May 19, 2017, NIH Record, Vol. LXIX, No. 10
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May 19, 2017 Vol. LXIX, No. 10 Surveys estimate that anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent of all meetings are unproductive, Pittampalli said. People report BLOCK THE ‘PASSENGER’ they feel that as much as half the time they spend in meetings is wasted. By a show of Beware the Intruder Hijacking hands, NIH audience members nearly unan- Your Meetings imously confirmed—perhaps humorously, BY CARLA GARNETT perhaps not so much—that they’d attended at least one meeting that had made them Ever wonder why so many meetings are so reconsider their life’s purpose. unproductive? Chances are good an unin- “Nothing can ever take the place of vited guest has been riding shotgun. Turns human beings getting in a room together out this unseen hitchhiker loves to sabotage to talk things out,” Pittampalli acknowl- your well-organized, well-intentioned edged. “Meetings are at the heart of how we workplace gatherings. communicate, how we collaborate, how we At a recent Deputy Director for decide on the most important issues facing Management seminar, author and business the organization. If that’s weak, then it’s hard advisor Al Pittampalli, who has studied to fulfill the mission of the organization. I’m meetings for the past decade, introduced here to tell you the meeting is weak.” a Masur Auditorium audience to this Pittampalli was an IT consultant for invisible, yet powerful saboteur he calls Fortune 500 companies around the country Al Pittampalli addresses NIH audience. “the passenger.” SEE PITTAMPALLI, PAGE 6 Buck’s Research Helps Wagers Tracks Aging in Unravel Mysteries of Scent Muscle Cells BY ERIC BOCK You don’t need to be a gym rat to know that muscle matters; without it, we wither toward The sense of smell is extremely important our own personal finish line. in everyday life. It can, for example, warn “Declining muscle function is a significant us of danger contributor to deficiencies in health and or alert us to a powerful predictor of mortality,” said the presence of Dr. Amy Wagers, who studies how tissues food. Thanks to maintain them- “Cell-fies” at Science Day. See story, p. 9 researchers like selves and how Dr. Linda Buck, ALSO THIS ISSUE they regenerate scientists can over time. Briefs ....................................2 now better learn Wagers is Cystic Echinococcosis Is Focus of 2017 Neva how smell works. Forst family Memorial Lecture ..........................3 “Through the professor of stem sense of smell, Dr. Linda Buck NIH, Indian Council of Medical Research cell and regen- humans and Staff Meet ................................5 erative biology other mammals can detect a vast array of at Harvard The Art of Sealing the Biomedical Tech Deal ..7 chemicals in the environment,” said Buck, University and Science Day Seeks to Empower Students ....9 Nobel laureate (2004) and full member of Harvard Medical the basic sciences division at Seattle’s Fred Milestones ...............................10 School, senior Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, at the investigator, Seen ....................................12 SEE BUCK, PAGE 8 Dr. Amy Wagers SEE WAGERS, PAGE 4 BRIEFS Essence Editor Emeritus Taylor To Speak, May 22 in Lipsett The Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion will host Susan L. Taylor, editor-in-chief emeritus of Essence magazine in a lecture at NIH on Monday, May 22 at 11 a.m. in Lipsett Amphitheater, Bldg. 10. The talk celebrates Women in History with the theme “Be Inspired” in honor of NIH’s commitment to EDI 365 and in support of equal opportunities for women to achieve their fullest potential. When Taylor joined Essence in 1970, she was the only single mom on staff. As she moved up the editorial ladder, she NIGMS Lecturer Describes Her Research, Career Path stressed the Dr. Namandjé Bumpus (l) recently delivered the second annual NIGMS Director’s Early Career importance of Investigator Lecture. In her talk “Drug Metabolism, Pharmacogenetics and the Quest to Personalize enabling female HIV Treatment and Prevention,” Bumpus described her research investigating the mechanisms involved Susan L. Taylor staffers to live in HIV drug activation and metabolism. She then engaged in an informal Q&A session with NIGMS their personal director Dr. Jon Lorsch (r) as well as answered questions from students. Bumpus discussed her career lives as fully as path, including when she knew she wanted to be a scientist, what she would have done differently and how mentors have supported her. After the talk, Bumpus met with University of Maryland their professional lives. Serving as editor-in-chief undergraduates (from l) Natalia Fongrat, Jayshree Surage and Dorcas Adeola. Bumpus is an associate for 19 years, she helped Essence expand beyond professor in the department of medicine, division of clinical pharmacology at Johns Hopkins University publication with branded products and events School of Medicine. The lecture is archived on the NIH VideoCasting and podcasting site. such as the Women Who Are Shaping the World PHOTO: CHRISTA REYNOLDS Leadership Summit. Taylor is the first and only African-American woman recognized by the Magazine Publishers of America, winning the industry’s highest honor— the Henry Johnson Fisher Award. She was also inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame. In addition to being a gifted writer, speaker and entrepreneur, Taylor is founder and CEO of the National CARES Mentoring Movement, which focuses on emotional, social and academic development. The lecture will be available to view live at video- cast.nih.gov. Individuals with disabilities who need sign language interpreters and/or reasonable accommodation to participate in this event should contact Joy Gaines at (301) 451-9662 or [email protected]. Your Science on Our Masthead CC Celebrates Medical Laboratory Professionals The masthead atop each new issue of the NIH Members of the Clinical Center’s department of laboratory medicine celebrated Medical Laboratory Record relies on color scientific images submitted Professionals Week on Apr. 26. Special guest was hospital CEO Dr. James Gilman (suited at rear, l), who by NIH scientists or grantees. We need fresh enjoyed lunch with members of the department. Next to Gilman is department chief Dr. Thomas A. Fleisher. images for future issues of the Record. If your PHOTO: ERNIE BRANSON laboratory has a candidate image, email a high-res- olution color digital photo to the editors (Rich. [email protected], [email protected]), along with a brief caption and credit line. Since the space we need to fill is horizontal, images that work best in that orientation are most appreciated. 2 • NIH RECORD • MAY 19, 2017 costing devel- and wait.” The WHO working group on Cystic Echinococcosis Is oping echinococcosis advocates for improved Focus of 2017 Neva Memorial economies care and evidence-based treatment, hoping billions of to move echinococcosis into mainstream Lecture dollars every clinical medicine. year, according Junghanss reviews best practices for Dr. Thomas Junghanss, a tropical medicine to the WHO. diagnosing and treating CE and hopes to and infectious disease physician and chair Cystic echino- close knowledge gaps to provide better care of the World Health Organization working coccosis (CE), for patients suffering from one of the most group on echinococcosis, will present a parasitic neglected tropical diseases. the annual Franklin A. Neva Memorial NTD most The lecture series honors Neva, a noted Lecture on May 25 at 10 a.m. in Lipsett prevalent in Dr. Thomas Junghanss virologist, parasitologist, clinician and Amphitheater, Bldg. 10. His talk is titled sheep-raising former chief of the NIAID Laboratory of “Cystic Echinococcosis—Staging Matters.” regions of the Parasitic Diseases. He helped grow parasi- Cystic echinococcosis is a parasitic type of world, is caused by larval-stage tapeworms tology research at NIH from a narrow area of tapeworm infection. (Echinococcus granulosus) found in dogs, focus to a large program now spread among Junghanss heads the clinical tropical the primary host. Ungulates are inter- 4 NIAID research groups and involving medicine unit at Heidelberg University mediate hosts. Humans become infected about 400 scientific staff at laboratories in Hospital in Germany. He works in a broad accidentally by consuming food, water or Bethesda and abroad. Neva died in 2011 at range of settings at the hospital and in soil contaminated with infected dog feces. age 89. countries with limited resources. Disease is caused by cysts that grow In 2016, he received the Order of Merit slowly and quietly over many years, of the Federal Republic of Germany for mainly in the liver and lungs, but also in his contributions to tropical medicine in other organs. The cysts can cause dis- sub-Saharan Africa. comfort and symptoms or be detected by Junghanss was initially trained in marine chance. Treatment of advanced disease is geology with a focus on reef development, demanding: health services are regularly which gave him a deeper understanding of overextended in countries with limited ecology. His work has also been informed resources where most CE patients live. ON THE COVER: Adult Caenorhabditis elegans, 5 days old. C. elegans has become one of the most by his fascination with the philosophical Immigrants to non-endemic countries studied organisms on the planet. Researchers have undercurrents of the 20th century and the often face health care institutions unfamil- determined that C. elegans has exactly 959 cells, Anthropocene—the era of man’s influence on iar with CE. 302 of which are neurons. Earth ecology. CE imaging has been a breakthrough in IMAGE: COLLEEN MURPHY, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY He has a special interest in neglected helping to guide treatment decisions. Most tropical diseases (NTDs), which affect clinicians agree on four treatment options: The NIH Record more than 1 billion people in 149 countries, drugs, skin treatments, surgery and “watch Since 1949, the NIH Record has been published biweekly by the Editorial Operations Branch, Office of Communications and Public Liaison, June 6 National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.