NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH • OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR | VOLUME 27 ISSUE 1 • JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2019 The Merry Band of Creating a “Spellchecker” for Genes Stadtmans BY LISA YUAN, NIDDK BY LAURA STEPHENSON CARTER Meet 15 more investigators who have become part of the Earl Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator Program, which was launched in 2009 and named for the legendary biochemist who worked at NIH for 50 years. The program aims to recruit a diverse group of scientists with interests across the biomedical-research spectrum. Seven of the Stadtmans focus on cancer research and work in the National Cancer Institute. Two work in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute ERNESTO DEL AGUILA III, NHGRI and both have dual appointments with other institutes. Another hails from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and holds a dual appointment with another institute. The other five Stadtmans each represent a different institute: National Institute CRISPR-Cas9 is a customizable tool that lets scientists cut and insert small pieces of DNA at precise areas along a DNA of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney strand. Lothar Hennighausen’s team has led the way in describing the extent of unwanted molecular scarring that the Diseases; National Institute of Biomedical CRISPR-Cas9 technique can cause at target sites of mammalian genomes. Imaging and Bioengineering; National Eye Institute; National Institute on Imagine a pair of molecular scissors that could snip and tweak sections of Aging; and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver the genetic alphabet. Or tweezers that could pluck one letter and replace it with National Institute of Child Health and another. These tools have become a reality in recent years, allowing scientists to correct Human Development. “misspellings” in the genetic code. And one NIH lab is taking full advantage of this. Get to know them a bit. You’ll learn CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 what their research is, what discoveries they’ve made, how they got interested CONTENTS in science, and even a few secrets. And FEATURES • |1, 10| The Merry Band of Stadtmans |1| Creating a “Spellchecker” for Genes if you go online, you’ll learn even more: |3| NIH Distinguished Scholars Program |14| Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado: How Flatworms https://irp.nih.gov/catalyst/v27i1/ Regenerate |18| 2018 Obits |19| America’s Cancer Doctor: Alan Rabson the-merry-band-of-stadtmans. DEPARTMENTS • |2| DDIR: A New Centralized IRB |4, 5| Training Page: Fellows Editorial CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 Board; Breaking Through the Petri Dish Lid |6, 7| News You Can Use: Office of Patient Recruitment; NIH Library Services |8| Research Briefs |15| The SIG Beat |17| Abbreviations; Take the Survey |20| NIH in History: Celebrating Nobel Laureate Christian B. Anfinsen FROM THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR INTRAMURAL RESEARCH A New Centralized Institutional Review Board BY MICHAEL GOTTESMAN, DDIR, AND JONATHAN GREEN, OD As you almost certainly have Research Subjects Review Board Office are several provisions that will affect heard by now, the NIH Intramural at the University of Rochester (Rochester, all investigators including changes to Research Program is in the process New York). the informed-consent process, new of centralizing and consolidating the We are close to completing one step of exemptions, and the elimination of Institutional Review Board (IRB) the centralization process: the migration of continuing review for some minimal-risk system. The 12 independent IRBs protocol information from three different research. will be transitioning to one IRB information-technology systems to one To ensure compliance with the new office, and the three different protocol central-tracking and data-management rule, all new studies slated for initial and data-management systems are system—iRIS, short for integrated- approval on or after January 21, 2019, will being consolidated into one. The goal research information system. be processed by the IRBO and reviewed is to improve the consistency of IRB The IRBO will handle all protocol by the NIH Intramural IRB. All studies review and the overall efficiency of submissions for the intramural research approved before January 21 will remain the IRB system. program; make exempt and nonhuman under the old rule and do not need to This type of IRB reorganization has subjects determinations; and conduct comply with any of the revised Common been deployed successfully at universities expedited reviews of minimal-risk Rule requirements. Amendments and around the country not only to enhance research. The office will conduct in-depth continuing reviews will continue to be human-research protections but also to pre-reviews before sending protocols to handled by the current NIH IRBs. Over benefit principal investigators on clinical a new, central NIH Intramural IRB the course of the next several months, we protocols by ensuring an efficient review committee. During this process, we will transition each of the committees into process. The IRB reorganization will also hope to identify and address any issues the new structure. ensure that we are compliant with the that could delay approval. The pre-review We are confident that the new IRB revised Common Rule (also known as will be done by trained professional system will be an improvement for the Federal Policy for the Protection of IRB analysts with consultation from everyone. For investigators, there should Human Subjects), which becomes effective IRB chairs, human-research protection be greater consistency in IRB review and on January 21, 2019. program leadership, and other experts more efficient turnaround times. For IRB We have brought on two new team as needed. members, meetings will be shorter with members to lead this effort, Jonathan The new NIH Intramural IRB— fewer agenda items, allowing for greater Green as the director of the Office of consisting of all current NIH IRB preparation and participation. Human Subjects Research Protections members—will use an innovative “flexible We thank you in advance for your (OHSRP) and Tiffany Gommel as the IRB” model and will begin meeting in patience and understanding as we director of IRB Operations (IRBO), a January 2019. Panels will meet multiple undertake this initiative. There will almost new centralized administrative office. times per week, conducting shorter certainly be some bumps in the road as Jonathan joins us from Washington meetings with fewer agenda items than we get going, but with your help we will University School of Medicine in are on current committee schedules. In achieve smooth sailing soon. St. Louis, where he was professor of this way, once ready, protocols can be medicine, pathology, and immunology, scheduled for meetings with less delay. Jonathan Green, M.D., M.B.A., is associate dean for Human Studies, and The revisions to the Common Rule the director of the Office of Human executive chair of the university’s IRB. constitute the first substantive changes Subjects Research Protections. For more Tiffany was executive director of the since its publication in 1991. There information, go to irbo.nih.gov. 2 THE NIH CATALYST JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2019 FEATURE NIH Distinguished Scholars Program BY CARL HASHIMOTO, OD CHIA CHI CHARLIE CHANG CHARLIE CHI CHIA NIH Distinguished Scholars Program participants gathered for an inaugural meeting in the fall. Front row (from left): DSP scholars Joel Vega-Rodriguez, Joana Vidigal, Eric Calvo, Sadhana Jackson, Hugo Tejeda, and Paule Joseph; and Director of Research Workforce Development Roland Owens. Back row (from left): DSP scholar Freddy Escorcia; Deputy Director for Intramural Research Michael Gottesman; senior investigators and mentors Julie Segre, Veronica Alvarez, and John Tisdale; NIH Director Francis Collins; Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity Hannah Valantine; Senior Advisor for Faculty Development Carl Hashimoto; and DSP scholars Nida Sen, Faustine Williams, Catherine Cukras, and Sherine El-Toukhy (missing DSP scholars: Jennifer Jones and Joseph Rodriguez). As part of an effort to enhance research and in promoting diversity and Vidigal (NCI), and Faustine Williams diversity in the scientific workplace, NIH inclusion. The scholars participate as (NIMHD). Candidates for the DSP launched the Distinguished Scholars a cohort in activities designed to foster are nominated by the NIH ICs that Program (DSP), which facilitates the a sense of belonging and to promote have intramural research programs. hiring and career progression of tenure- research and career success. Nominations for the 2019 cohort of track investigators who have demonstrated They receive mentorship from highly scholars will be due in March 2019. a commitment to promoting diversity experienced NIH senior investigators; Financial support for the DSP and inclusion in the biomedical-research professional leadership training and comes from a central fund of workforce. access to workshops on a variety of contributions made by the ICs, which The DSP aims to reduce the barriers management skills and tactics; and so far have committed support for to the recruitment and success of principal informal networking opportunities three cohorts of scholars. Each scholar investigators from underrepresented with NIH leadership such as the NIH receives research funding from the DSP groups in biomedical research (African- director, institute and center (IC) for the first four years of their tenure- Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, directors, and scientific directors. track appointment; the respective