridge, Mass., studying medicine look both at the germline and the tumors to career 30 years ago, though his connection to at Harvard. understand what kinds of changes we see— NIH started much earlier. His professional career would also take what changes are drivers and what changes Chanock grew up on Longwood Drive a turn. Chanock arrived at NIH in 1991 to SEE CHANOCK, PAGE 6 POWER OF GENETICS DNA Forensics Help Solve Wildlife Crimes, Conserve Species BY ERIC BOCK Genomics can help solve animal cruelty cases, prosecute wildlife MIT professor Dr . Hugh Herr PHOTO: MATTHEW SEPTIMUS NIH Director’s ‘Gratitude Tour’ continues . crimes and Asymptomatic testing, screening teams conserve endan- ‘EMPOWER’ applauded . See p . 12 . gered species, said Dr. Rebecca AMI Technique Gives New Life ALSO THIS ISSUE Johnson, member to Amputees NCCIH Releases Strategic Plan . 2 of the Order of BY AMBER SNYDER What Do We Know About Covid-19 Australia and Re-Infections?. 3 chief scientist at Dr . Rebecca Johnson Hugh Herr was an accomplished young the Smithsonian mountain climber when he suffered what 5th Pinn Symposium Held Virtually . 5 National Museum of Natural History. should have been a career-ending accident. Digest . 9 “DNA can really be a valuable tool for Both lower legs had to be amputated below Milestones . 10 fighting wildlife crime when combined with the knee. Rather than end his climbing museum collections,” said Johnson during career, though, it inspired him to craft Seen . 12 SEE DNA, PAGE 4 SEE EMPOWER, PAGE 8 BRIEFS NCCIH Strategic Plan Focuses on ‘Whole Person Health’ BY ELLEN O’DONNELL In the current health care system, we tend to think about disease one organ system at a time . But a new strategic plan by NCCIH considers multiple factors that promote either health or disease, and focuses on restoring health, promoting resilience and preventing diseases across the lifespan . NCCIH recently released its strategic plan for 2021-2025, Mapping a Pathway to Research on Whole Person Health . The plan builds on the cen- ter’s current activities in research and information dissemination while advancing new strategies and ideas . “Whole person health” refers to helping individ- uals improve and restore their health in multiple interconnected domains—biological, behavioral, The University of Maryland Jazz Combo returns to the Clinical Center’s atrium, featuring (from l) social and environmental—rather than just treating Danny Villanueva on congas, Gerry Kunkel on guitar, Joey Antico on drums, John Previti on upright disease . Research on whole person health includes bass and (not shown) Jon Ozment on piano . expanding the understanding of the connections PHOTOS: DANA TALESNIK between these various aspects of health, including connections between organs and body systems . A Jazzy Afternoon at the Clinical Center over to check out all or part of the hour-long performance . Lively jazz reverberated through the halls of the Clinical Research Center on June 10 when the The quintet performed upbeat arrangements University of Maryland Jazz Combo played a of classic tunes and lesser-known songs by lunchtime concert in the atrium . It was their first well-known jazz greats . The repertoire included return to campus since the pandemic began . George Gershwin’s Summertime; Thelonious Monk’s Nutty and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Once The crowd was smaller than usual as many I Loved. Bandleader and guitarist Gerry Kunkel NIH staffers have not yet returned to physical also dedicated a song to the hardworking NIH workspaces, but many more enjoyed the music staff: Duke Ellington’sDo Nothin’ Till You Hear that carries up through the halls and into patient From Me.—Dana Talesnik rooms . Some patients walked or were wheeled and treating individual diseases and not as much symptom management; enhance the complemen- on protecting and restoring overall health . This is tary and integrative health research workforce; largely an unknown area,” said NCCIH director Dr . and provide objective evidence-based informa- Helene Langevin . “Integrative thinking and a study tion on complementary and integrative health of networks at all levels have been well established interventions . in other scientific fields, such as ecology and Ten priority research topics in the plan reflect systems biology, and now medicine is starting to public health needs, scientific promise, amenability catch up . This presents many exciting opportunities of those topics to rigorous scientific inquiry, their for NCCIH to advance basic and clinical research, potential to impact health care practices and their patient care and public health, both on our own and relationship to use and practice . NCCIH recently released its strategic plan for through collaborations ”. 2021-2025 . Read the plan at https://www .nccih .nih .gov/about/ A whole person concept has existed for centuries nccih-strategic-plan-2021-2025 . in many traditional medical cultures, as reflected The framework of whole person health places in practices such as meditation, yoga, acupuncture health and disease on a spectrum . On this path, and herbal medicine . Annual Food Drive Accepting Online many factors, including one’s biological makeup; Donations some unhealthy behaviors, such as poor diet, “The concept of whole person health is so import- sedentary lifestyle, chronic stress and poor sleep; ant now,” Langevin added, “as we live in a time NIH is participating in the Feds Feed Families as well as social aspects of life—the conditions of convergent complex crises such as Covid-19, virtual summer food drive now through Tuesday, in which people are born, grow, live, work and the opioid epidemic, the pain crisis, the obesity Aug . 31 . Federal agencies can help fight hunger age—can lead to chronic diseases of more than epidemic and climate change ”. in their communities . The campaign will again be one organ system . On the other hand, self-care, run entirely online with three ways to contribute lifestyle and behavioral interventions may promote The objectives in NCCIH’s plan are to advance and track donations . The Office of Research “salutogenesis” or the process by which an individ- fundamental science and methods development; Services is NIH’s sponsoring organization . For ual moves from a less healthy to a healthier state, advance research on the whole person and on the more information, visit the website at https://www . involving the whole person . integration of complementary and conventional ors .od .nih gov. /FedsFeedFamilies/Pages/default . care; foster research on health promotion and aspx . Email questions about the campaign to “Currently, patient care focuses on diagnosing restoration, resilience, disease prevention and FedsFeedFamiliesNIH@nih gov. 2 • NIH RECORD • JULY 9, 2021 world), and he was able to confirm several HIGHLY UNLIKELY, BUT POSSIBLE other cases through genomic sequencing. Pandori Discusses What We Re-infection is still highly unlikely in most cases, Pandori said, but he is concerned Know About Covid that the virus will evolve the ability to Re-Infections mutate faster and possibly make vaccines BY AMBER SNYDER less efficacious. NIH’ers can view the entire lecture at Individuals who have recovered from https://videocast.nih.gov/watch=40179. SARS-CoV-2 may still be at risk for re-in- fection, said Dr. Mark Pandori, director of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory (NSPHL) and associate professor of pathology at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. He spoke at a recent Covid-19 Insights Seminar hosted by NHLBI. In his lecture, “Re-infection with SARS- CoV-2 and its Impact on Covid-19 and Public Health,” Pandori discussed his efforts with NSPHL to identify re-infections and what these cases mean for the future of the ON THE COVER: Multi-Nucleated Muscle Cells Grown in Culture. The cells have fused together to form pandemic. myotubes that have many nuclei (stained blue). His first experience with Covid-19 The cells are from mouse skeletal muscle stem cells re-infection came in the beginning of the Dr . Mark Pandori treated with a harmless virus that caused them to glow green. The green color remained when the coronavirus crisis. A young man tested stem cells fused into myotubes. Some myotubes positive and was symptomatic for a month. such as making a virus more infectious, that are stained red for a protein involved in muscle He then had 2 consecutive negative tests and mutated strain will become more common in contraction (myosin heavy chain), a characteristic of mature muscle fibers.
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