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ORWH Career Development Programs for FY 1999One of the major mandates of the ORWH is to develop and support opportunities for recruitment, retention, re-entry, and advancement of women in biomedical careers. Recruitment of women into science careers has increased steadily, with women well represented in graduate degree programs, including medical school and other doctoral studies. However, women–especially minority women–are not as well represented in advanced scientific and academic leadership positions. To address issues and to implement strategies for action to recruit, retain, and advance women in scientific careers, ORWH sponsored a public hearing and a workshop in 1992. The recommendations from this workshop are highlighted in a report, Women in Biomedical Careers: Dynamics of Change–Strategies for the 21st Century, available through ORWH. ORWH developed strategies and programs to move forward to implement the recommendations made at this workshop. In FY 99, ORWH developed a number of new activities and continued to support ongoing programs to increase opportunities for women in biomedical careers. Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (RFA OD-99-008) The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) developed an institutional career development award for "Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) Career Development Programs." These Programs support research career development of junior faculty members, known as Interdisciplinary Women's Health Research (IWHR) Scholars, who have recently completed clinical training or postdoctoral fellowships, and who are commencing basic, translational, clinical and/or health services research relevant to women's health. The goal of this initiative is to promote the performance of research and transfer of findings that will benefit the health of women. The Programs will accomplish these goals by bridging advanced training with research independence, as well as bridging scientific disciplines or areas of interest. This will increase the number and skills of investigators at awardee institutions through a mentored research experience leading to an independent scientific career addressing women's health concerns. Letters of intent were due in October 11, 1999 and the application due date is December 10, 1999. This RFA uses the NIH Mentored Research Scientist Development Program Award (K12) mechanism. The K12 awards will be for a period of five years. The anticipated award date is July 1, 2000. The NIH/ORWH announced $6 million in BIRCWH II awards in FY 2002. A need was identified for expanded support for interdisciplinary research bridging the completion of training with an independent career in research addressing women's health as described in the "Agenda for Research on Women's Health for the 21st Century, A Report of the Task Force on the NIH Women's Health Research Agenda for the 21st Century," Volume 2, pp. 187-198, Career Issues for Women Scientists, and pp. 223-228, Multidisciplinary Perspectives; NIH Publication 99-4386 (1999). Therefore, ORWH has as one of its priorities "facilitating research initiatives that foster multidisciplinary collaborations." Program grant awards from this RFA will meet the specified need by providing clinical, health or life sciences, or public health departments, centers, and institutes, both developing and established, an opportunity to build national capacity for junior investigators in women's health research, here defined as including research on sex and/or gender differences, as well as research on factors that contribute to disparities in health status or health outcomes for different populations of women. Investigators with established research programs covering a broad range of basic and applied biomedical and behavioral science or health services research, in the Principal Investigator's ("sponsoring") and collaborating departments, centers, or institutes, form an intellectual and technical research base for mentoring IWHR Scholars. Mentors from collaborating departments are encouraged to provide needed expertise and resources, as long as the emphasis of IWHR Scholars' projects is on research relevant to women's health. Projects may be basic, translational, clinical, or health services research, but must be within the biomedical and behavioral purview of NIH and/or the health services research purview of AHCPR. Health services research includes the study of the quality, appropriateness, outcomes and effectiveness of health care services, as well as the cost, use and access to health care services. Women's Reproductive Health Research Career Development Centers ORWH joined NICHD in the development of a Request For Applications (RFA) to invite institutional career award applications for Women's Reproductive Health Research Career Development Centers in FYs 98 and 99. These Centers support research career development of obstetrician-gynecologists, known as Women's Reproductive Health Research (WRHR) scholars, who recently completed postgraduate clinical training, and were commencing basic, translational and/or clinical research relevant to women's health. The goal of this initiative is to promote the performance of research on women's reproductive health and transfer findings that will benefit the health of women. The Centers serve to bridge clinical training with independent research, increasing the number and skills of obstetrician-gynecologist investigators at awardee institutions through a mentored research experience leading to an independent scientific career addressing women's reproductive health issues. Twelve centers were funded in FY 98 and 8 additional Centers were funded in FY 99.
Advancing Women's Contributions to Science through Professional Societies The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH), in conjunction with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, several NIH ICs, and the American Society for Cell Biology, is cosponsoring a workshop to explore the roles of scientific societies in advancing science by building the careers of all women in science, from the predoctoral stage to the senior scientist level. The Access '99 Workshop, December 9-10, 1999, is a satellite meeting to the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting at the Convention Center in Washington, DC. It is anticipated that participants in this workshop will develop action items that societies may consider for their membership, contribute to an annotated bibliography of the career resources that societies and others have assembled, to be made available as a national resource on the Internet, and to exchange information with other workshop participants on the strengths and weaknesses of their existing and planned societal programs, and resources for their women membership. While the focus of the meeting is on women in science, it is recognized that many outstanding men have played significant roles in developing the careers of women. The five areas for discussion at the Access Workshop are:
Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education ORWH has an ongoing interagency collaboration which began in FY 1997 with the National Science Foundation (NSF) Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education (POWRE) Program to encourage the pursuit of research careers by women investigators in the biomedical sciences. POWRE is designed to help ameliorate the under-representation of women in the science and engineering workforce by "providing women with funding opportunities not ordinarily available through regular research and educational grants." Grants are in basic research and are awarded for 18 months. ORWH supported a total of 15 POWRE investigators in FY 1997-1998. In FY 99, ORWH supported the following 7 applications:
The PI is developing "vascularized tissue for implantation to repair tissue defects resulting from surgery (lumpectomy/mastectomy)." Three dimensional tissue culture on a porous, absorbable biomaterial scaffolds will be pursued. Research focuses on the optimizing appropriate scaffolds for cell-scaffold interaction, cell distribution throughout the scaffold and increased vascularization.
Dr. Kelleher has been supported by DK in the past and works in the area of gluconeogenisis/Diabetes. She is attempting to retool and extend her research program by working with Professor Gregory at MIT, an expert in metabolic engineering biotechnology. This collaboration bridges a physiologist with a chemical engineer and will provide the PI with advanced skills in metabolic physiology and will advance the tools available for measuring total body gluconeogenesis.
Dr. Welsh is interested in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. She is looking at the immunologically privileged status of the central nervous system (CNS) which has a low level of major histocompatablilty (MHC) antigen expression. MHC antigens are crucial to developing an immune response. The PI proposes that control of MHC expression results in increased immunologically privileged status of the CNS and thus resistance to demyelination. Investigations will focus on control of MHC expression within their working model system to better understand CNS immunological privilege as well as factors involved in CNS inflammation. This PI has been attempting to gain funding from NS-NIH.
The PI is attempting to understand hormonal and nonhormonal regulation of sulfate homeostasis in the kidney. Serum sulfate concentrations are increased in pregnant woman, the fetus and young children consistent with an increased physiological requirement during development. Altered disposition of sulfate in pregnant woman and children is due to increased sulfate renal reabsorption. Sulfate transport in the kidney and the effects of hormone on the mechanism of sodium dependent sulfate uptake will be investigated. This PI is attempting to gain funding from DK-NIH.
Dr. Garcia is looking at the mechanisms that regulate kainate receptor expression at the synaptic cell membrane. Glutamate the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain gates the kainate, NMDA and AMPA ionotropic receptors. Recent advances now allow the kainate and AMPA receptor responses to be separated with selective agonists and antagonists thus allowing an examination of the molecular mechanisms involved in these currents.
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is involved in mental and physical processes including higher level cognition, emotional response to stress, incentive motivation and motor behavior. There is dynamic association between the PFC and the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). The PI wishes to investigate the changes in NAcc dopamine as the result of pharmacologically-induced PFC dopamine changes and will assess resulting transsynaptic effects. If transient treatments such as pharmacological manipulations induce persistent transsynaptic changes it would suggest that such neural events may occur as normal brain homeostatic responses to drug use or disease processes. Dr. Duvauachelle has previously been supported as an NIH F32 Fellow and is applying for NIH funding.
Glycosyl phosphatdylinositol (GPI) anchors are post-translational modifications found ubiquitously in eukaryotes and have been implicated in processes ranging from intracellular targeting to signal transduction. The PI wishes to study GPI's in Cryptococcus a fungal organism. Such studies could lead to new avenues for development of antifungals. The PI is attempting to gain funding from AI-NIH. WHI Minority Investigator Career Development Award ORWH co-sponsored an RFA with NIAMS and NIA to provide Career Development Awards (K01 or K08) to minority scientists to facilitate participation in the Women's Health Initiative. These serve two purposes: first, to enhance the research skills, training and development of the individual awardees, and second, to enhance the diversity of the investigator teams currently carrying out this project. Scientists and clinicians thus trained will contribute to the nurturing of the next generation of clinical investigations. ORWH supported 3 awards in FY 1997, four in FY 1998, and in FY 99, ORWH provided continuing funding for two investigators:
This study aims at the causes of morbidity and mortality associated with chronic diseases among women; strengthening the applicant's present training and ability to conduct psychoneuroimmunological research through course work, laboratory training, and clinical experience; familiarizing the applicant with all phases of research; and developing the applicant's ability to conduct independent research and obtain independent funding.
This study aims to recruit Hispanic postmenopausal breast cancer cases; to form a Hispanic postmenopausal breast cancer case-control study comparing bone mineral density among Hispanic breast cancer patients recruited in the proposed study as cases and Hispanic women from the Women's Health Initiative observation study group in Arizona as controls; to examine the interrelationship between bone mineral density and breast cancer in Hispanic postmenopausal women; to assess the role of body composition in the relationship between bone mineral density and breast cancer in Hispanic postmenopausal women; to identify risk factors for and links between osteoporosis and breast cancer in Hispanic postmenopausal women; and to compare results of the proposed study with results from other ethnic groups in the WHI when they are available. ORWH/NIH Re-entry Program The ORWH Re-entry Program was developed in 1992 as a pilot program to help fully trained scientists (women and men) reestablish careers in biomedical or behavioral science after taking time off to care for children or parents, or to attend to other family responsibilities. This program was originally started as a pilot program to encourage fully trained women and men to reenter an active research career after taking time off to attend to family needs. The success of this pilot program was the impetus to expand the program across the NIH and it is currently supported by all NIH ICs. The aim of these supplements is to encourage fully trained individuals to reenter research careers within the missions of all the program areas of NIH. This program will provide administrative supplements to existing NIH research grants for the purpose of supporting full-time or part-time research by these individuals in a program geared to bring their existing research skills and knowledge up to date. It is anticipated that at the completion of the supplement, the scientist will be in a position to apply for a career development (K) award or for a research award. ORWH currently provides funding of $20,000 for each of 2 years. In FY 99, ORWH cosponsored the following 4 reentry awards.
Dr. Julie A. Hofheimer received her Ph.D. in early childhood education with minors in development and quantitative psychology from the University of Florida in 1979. She is currently a research assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and a research assistant professor of psychology as well as a faculty member with the Carolina Consortium of Human Development all at the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill. The purpose of the re-entry supplement is to provide Dr. Hofheimer with new research training in stress psychology and behavioral medicine, and additional mentoring and guidance to facilitate her entry into the current highly competitive research environment following her hiatus from research due to commitments of family care during her husband's illness and recent death. The parent grant deals with the social and psychosocial influences on blood pressure control. The study is expected to provide important information on the biological and behavioral factors which contribute to the etiology of hypertension and CVD in a broad spectrum of ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic groups. Dr. Hofheimer will spend 50 percent of her will and effort to the project. This effort will include time required to enhance her skills in laboratory and ambulatory monitoring of cardiovascular function, time spent in journal clubs and other educational experiences, time spent recruiting and testing subjects for the new subproject described in the supplement, and in enhancing her data analysis and scientific writing skills using the data from the supplement and the parent project as the training material. All of these are essential to developing her potential for re-entry as a competitive independent researcher in the cardiovascular behavioral medicine field. The research plan for the re-entry supplement was developed intentionally to provide the critical transition from her prior active research in the field of mother-infant interactions and development to research in the field of stress physiology relevant to hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The plan remains true to the original proposal's theme of examining aspects of life demands at work and at home which may be related to increased perception of stress and strain in certain subgroups and to changes in physiological mediators, particularly those affecting adrenergic activity, leading to blood pressure increases. The plan also has the strength of extending the focus on women and on unique life stressors/stress buffers and hormonal factors associated with increased and decreased cardiovascular risk in this understudied group.
Dr. Salisbury received a Ph.D. in Biological Psychology (1993) from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. In postdoctoral studies (1993-1996) at the Harvard School of Public Health Dr. Salisbury investigated mechanisms responsible for the perception of respiratory sensation and the effects of respiratory stimuli on cognition. These studies culminated in a Spinal Cord Research Foundation grant in 1995 followed by a promotion to Research Associate in 1996. Dr. Salisbury's research career has been in hiatus since 1996 because she had to care for twin sons born prematurely and a daughter born in 1997. During this period she has worked only briefly (10 months) on a half time basis. Dr. Salisbury has kept current in the field during this time by completing three manuscripts and presenting a meeting abstract. She lists a total of four peer-reviewed publications as primary author and three full length publications on which she is a coauthor. Dr. Banzett's parent grant focuses on central mechanisms which underlie dyspnea. This sensation is closely associated with the breathlessness of heavy exercise congestive heart failure and lung collapse. In order to characterize the pulmonary signals associated with difficulty in breathing the sensations evoked by vagal nerve stimulation topical anesthesia of lung tissue and manipulations of blood gases and ventilatory volume are being studied in awake human subjects. The research aims at characterizing the respiratory sensations produced by electrical and mechanical stimulation of various vagal pulmonary afferents in humans. This study outlines new an innovative approaches to the study of the sensations arising from the lung and the role of the vagus nerve in human respiratory control. Dr. Salisbury will examine the afferent pathways through which chest wall vibration relieves dyspnea. In healthy subjects she will characterize changes in breathing sensations associated with vibration of the chest wall compared to the vibration of non-respiratory muscle and the ameliorative effects of vibration on dyspnea induced by manipulating the level of inspired carbon dioxide. Studies in subjects with respiratory muscle denervation will investigate whether proprioceptive signals arising from the chest wall lung or airway are responsible for the ameliorative effects of vibration.
Dr. Affenito is currently an Assistant Professor at St. Joseph College West Hartford, CT who wants to pursue her research interests in the field of eating disorders and hopes to secure a tenure-track position in a setting that will enable her to pursue clinical research activities while teaching. After completing her doctoral work in nutritional sciences, she served as Interim Director of Dietetics and as an assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Allied Health. In the fall of 1997 she chose to work part-time at St. Joseph College as an assistant professor in order to care for her infant son when her father was diagnosed with a terminal illness at that time and the part-time teaching work allowed her to help with her father's care and to be with her family. Her father passed away in January, 1999, and the applicant now wishes to pursue her interest in clinical research in eating disorders. The aims of the supplement are to investigate the role of two parameters of childhood eating behavior as risk factor for the development of an eating disorder namely eating patterns and specific meal or food choices. There have been anecdotal accounts describing women with eating disorders as having engaged in unhealthy eating practices as children but there is no empirical evidence to support these accounts scientifically. The research examines how childhood eating practices relate to the development of disordered eating in adolescence and young adulthood and to the development of obesity. The results of this study will provide important data useful for nutrition education of parents and children in prevention efforts aimed at reducing risk for obesity and eating disorders. The study permits an in depth analysis of the role of nutrition in the development of disordered eating.
Currently Dr. Rubin serves as a part-time instructor at Boston University School of Public Health. From July-October 1998 she served as a part-time research associate to Dr. Gastfriend and as a consultant to Dr. Jeffrey Samet's NIDA and NIAAA grants. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology in 1978. Dr. Rubin advanced from an postdoctoral fellowship to an appointment to Assistant Professor (Research) at Brown University's Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies. Her research career was interrupted due to an incapacitating personal illness in October 1995. While facing the horrendous adversity of personal illness, Dr. Rubin maintained a 5% involvement as a Co-PI, and was allowed to keep her appointment as Assistant Professor until October 1 this year. Dr. Rubin's supplement focuses on health services research in real world settings. This supplement provides a stable opportunity for Dr. Rubin to restart her career, gain an in-depth understanding of the issues involved in developing patient placement criteria, expand her knowledge of women's issues in substance use, and apply her knowledge to practical issues in a health services model. Dr. Rubin will investigate how physical and psychological differences and social contexts in women's response to drugs contribute to mismatches between patient and treatment using data from the ASAM,study. Findings from the ASAM study will then be cross-validated in a secondary analysis of the NIDA's Collaborative Cocaine Treatment Study and the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study. Participation of Dr. Rubin in this project allows the parent grant an opportunity to focus specifically on women's outcomes, needs, and treatment matching opportunities, and allow Dr. Rubin to develop her independent research career. The study will add to the effectiveness of methods to allow substance abusers access to treatment, to make decisions, on appropriate placement for treatment, and to facilitate treatment completion and successful outcome is critical in this time of managed care and cost conscious health care delivery.
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Dr. Eric Nisbet-Brown received his initial academic appointment as an Assistant Professor of Immunology and Medicine at the University of Toronto in 1989, at which time he held peer-reviewed grant funding from the Medical Research Council of Canada and from the Cutter-Canadian Red Cross Society Research Program. By 1991, he had evidence of sufficient research productivity to successfully compete for renewal of his funding for an additional two years. In late 1991, however, his wife was diagnosed with cancer. The stress of her illness together with the need for his active involvement in her care had a profound effect on him. He was unable to apply for renewal of his research funding, and in September 1993 he resigned his responsibilities as Director of Clinical Immunology at The Toronto Hospital and disbanded his laboratory. He subsequently took a part-time clinical appointment in the Hemoglobinopathy program at The Hospital for Sick Children, as this allowed him greater flexibility to care for his spouse in the latter stages of her illness.
In 1994, shortly after the death of his wife, he attempted to reactivate his research career. However, his attempts to do so were unsuccessful, despite extensive discussions with the Medical Research Council of Canada, the National Cancer Institute of Canada, and The Arthritis Society, as he did not qualify for funding under any of their research training and personnel support programs. Given that he was dependent on clinical activities for the majority of his income, he was unable to create sufficient protected time to integrate into an existing laboratory-based research program, which would ultimately have allowed him to reapply for independent research funding. He was accepted in the laboratory of Dr. James Ferrara at The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Unfortunately, Dr. Ferrara plans to leave DFCI for a position in a distant location. Dr. Nisbet-Brown believes Dr. Ferrara will be unable to devote sufficient time to his project and would like to complete his re-entry training in the laboratory of Dr. Alan D'Andrea, adjacent to Dr. Ferrara's lab, working on a project involving apoptosis in Fanconi Anemia cells. At the completion of his retraining, Dr. Nisbet-Brown will be offered the position of Director of the Thalassemia Program at Boston Children's Hospital.
The goal of the parent grant is to understand the molecular pathogenesis of Fanconi Anemia (FA), a disease characterized by developmental abnormalities and defects in DNA repair that lead to marrow failure, increased risk of cancer, and early death. Recent studies in Dr. D'Andrea's lab have shown that FA cells have increased apoptosis in response to interferon and TNF. The FA proteins appear to mediate a cellular signal transduction pathway that leads to apoptosis. The studies proposed will analyze early signal transduction events and investigate the role of TNF and interferon on this process.
The specific aims of Dr. Nisbet-Brown's project are: 1. To analyze the early signal transduction events that occur following exposure of FA cells and corrected FA cells to IFNy l to systematically analyze the differential activation of the JAK-STAT pathway in isogenic pairs of corrected and uncorrected cells from complementation groups FA-A and FA-C, and 2. To analyze the effects of IFNy and TNFa exposure on known biochemical events in the FA signaling pathway, including phosphorylation of FAA, binding of FAA and FAC, and translocation and accumulation of the FAA/FAC complex in the cell nucleus.
| Title: | Membrane Potential & Morphine Tolerance (Reentry Year 2) |
| Institute: | NIDA |
| Awardee: | Peggy S. Biser, PhD |
| PI: | David A. Taylor, PhD, BS |
| Institution: | West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV |
Currently Dr. Biser is serving as an instructor at Frostburg State College teaching chemistry courses on a part-time basis. Her research career was interrupted due to childbearing and a series of health-related issues. Her intention is to return to research full time if the opportunity arises.
The ongoing grant investigates the role of the development of tolerance following chronic opioid treatment using the myenteric plexus and nucleus tractus solitarius of the guinea pig as model systems. The underlying differences which may be responsible for these disparate hypotheses could either reside in the neutronal populations being examined or in the species in which the tolerance is being produced. Dr. Biser's project employs electrophysiological techniques including intracellular and voltage clamp recording from neurons in brain slices from control and animals chronically treated with morphine. The hypothesis is that the expression of tolerance following chronic opioid treatment differs between the guinea pig and the rat as a result of basic differences in the cellular mechanism of adaptation employed by these two species. To test this hypothesis, the following specific aims are addressed: 1) To determine if the guinea pig LC displays nonspecific tolerance extending to non-opioid inhibitory agonists; 2) To determine if the rat nTS and LC display tolerance that is specific for u-opioid agonists; and 3) To investigate and compare the cellular mechanisms which underlie tolerance in the guinea pig and rat LC and nTS. The outcome of these experiments will enhance our understanding of opioid tolerance and dependence as well as increase our knowledge about the mechanisms of neuronal adaptation.
ORWH Initiatives with the Office of Science Education
For several years, the ORWH and the Office of Science Education (OSE) have joined together to provide educational programs that support pre-college age students and those interested in health. The following is a brief summary of 1999 highlights for each program in this partnership.
Health Science Curriculum Online (COL) An interactive program for students in grades 7-12 centered on women and minority health issues. The curriculum emphasizes understanding, depth of knowledge, and the interdisciplinary nature of science. Health topics center on diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer with two stories on each disease; incorporated into the stories is information of special interest to Latino, Native American, and African American populations. The stories as well as a resource section and information on career opportunities are described in both English and Spanish.
All program elements of Curriculum Online opened to the public in the spring of 1999. Since that time, there have been approximately 300 registrants. Each new registrant receives a manual and welcoming letter. An increase in the number of new registrants coincided with the new academic year. On average, eight new requests for registration have been received every week since August. Most of the registrants are classroom teachers; however administrators, foundation officers, and members of the NIH community have also registered. Some of the teachers are in small schools in remote regions of the country, and the program manager has received some very poignant notes from educators expressing their gratitude for having access to COL.
An important focus of activity has been improving ways of registering and communicating with the registrants, especially the teachers. Work is under way to automate registration so that registrants can receive a password and manual within minutes of applying. This will allow teachers to use COL as soon as they request permission to use the site. The development of new data bases, which began in the summer, and other automated procedures, will allow OSE to broadcast expeditiously new additions to the site, deal with registration glitches, and lend encouragement to site users. In addition to registration activities, three video clips have been added to the site, and activities are under way to add a new component on nutrition. The original proposal for the COL included plans for a collaborative study in which students would apply biostatistical techniques to data that they would collect individually and share within their school and with other schools. The collaborative study has taken shape this year. Personal nutrition was selected as the primary focus because of the strong causal relationship between nutrition and the three diseases that underlie the COL scenarios. And, because exercise is also part of a health lifestyle strategy, an exercise element will be added to the study. The nutrition and exercise components will be online next year along with links to related sites, such as to basic biochemistry, structural formulas, molecular modeling, recipes, and menus.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Girl Power steering committee has shown great interest in COL. They are looking for curriculum with good science content that is interactive to add to their Girl Power activities, and have been exploring with the COL program manager the feasibility of testing to see if younger girls would find the stories interesting.
Snapshots of Science and Medicine An online magazine and interactive learning tool published three times per year. Snapshots is designed for high school students but also appeals to the general public. Each issue provides an in-depth look at a single area of cutting-edge research, covering its scientific basis, history, some people working in the field, and the legal, ethical, or social questions the research raises.
Early in the fiscal year, structural changes in the Snapshots Web site were implemented. A total of six stories from the previous layout of Snapshots were re-edited, updated, and posted to the revised and expanded site. A total of 26 stories that were not moved to the new site are still available to readers through the "Snapshots Archive" button. In addition, several new stories were written and posted. These include profiles of Mary Herman of the National Institute of Mental Health, and Ellie Carson, a young research scientist at Johns Hopkins University, among others, as well as feature length "Research in the News" articles on Xenotransplantation and Helicobacter pylori as the cause of ulcers. The first two "Stories of Discovery" articles were prepared and posted in April, 1999.
Using articles from the former version of Snapshots, a sample issue was prepared and presented to teachers at the National Science Teachers Association meeting in Boston, where many valuable suggestions were collected. Using this information, the editor wrote a development plan for Snapshots, outlining changes and improvements intended to make the site more valuable to teachers in the classroom. After getting feedback on this plan from ORWH and OSE staff, implementation began. The balance of the year was spent expanding the incomplete mockup into the issue to be published in October 1999. In addition, work was begun on the second and third issues to be published later in the school year. The most important changes are:
The overall effect of these changes will be to make Snapshots easier to deploy in the classroom, by allowing teachers to plan how it will best fit into their curriculum schedule and by including background materials for students and teachers. The in-depth treatment of single topics will give students a greater appreciation and mastery of the featured research so that they can develop an informed opinion about the complex social issues biomedical research often raises.
Women in Science Poster Series: A series of free posters aimed at middle-school girls. The series will emphasize that scientific and medical research offers many different career paths, all of which are open to women.
Decisions regarding the details of the poster series were developed and approved in fiscal year 1999, including poster layout. Each poster will have a photo and short quote from three women in a specific field of research, such as breast cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. Of the three women featured on each poster, one will be an M.D. or Ph.D. senior research scientist, one a professional in a research-related discipline, and one a professional whose job is crucial to research but does not require as many years of schooling as the other two. The racial and ethnic diversity of the women depicted will help make the posters relevant to a large number of girls, in particular those from populations currently underrepresented in scientific and medical careers.
ORWH/OSE Speakers Bureau: A program designed to increase national visibility of NIH research scientists and clinicians who are available to speak to schools and other organizations about medical research at the NIH. Speakers address a total of 29 topics, such as osteoporosis, depression, and breast and ovarian cancer, with 178 sub-topics. The speakers are diverse in their fields of expertise, their gender, race, and ethnic background.
As a result of 120 requests during the past fiscal year, over 2,400 people in the Washington metropolitan area have learned more about the many achievements and various activities of the NIH research community. The following examples show how the Speakers Bureau is helping to improve public understanding of science, promote interest in science related careers, and enhance science education in the classroom in unique, yet practical ways.
Perhaps the most interesting, as well as significant, contact made to the NIH Speakers Bureau came from MDBio, a non-profit organization that supports the biotechnology industry in the State of Maryland. Having found the Speakers Bureau on the OSE Web site, MDBio wants to use it as a model for a speakers bureau on their Web site. Their staff will describe the NIH Speakers Bureau as a model and assist the OSE in disseminating information on the new NIH curriculum supplements series to science teachers throughout the State.
Women are Scientists Video and Poster Series: Colorful, informative videos and posters for middle school students that feature women scientists. The series is designed to stimulate the interest of girls in science at a time when they are making decisions about the course choices that may effect their career options later. In the middle school years, many girls are discouraged from pursuing advanced levels of math and science. This series is intended to make them aware of the many interesting and rewarding careers in the medical sciences and the educational requirements necessary to pursue them.
The first video/poster set, Women are Surgeons, was formally released in the spring of 1999 with a cover letter from Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala. The video is introduced by Christine Lahti, Emmy-award winning actress on the television program "Chicago Hope," who donated her time to film the introduction. The video was selected as a top finalist for the Telly Award, a national competition honoring outstanding non-network television commercials and programs, and non-broadcast videos and film productions.
Work is well under way on the second set in the series, Women are Pathologists. Featured in the new video are: Dr. Deborah Powell, executive dean from the University of Kansas Medical Center; Dr. Mary Schmidt Case, chief medical examiner of St. Louis, Charles, Jefferson, and Franklin Counties in Missouri; and Dr. Maria Merino, chief, Surgical Pathology Section, National Cancer Institute. The filming of the second video has been completed, casting for the acting parts is under way, and the mock-up design for the second poster is complete. Release of the second video/poster is expected next spring. The selection of the contractor for the third in the series, Women are Researchers, was recently completed and the identification of women to profile is under way.
The DHHS Girl Power steering committee has expressed considerable interest in the video/poster series. Discussions are underway with them regarding publicizing the video to adults who access the Girl Power Web site and utilizing the video as an activity for the Girl Power neighborhood meetings to show girls potential careers in science.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Summer Program: A program that provides students who successfully completed an HHMI internship with the opportunity to return to the NIH for a second summer. Through the program, returning students further develop or complete their research projects, thus gaining a greater understanding of the total research process. Students are able to present their research at a conference, submit an abstract for publication, and/or help other students.
Eleven (11) students–nine recently graduated from high school, one who completed his first year of college, and one from two years earlier–returned to laboratories in six institutes for a second summer. Seventy-two (72) percent of the returning students were young women. The Journal of Biomedical Sciences will publish papers by two 1998 summer interns; one is a first and the other a second author. The program continues to be well received.
ORWH Initiatives with the Office of Education
The ORWH is continuing to support several programs for NIH intramural scientists, post docs, and fellows in conjunction with the NIH Office of Education (OE) and the NIH Fellows Committee. Two components to the Career Development program were supported in 1999, the Survival Skills Series and a number of talks about career options for scientists from a broad spectrum of professionals who have followed nontraditional paths.
Survival Skills
The Survival Skills Series was conducted by Dr. Michael Zigmond and Ms. Beth Fischer, of Assimilating Survival Skills into Scientific Training (ASSIST), as well as their associates.
This workshop covered when and how to move on; what employers look for; researching positions; writing effective cover letters, CV's, resumes, statements of interest, and letters of recommendation. Attendees: 175
Negotiating - November 13, 1998
This workshop covered the skills that are necessary in successfully negotiating a job offer. to share their experiences with the entire group. Attendees: 2 sessions, 100 in each.
Oral Presentations - January 11, 1999
This workshop focused on how to deliver effective seminars, preparing ten-minute talks, and communicating with non-scientists. Also covered were how to prepare an effective "job talk," how to prepare for an interview, and follow-up. Attendees: 100 (approx.)
Writing and Publishing - February 24, 1999
This workshop focused on learning the 20 steps involved in development of a publication, including: how to prepare effective tables and figures, the anatomy of a research paper, and the IMRAD technique. Attendance: 120 (approx.)
Grantspersonship - March 8, 1999
This workshop focused on how to develop ideas, find funding sources, and prepare applications and budgets. It helped fellows learn strategies for handling rejections and approvals. Attendance: 100 (approx.)
NIH Grants - April 5, 1999
This workshop consisted of short talks and a panel discussion on the roles of the NIH review and program staff in providing assistance to investigators. It also included a discussion of what reviewers look for in a new application and a revised submission. Presenters were Dr. Robert Nussbaum, NHGRI; NIH review staff from the Center for Scientific Review; NIH program staff from NIGMS, NHGRI, NCI, and NINDS. Attendance: 200 (approx.)
Management Skills - May 10, 1999
This workshop focused on learning to manage employees and postdocs. Tips were provided for running one's own laboratory. Attendance: 100 (approx.)
Teaching: A Brief Introduction - August 30, 1999
This workshop was geared towards postdoctoral fellows who have an interest in teaching courses for the FAES or at local universities. It was developed in response to the need of postdocs to enhance their competitiveness for positions, particularly for those contemplating academic careers. The workshop covered lecturing strategies, curriculum and syllabus development, ethical issues, and evaluation. Attendance: 75
Scientific Careers for the Next Millennium
The workshop focused on the growing work force needs in the area of biotechnology, combining scientific training with patenting of inventions. Dr. Deborah Crouch and Dr. James Housel from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Dr. Mukul Ranjan from the NHLBI, Office of Technology Transfer described their work and discussed employment opportunities in this area. Attendance: 200 (approx.)
Scientific Policy and Public Affairs - April 27, 1999
This workshop focused on potential careers in the areas of scientific policy and public affairs. Dr. Kathy Hudson of the Office of Policy Coordination in NHGRI spoke, as did Dr. Joe Palca, of National Public Radio, who addressed a wide range of topics related to science and medicine in the public arena, in addition to his role with National Public radio and news magazines. Attendance: 125 (approx.)
Bioinformatics and Scientific Writing - May 11, 1999
Dr. Ruth Guyer-Levy presented an overview of how she came to her career choice and provided strategies for pursuing a career in scientific writing. Dr. Ilene Mizrachi discussed the growing field of bioinformatics and how trainees can apply their laboratory training to this area. Notices of openings at GenBank were distributed. Attendance: 100 (approx.)
Analysis of Clinical Trials and International Health - May 25, 1999
This workshop targeted clinical fellows. Dr. Jeffrey Siegel, of the FDA presented information about how clinical fellows can be involved in analyzing clinical trials proposed to the FDA by pharmaceutical companies and other agencies. Dr. Mariam Claeson of The World Bank described the need for physicians in the international health arena. Attendance: 180 (approx.)
Science and Public Policy Fellowships - June 22, 1999
Fellowships offered by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and by the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS) were discussed. MaryAnn Guerra of NCI spoke about fellowships in information systems, international cancer Information dissemination, and science policy and technology development. Claudia Sturges of AAAS spoke on postdoctoral fellowships offered by AAAS in public policy. Attendance: 200 (approx.)
Courses in Speaking and Writing about Science
The Speaking about Science and the Writing about Science courses were held three times during the year, in March, June, and September. The courses ran for five weeks, in two sessions. An evening session was scheduled this year to accommodate fellows' work schedules in the laboratory.
Writing about Science
This course, taught in a workshop format, teaches fellows how to write articles suitable for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Participants learned how to write a research paper using their own laboratory data. During the course, they critiqued the work of others; learned about responsible authorship; reviewed the process of publication; and discussed dealing with editors and reviewers, among other topics. Participants in the course are required to have at least one year of experience in an NIH laboratory and have compiled sufficient data for use in writing a scientific paper. Maggie Meitzler, Manuscript Editor for the Entomological Society of America taught the course. Attendees: 70; Evaluations: 4.32 (spring); 4.76 (summer) on a 5-point scale.
Speaking about Science
The course taught participants how to become an "A+ speaker," excel in job interviews, and deliver presentations. Strategies and approaches to distinguish themselves when giving a scientific presentation or interviewing for a job were covered. Participants in this class learned how to use visual aids effectively. Video feedback sessions were conducted. The instructor of the course is Scott Morgan, a professional actor and the director of Premier Public Speaking, Inc. Attendees: 72, Evaluations: 4.24 (spring); 4.38 (summer).
Employment Opportunities Web Site
The web site established through the Office of Education has placed the following ads since its inception in 1996: 1248 postdoc ads, 180 tenure-track ads, 48 clinical investigators, 145 openings for positions outside the NIH. Valuable links were added to the site: One link is to NextWave, the web site for Science Magazine, which features an online career development center, and addresses career and training issues important to young scientists–graduate students, postdocs, and junior faculty. Another link is to SACNAS, the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, with the objective of enhancing the diversity of the pool of applicants to NIH training programs.
Job Fair for Postdocs
The 1999 Job Fair for Postdocs was held on October 5, 1999. A total of 16 exhibitors from academe, biotechnology firms, and government were in attendance. An estimated 650 postdocs were present. Representatives evaluated the event as follows (5-point scale):
Comments of exhibitors included: "I truly appreciate the opportunity NIH provided us in discussing career opportunities with the best scientific minds in the world." "Truly an amazing group." "Great turnout–definitely will return next year." "I attend many career fairs and feel this one is very well run and very well received by the candidates who attend."
ORWH support for the Job Fair included funds: to generate and update the database where prospective employers' positions were listed; to contact companies to solicit vacancy notices; to publicize the fair among the postdoctoral community. A separate URL was established for the Job Fair, which was conducted at the outset of the annual NIH Research Festival.
NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE)
The FARE program was established by the NIH Fellows Committee in 1995 to provide recognition to postdoctoral and clinical fellows for their research. The competition, held June 15 - July 24, 1999 had 666 applicants, and 130 winners, each of whom received a $1000 travel award in FY1999 to attend a conference in the United States. ORWH provided support in the amount of $32,000 to supplement these travel awards, provided by the trainees' respective institutes. During FY1999 an extensive web site was developed to process all abstracts and judging online, which significantly streamlined the entire process for FARE 2000.
AWIS Seminar Series
ORWH provided support is for the 1999-2000 Association for Women in Science (AWIS) Bethesda Chapter Seminar Series entitled "Strategies for Success in Science." The final seminar of 1999 "The Scientist on Wall Street" featured Ann M. Barber M.D. Vice-President in the Investments Department of Reliance Group Holdings. She spoke of her own career transition from the bench (at NCI for 11 years) to Wall Street and the types of information she uses in making recommendations to Reliance for their investments in smaller biotechnology companies. Audience questions focused primarily on aspects of the job including working hours attitudes of financial investors toward scientists and public sources of information used by Dr. Barber.
In FY 2000, the seminars are: Science in Forensic Medicine, Women's Health Research in the 21st Century, Careers in Science Writing and Editing, Patents and Intellectual Property, and Reflections on a Scientific Career.
T 32 Program from 1997 and 1998 Training Program in Gender & Mental Health (T32 MH19996)
Institute: – NIMH
Awardee: Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, PhD, 1997 and 1998
Institution: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema received an institutional training grant (T 32) to support a training program in gender and mental health at the Institute for Women and Gender at University of Michigan. A report of a publication resulting from this award has been sent to ORWH.
The 20 faculty members for the program came from a variety of disciplines including psychology, sociology, medicine, public health, and nursing. The program provided training for pre and post doctoral students in the area of gender and mental health to adopt a multi disciplinary approach to their research. The course included research, lectures, and seminars about gender and mental health. Five predoctoral students and two postdoctoral students were recruited for four year and two programs respectively.
The Gender and Mental Health Training Program at the University of Michigan, in its first year (1997-1998), is designed to train scholars who will conduct interdisciplinary research on gender and mental health. Predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees work together with faculty across the University, in the Departments of Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology, and the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Social Work and Public Health to develop original research programs that advance our understanding of the role of gender in the phenomenology, causes, consequences, and appropriate treatments for mental health problems, and in producing positive mental health and well-being.
Background
Career Development Programs
Career Development Reports (1999 – 2004)
