June 27, 1989 Vol. XLJ No. l U,S. Oepanmem of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health Recori Hallett KO's Kassirer in 3rd R ound Grand Rounds 'Bout' Pits Professor and Physician Before a sranding room only audience in Lipsett Amphitheater, Clim(.tl Center Grand Rounds was transformed into a sort of ped­ .1gogic boxing macch recenrly as two physicians squared off for a comest dubbed "The Professor in Action." In one corner stood Dr. J erome Kassirer of Tufrs Medical School, armed only with a sec of slides and a rather smug silence. Opposite him stood Dr. .Mark Hallecr, clinical direcror of N INOS, whose weapons were a microphone and his many ytars of expertise in neurology. Kassirer, appearing in his second "bout" here during CC G rand Rounds, presented his opponent wich faces about rhree differenr pacienrs he has seen during hi~ career. Hal­ lctt's challenge was co reach a d iagnosis once acqua1nred wirh the faces in each case. " These aren't oddball cases, bur they illus­ crate things I have learned," said Kassirer Bldx. 37. 011 S~mh Dr. 11wr Old Georgetown Rd. u·aJ 011t of the are,,s hardeJt hit 011 campus by thtjune 14 1hmulersron11 th,11 ruged thro11gh Lowe,· Mo11tgo111ery C,111111; a11d 11orthu,es1 Wa.shi11g1011, D.C. S1ro11g before ,ncroducing his first case. "Each one ll'i11ds a11d hea1-; ra1111 form/ the top of this u•h,te oak tr« 11110 a u·i11drn11 011 the building's fifth //()Or cor­ (See ROUNDS, Page 2 ) ridor. See stol) 011 page 2. Kudos Pour In Rasband Gives NIH Patent Policy Defines NIH-Industry Research Ties Good 'Image, 8 )' Leslie fink Uy Carla Garnen The Nil I Patcnr Policy Board has released developmenr, according co accorney Reid Accolades, written in letrers and v,trious the new group's first formal poliq scatcmcnc, Adler, direccor of the NlH's Office of Inven­ newspaper clippings packed in bulging file­ proviJing a framework for expanding efforrs co tion Development. " And whar did gee folders, hail daily from as close by as next move the fruirs of NIH research our of campus licensed," he says, "could likely have been door and as far away as Japan and Australia. laboratories and inro the hands of the con­ developed joincl)' with a company and com­ Some, writren in few words, simply ask for sumer. The document safeguards rhe NIH mercialized at an earlier stage." The FITA, Image, while ochers, more intrigued, wane research mission while recognizing char rech­ according co Adler, is a move by government Image cxplarned co chem. What is Image! nology transfer is "a responsibiliry of each to "shifr results from this very wonderful and Image is a Macintosh II computer graphics laboratory science and engineering expensive research inscicurion more quickly program developed by N IMH computer sys­ professional. " into the markerplace where people can have tems analyst Wayne Rasband. In the year or The srnrcmenc •'sets the stage" for research access co them.•· so since its Concepcion, rhc program has gen­ alliances between JH and industry scientisrs, A key aspect of the ITTA encourages fc.d­ cr.ited interest from every corner of che according co Dr. Philip Chen, NIH assoc,acc eral scienciscs co apply for patencs on new and computer indusrry users, rcraalers as well as director for inrramural affairs and chairman of useful technologies or " inventions" they manufacturers. che Pacenr Policy Board. Earl ier prororype develop in their laboratories. Lawyers call pac­ In a memo ro anorhec sraff member, an sraremenrs ourlining joint agreemenrs wcrtn't enrs "intellecrual property," which lays legal Image user at the University of California's suircd ro the NIH research environment, Chen claim ro original thought processes char result Lawrence Livermore acional Laboracory says. "Now we have developed our own phi­ in a useful invention. According co the new exph1ins che program: losophy of who we arc as an agency and, based pol icy statemenc, "Cong ress and the President "Image is a program for .. acquiring, on our biomedical research mission, how we have chosen co urilizc the parcnr sysrem as the enhancrng, analyzing, editing, animarang and look at these agrecmcncs." primary mechanism foe transferring Govern­ pseudocoloring gray-scale or color images." In 1986, Congress passed rhe f ederal Tech­ ment invenrions co the privare secror." Developed originally ro aid medical nology Transfer Acr (ITTA } our of concern Under the new law and NIH policy, filing researchers, Image processes x-rays, aucoradio­ char beneficial technologies developed by gov­ parenr applications is an "important compo­ graphs, CAT and PET scans, ocher diagnoscic ernment researchers rarely make ir co the nent.. of a sc ientist's research efforr. Parenrs cools and even Polaroid phorographs. marketplace where citizens can buy and use may be issued on inventions developed by T he program digicizes rhese images and d is­ chem. At that time, Congress nored chat less inrramural researchers working alone or in plays rhcm on a computer screen. The ustr than 5 percent of governmenr patenrs were <See RASBAND, Page 6) ever licensed ro companies for commercial (See PA TENTS, Page 4) rag< 2 The Record June 27. 1989 ROUNDS Powerful Storm Rips County, Damages Campus (Continued from P.-ge 1. ) The 4:30 p.m. thunderscorm char ravaged customers lost power as a result of che storm . caught me something extraordinarily interest­ northwest Washingcon and southern Approximately 85,000 households and busi­ ing and important. Montgom ery County June 14 bringing winds nesses remained powerless for m ore than 24 " lncidencally, chis contesc isn't m e versus measured ac 70 miles an hour, dumping tor­ hours after rhe scorm, which caused many Hallecc. It's Hallecc on his own," he said rential rains on the merropoliran area and schools in Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Takoma ominously. jamming traffic during the evening rush, did Park and the D istrict co close.--Carla Garnett T he firsc case involved a 36-year-old clerk nor leave N IH unscathed. with weakness in his arms and legs. Shown a Minutes afrer the 40-minuce storm passed, series of slides divulging faces acquired chron­ NlH police and emergency response crews ologically, Hallett paciencly reviewed the were dispatched co trouble areas, most of relevance and implication of each one, which involved downed cree limbs, minor chinking aloud into rhe microphone. damage co a few cars and traffic redirection. After several minutes of patient cogicarion , Ac 6 p . m . N IH police had blocked Center Hallecc arrived at a diagnosis of m yaschenia Dr. between the Clinical Center and Bldg. 3 l gravis in case one. Conceded Kassirer, "Thar where a fallen tree Lay blocking westbound was a spectacular discussion of che case." traffic. The second mystery case involved a 27-year­ Perhaps che most significant and lasting old Chinese man with weakness in his arms damage to the Bethesda cam pus occurred in and legs for the past half day. Hallett, Bldg. 37 where an eight-story white oak cree emphasizing the imporrance of considering was split in half, its cop crashing into a fifth alrernarives co rhe "fully obvious," quickly­ floor window of che building 's norrhwesc cor­ Gusty winds and torrmtia/ rains from a recent and accuracely-indicced hyperthyroidism as ridor. Although at least one employee was in th1mderst1Jm1 gave ma11y campm trees a s11rpriie a11d rhe cause of rhe man's complainr. che corridor ac the time, no one was hurt. extensive priming. Charlene French (r), an NHLBl T he last case was a 52-year-old Bostonian T om Cook, chief of che N IH Grounds emp/(lyee in Bldg. 3 1, found the tree limb 111 right wirh hemiparesis (half paralyzed) and a history Maintenance and Landscaping B ranch, sum­ 011 the h1JOd of her car just after the storm. Her rar, marized the damage: "Aside from che Bldg. of heavy drinking and smoking. Regarding u,hich was parked 011 an NIH lot at the comer of rhc laccer credenrials, Hallecc, a Harvard­ 3 7 oak t ree, four ocher fairly large trees were Cedar L11. and Rockville Pk., was 011e of a feu, on rrained physician, quipped, "This is relarivcly the Bethesda ra111p111 that sustai11ecl minor damage. common in Boscon ... So quickly did he pin­ point a brain cumor as the source of the man's problems char Kassirer declared, " I think you know who co go co if you have a neurologic problem." The exercise in thinking on one's feet is The NIH Record meant ro illustrate che thought processes phy­ Published biweekly a, Bethesda, Md., by the Editorial sicians use in creating pacienrs, Kassirer said. Operations Branch, Division of Public Info rmation, fo r ,he Members of the audience were invited co con­ informauon of employees of the National lns.ruures or H<"alth, Department of Hc-,lth and Human Services, and cribuce co the d iscussion, and several came co circul•ted 10 nonemployees by subscription only through Hallecc's aid when he called upon chem. the Government Printing Office. The content ,s ,eprinrable T hose interested in accending the next edi­ without perniission. Pktures may be available on requtst. tion of the Professor in Action should consult knocked over, che trunks of five smaller trees Use of fonds for prinung 1h15 periodical has been opproved the CC Grand Rounds calendar, available by were broken and the rest was just brush." by the diteccor of che Office of Management and Budget calling 496-2563.- Rich McManus D through Sep,ember 30, 1989. According co Cook, che area along Cedar Ln.