OTT's Ted Roumel Transfers His Expertise to Private Sector

By Javier Lorenzo

Ted Roumel, assistant director and chief operating officer of the NIH Office of Technology Transfer since 1995, left NIH on Apr. 30 for a position with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

In the last 20 years, OTT has helped stock the public marketplace with 17 new therapeutic drugs and vaccines and more than 200 products based on technologies developed at the NIH bench. The office currently administers more than 1,500 active licenses and 2,000 patents; in the past 7 years, NIH technologies have generated more than $300 million in royalty income.

Ted Roumel recently joined the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

Roumel has been instrumental in orchestrating the strategic planning and policies that have yielded these accomplishments. His involvement in OTT began in 1993, when he was working in the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH) and was asked to manage the implementation of changes at NIH in response to several audits that found 106 weaknesses requiring corrective actions. Two years later, what began as a short-term assignment was converted into a new career at OTT that was to last 9 years.

His public career spanned more than 30 years, beginning as assistant to the director for intramural research at NIMH — at a time when the institute was a separate entity from NIH. While at NIMH, he was involved in writing legislation that would later establish NIAAA. He then worked for the new institute as an administrator and remembers the "great chaos of everything new and everything moving forward."

In 1976, his career in federal service continued as chief in the grants policy and operations office at ASH, where he worked closely with high-ranking administration officials in areas ranging from reviews of Indian Health Service activities to establishing community health centers and clinics for migrant workers.

Among his many responsibilities at OTT, Roumel served as liaison for international activities with foreign governments and commercial and educational organizations. He also reviewed and approved licenses and CRADAs with non-U.S. entities and extramural waiver requests under the Bayh-Dole Act. He represented HHS on two U.S. Trade Representative committees and NIH on several intergovernmental bodies as well.

In his new job, Roumel expects to continue developing alliances with educational and nonprofit organizations and advise them on scientific and regulatory issues. His work, he says, will be "almost a duplicate" of many of his activities at NIH.

OD's Beauregard Ends NIH Career

By Rich McManus

There probably aren't many retirees of Barbara Beauregard's vintage whose near-term post-NIH goals include cheering for Virginia Tech's football team when it plays Southern Cal next month in the BCA Football Classic at FedEx Field. It's just not typical grandmotherly behavior. But Beauregard, who retired Apr. 30 after a long career as a secretary — most recently to NIH Associate Director for Communications John Burklow — comes by her sports enthusiasm honestly: one of her two daughters is a Hokie grad, and Beauregard herself is a Cal, Berkeley grad who met her husband at a Rose Bowl game.

Beauregard insists she's led a very average life. But colleagues who feted her at a recent all-hands meeting of the Office of Communications and Public Liaison, OD, were unanimous in their appraisal of her as unusually kind and friendly. They presented her with a caricature of herself in her customary pose — smiling at her desk, which is cluttered with ITAS, purchase request and travel paperwork.

Barbara Beauregard She was born in Oakland, grew up in San Leandro, Calif., and got her undergraduate degree in general studies. Women who graduated from college in those days usually became teachers or secretaries, she recalls, and she chose the latter, working for Colgate Palmolive. She met her husband, Bob, at a football game and they married a year and a half later. He earned an M.A. at Berkeley in psychiatric social work. Her husband had an Army commitment, so the couple traveled from Denver to San Francisco to Washington, D.C.; Barbara worked as a secretary for United Airlines in all three cities. In the mid-fifties, Bob, who by now was in the Commissioned Corps, got a job at the Clinical Center, where he spent several years. The Beauregards were living in an apartment on Battery Ln. near NIH when their first daughter was born. Barbara remembers setting up Debbie's playpen on the lawn where NLM now sits.

She began at the Clinical Center's admissions desk, with an eye toward joining a communications office, which happened in June 1986. She was a secretary in the old Audio/Visual Branch, Office of Communications for 10 years, then was called over to Bldg. 1 in 1996 for what was to be a 4-month detail. That ended up lasting the rest of her career as she worked for a succession of OCPL leaders.

Beauregard had intended to retire in 2000 and take a trip with her husband to Hawaii to launch the new year. But Bob was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in May 1999, became a patient at the Clinical Center and died 4 months later, on the couple's 46th wedding anniversary. "I decided it wasn't a good time to retire."

Beauregard's fondest moments at NIH were with coworkers. "They were a lot of nice people to work with. And the work was interesting, with all the challenges of a busy public affairs office. It's been great to see all the research that has gone on here."

She especially recalls the fervor of August 2001, when NIH took calls on the issue of stem cells. Then came 9/11, which wiped stem cells off the map. Other controversies included the use of animals in research.

"One woman said I should give up my own body for research instead of using animals," Beauregard recalls. "NIH was accused of causing all of the world's problems because of its use of animals in research. I used to tell callers that I had two cats of my own. That calmed them down."

For the future, Beauregard intends "to take one day at a time." She plans to read the book My Time, which offers retirement advice, and to visit daughter Sharon in Albuquerque, who has two children. She may get around to selling the old family home off Seven Locks Rd. in Bethesda, but she wants to remain in the county, where daughter Debbie still lives. Then there's that football game at FedEx Field on Aug. 28. She can cheer all night and not have to worry about coming to work Monday morning.

NCI Lab Technician Smothers Retires

By Tanya Brown

Patricia Smothers began planning her retirement 3 years ago. Originally, her plan was to leave by December 2004. But with a new grandchild on the way and the long commute from her home in Frederick County taking its toll, Smothers decided not to wait until winter, and officially retired as of Apr. 30.

"It's time for me to move on while I can," said Smothers, a histology technician in the Laboratory of Pathology, NCI. "I'm in good health, I've been blessed and I thank God for that."

Patricia Smothers Smothers worked for 17 years on the second floor of the Clinical Center, where she was responsible for preparing microscopic slides of human tissue samples for diagnostic interpretation. She took on the role of leader in the laboratory, operating the lab in the absence of the supervisor, training new staff and working in every capacity. "The job had its ups and downs, but I love my work and it has been challenging," said Smothers. "I've had an opportunity to help residents and fellows work on various projects and through it all, I have always had good coworkers."

"She is a compassionate person who enjoys life," said Magaly Rojas, supervisor, histology technology department. "She would always accomplish her tasks ahead of time and she would always have these funny sayings. We will definitely miss her."

Others agree, but add that she was more than just a coworker. "She is everything in this office," said Martha Pruden, histology technician. "Whatever we need or whatever needs to be done, she gets it together."

"She has a lot of life and spunk to her," said Melba Ashby, histology technician. "She is a people person and has a lot of catchy sayings that we won't forget."

Some of those sayings include, "This is in the wrong church," referring to an object that is not in its proper place, or "Are we in the oven yet?," referring to the microscopic slides that must be baked or placed in the oven for preparation.

Smothers said she won't allow any grass to grow under her feet after retirement. She purchased a home in North Carolina so she could be near her youngest daughter who gave birth to Smothers' fifth grandchild recently. She also plans to spend time with her brother and sister in North Carolina and travel.

"I've had some good experiences here and I'm going to miss some of the things that I've seen every day for the past 17 years," said Smothers. "But I'm happy that I'm retiring and can spend more time with my family."