March–April 2008 (PDF File)

. Fostering Communication and Coii. ah oration The nihCatalyst A Publication for NIH Intramural Sciintists National Institutes of Health bOffice of the Director b Volume 16, Issue 2b March-Aprii 2008 Bias Against Women in Science: The problem, policy, history, & fix It’s Still There, and It’s Got to Cleaning Up Cell-Line Go Cross-Contamination by Fran Pollner by Christopher Wanjek f only mouse cells had ears, whis- Women in Biome kers, and a tail. These would Practices for I make it much easier to identify Best the type of cross-contamination that Sustaining Career Success for decades has plagued laboratories, invalidated years of research, side- Careers tracked careers, and possibly squan- NIH Working Group on Women in Biomedical dered millions of research dollars. National Center for Research Resources In well-documented cases that Office of Research on Women’s Health highlight both the range and ubiq- uity of the situation, guinea pig cells March 4, 2008 have turned out to be mouse cells, ovarian cancer cells have been dis- guised as breast cancer cells, and, in extreme cases, some cell lines have been unidentifiable. Fran Pollner NIH is not immune, neither in the Agents of Change: Discussing NIH initiatives to correct gender imbalances are (left to research performed here nor in the right) Joan Goldberg, executive director, American Society for Cell Biology’: Jeremy Berg, NIGMS director; Joan Schwariz. assistant director, OIR; Valerie Florance, deputy directorfor products produced. Many cell lines extramural programs, NLNJ Walter Schaffer, senior scientific advisorfor extramural from reputable sources are acciden- research; Raynard Kington, NIH deputy director; and panel chair Kath>yn Zoon, director of tally mischaracterized or masquerad- intramural research, NIAID ing as another kind of cell unbe- knownst to the supplier or user. f there is such a thing today as a post- ognized this long ago” and have devel- At least three lines in the respected feminist world, it’s not to be found oped “innovative practices” to attract and and much utilized NCI-60 cancer cell I just yet in much of the biomedical retain women at the highest levels, lines are mischaracterized—such as research arena, where various obstacles Alving said, presaging several talks on MCF-7/AdrR, which was once thwart the advancement of women sci- the day’s agenda. thought to be a daughter of the breast entists to commanding positions, such as department head at a research uni- Issues: cancer line MCF-7 but in reality is Framing the Numbers Talk lab chief an ovarian cancer cell line. versity or at NIH. 'Women have become 50 percent of rigorous documentation of attri- More than 15 percent of cell lines But medical school applicants and graduates continued on page 11 tion rates for women beyond the and they are 46 percent of assistant postdoctoral level has set the stage for deans and 33 percent of associate PuhMed Central New Rule designing and implementing systematic deans—but only 12 percent of deans of Please remember: All NIH-supported remedies, and large numbers of people U.S. medical schools, said keynoter researchers must submit their peer- in the field are determined to turn things continued on page 4 reviewed articles accepted for around. “This is not something ought to publication on or after April 7, 2008, we CONTENTS 6-10 to the National Library of Medicine’s be doing because it’s nice to do. It’s 1 Research Roundup PubMed Central digital archive. something we have to do” because the Changing the Climate For Women Scientists/ 12 Submissions take about 10 minutes future of biomedical research depends Cell-Line Cleanup Training News/ but do require your NIH e-mail user on it, said NCRR Director Barbara Alving, On Tenure Track name and password. Straightforward opening a daylong conference here on 2-3 A Tribute to Ed Rail 13-15 instructions “Best Practices for Sustaining Career Suc- are posted at Recently Tenured in research. <http://publicaccess.nih.gov/ cess” for women biomedical 5 The military biomedical research sec- Distinguished Lecture 16 submit_process.htm> . Kids’ Catalyst: Psst . tor, as well as successful businesses, “rec- On Small RNAs The NIH Catalyst From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research A Life Remembered: Joseph Edward Rale, 1920—2008 Joseph “Ed” Rail, one of the lions of NIH who helped to define its modem intramural research program and, in the 1950s, to establish a stable academic community within a rap- idly expanding government agency, died on Febmary 28. He was 88 years old. Often in my own role as DDIR, I marvel at the lasting effect Ed had on the style and sub- stance of the IRR I'd like to share my thoughts on his life, as well as the sentiments of those who worked closely with him. Rail was a consummate scientist; a charis- matic mentor, recmiter, and scientific director; and an engaging Renaissance man. He arrived at NIH in 1955 and built from scratch the Clinical Endocrinology Branch in the newly formed National Institute of Arthritis and Meta- bolic Diseases. He hired a diverse crew of scientists with seemingly disparate backgrounds to focus on a single endocrine organ, the thyroid, a vision that soon produced one of the most productive branches at NIH and helped earn NIAMD international recognition. In 1962, Rail became scientific director of NIAMD (where I was a research associate from 1971 to 1974) and continued in that position for more than 20 years through the institute’s various transformations into the National In- /. Edward Rail at a lab in New Zealand stitute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. From 1981 to 1982, he was also act- to other people,” he said. ing NIH deputy director for science before Under Rail’s guidance, the Clinical Endocri- stepping into that position full time with its nology Branch soon became a Mecca for bright current title, deputy director for intramural re- endocrinologists from around the world, in- search, from 1983 to 1991. He never left NIH, cluding Rosalind Pitt-Rivers, co-discoverer of transitioning to emeritus status in 1995. triiodothyronine; Nino Salvatore, a Fogarty For more than 40 years. Rail was a major scholar who later helped reform the Italian edu- force at the NIH, first with his groundbreaking cational system; and Jamshed Tata, a develop- research on the thyroid and then with his lead- mental biologist from Britain’s National Insti- ership skills guided by a broad knowledge of tute for Medical Research. multiple scientific disciplines. He lived and “The best people from around the world breathed science and eloquently championed came [to the Clinical Endocrinology Branch] and defended the scientific process. His col- to work,” said Ira Pastan, one of those endo- leagues at NIH and around the world com- crinologists as well as a close friend, who be- prise a veritable Who’s Who in biomedical gan working with Rail in the 1960s and who is and clinical research. now chief of NCI’s Laboratory of Molecular “Ed was remarkable in his drive, his pas- Biology. “Ed’s intelligence and personality at- sion to help other scientists—young scientists tracted them. He was fun to talk science to.” in particular—to foster a sound scientific atti- “Ed had excellent scientific judgment; he was tude,” said Baruch Blumberg, a long-time always interested in the science, always en- friend who won a 1976 Nobel Prize for his couraging,” said Marshall Nirenberg, another work on hepatitis B. friend who, while at NIAMD, performed his Blumberg, whose research on polymor- famed RNA and poly-U experiments, a pre- phisms at NIAMD aided his NIH-funded re- amble to the research on the genetic code that search on hepatitis B later at the Fox Chase matured after his transition to the National Cancer Center in Philadelphia, recalled his Heart Institute in 1962 and which led to his frequent conversations with Rail about the sci- 1968 Nobel Prize. entific process and how much these had in- Rail was in fact involved indirectly in several fluenced his career. “He gave a lot of himself Nobel Prize-winning research efforts, from his 2 - M A u c n A i> R I I. 2 0 0 8 encouragement of Nirenberg—then a junior had high standards. If you were smart, you postdoc at NIAMD before his rapid rise to had his attention.” prominence in 1962—to the remarkable stretch “He was that element at NIH with profound of highly productive research that occurred at respect for basic research,” said Blumberg. NIAMD during his tenure as scientific direc- Socially, Rail was a “warm and inviting tor: namely, that of sailing buddy Christian man” who hosted countless parties at his Anfinsen, who won a 1972 Nobel Prize for house, said Pastan, who remembers bang- protein chemistry; Martin Rodbell, who won ing his head hard during one backyard soc- a 1994 Nobel Prize for GTP-binding and G cer game there. Rail’s favorite sport was ten- proteins; and Blumberg. nis. He, Pastan, David Davies, Cal Baldwin, A member of the National Academy and the Mort Lipsett, Bill Eaton, and others from NIH first person at NIH named to the executive would meet early in the morning before work rank in the Senior Executive Service, Rail him- at the Linden Hill tennis club. self was a man of acute scientific acumen who “Ed was enthusiastic about eveiything he authored more than l60 journal articles. did, including tennis,” Pastan laughed. “We His first major contribution to science came often joked that all the important decisions in the early 1950s, as a graduate student at about the NIH were done at Linden Hill.” the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and then Other pastimes included sailing, skiing, postdoc at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New skating the C&O canal, music, and a love of York, where he was among the first to use literature and words.

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