Event for Kids at Work Cancelled

The 10th annual Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day that had been planned for Apr. 24 has been cancelled, owing to the federal government's current Code Orange security status. Employees are instructed not to bring children to NIH facilities on Apr. 24. For information about the national Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day program or to join next year's committee, contact Sandra King, 435-2524 voice, 435-2899 TTY or Sandra.king@nih.gov; or Gary Morin, 496-4628 voice, 480-3122 TTY or moring@od.nih.gov.

Ceremony Celebrates Plain Language at NIH

NIH will again reward excellence in writing with a special event titled, "Celebrating Plain Language at NIH" on Wednesday, Apr. 23. Open to all staff, the ceremony will start at 2 p.m. in Lipsett Amphitheater, Bldg. 10.

NIH director Dr. Elias Zerhouni will host the occasion honoring the winners of the third annual NIH Plain Language Awards. More than 250 nominations, including web sites, videos, posters, CD-ROMs, educational kits, brochures and other written products were submitted in response to the call for entries to the plain language competition. The entries were evaluated by members of the plain language coordinating committee, which includes representatives from every institute, center and OD office.

Prior to the distribution of awards, special guest Cokie Roberts, national award-winning journalist and news analyst, will speak about the importance of clear communication, especially in these difficult times. Roberts is chief congressional analyst for ABC News and served as the co-anchor of This Week with Sam Donaldson & Cokie Roberts for 8 years. She also serves as news analyst for National Public Radio and is author of the national best seller, We Are Our Mother's Daughters. The event will conclude with a reception in the Visitor Information Center.

Sign language interpretation will be provided. For other reasonable accommodation, call 496-1461. For more information about the NIH plain language initiative, visit http://execsec.od.nih.gov/plainlang/index.html.

CRIS Grand Rounds, Apr. 23

CRIS Grand Rounds at the Clinical Center on Wednesday, Apr. 23 will focus on issues facing physicians who use electronic medical information systems such as the Clinical Research Information System (CRIS) now in development. Rounds are at noon in the CC's Lipsett Amphitheater.

Two speakers are scheduled. Dr. Martin Merry, associate professor of health management and policy at the University of New Hampshire and senior advisor for medical affairs at New Hampshire Hospital Association and Foundation for Health Communities, will discuss "Creating Healthcare's Next Era: The Role of Informatics." Dr. Bruce Berg, patient safety and medical informatics officer at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, will present "Mission Possible: Safer Care for Clinical Research Patients."

The CRIS project is in high gear, says Dr. Stephen Rosenfeld, project manager and chief of the department of clinical research informatics at the Clinical Center. Intensive design sessions involving about 200 people from across NIH were held in February and more sessions followed Apr. 9. The work is necessary to install the largest component of CRIS, the core that replaces MIS, the CC's 25-year-old medical information system.

For more information on the CRIS project, visit cris.cc.nih.gov.

Record Establishes Advisory Group

Would you like to play a role in determining what stories get published in this newsletter? The NIH Record invites any interested employee to consider volunteering for an editorial advisory group that would suggest story ideas to the editors, so that the publication could be more broadly useful to all readers.

Stories must somehow relate to NIH and its mission, but can involve extracurricular pursuits as well as job-related ones. The main criteria for making a suggestion should be, "Would this story be interesting to a wide variety of my fellow NIH'ers?"

If you would like to suggest good Record stories occasionally, or know someone who would, contact Editor Rich McManus (rm26q@nih.gov) or Assistant Editor Carla Garnett (cg9s@nih.gov) or call the Record office at 496-2125. Also, the newsletter has a Letters to the Editor column, which welcomes input from NIH'ers. Feel free to submit a letter addressing a topic of concern to fellow employees.

Prayer Day Marked at Natcher Bldg., May 1

The National Day of Prayer tradition predates the founding of the United States; the Continental Congress issued a proclamation setting aside a day of prayer in 1775. In 1952, Congress established an annual day of prayer and, in 1988, that law was amended, designating the National Day of Prayer as the first Thursday in May. This year's National Day of Prayer will be observed Thursday, May 1 on the back lawn of the Natcher Bldg. from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be a brief message, scripture readings, music and a forum for prayer requests. The observance invites all people of any faith to pray for the goodwill of the country and its leaders. The event is sponsored by the Noontime Christian Fellowship.

eRA Symposium To Be Held Apr. 30

All NIH'ers are invited to attend the 3rd annual electronic Research Administration (eRA) Symposium, which will be held on Wednesday, Apr. 30 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Natcher Conference Center auditorium. This year's symposium, titled "Progress in Program: Tying It All Together," will be dedicated to updating program officials about the impact of eRA innovations on NIH business processes. In his keynote address, Dr. Raynard Kington, NIH deputy director, will explain how the NIH eRA Project is achieving e-government goals of increased productivity, reduced costs and better access to information through use of Internet-based technology.

For more information and to register online, visit http://era.nih.gov. Sign language interpretation will be provided. Individuals with disabilities who need other reasonable accommodation to participate should contact Patty Austin at patty.austin@nih.gov or 435-0690 ext. 617. The symposium is offered for ESA credit.

STEP Session on Pain, Apr. 22

The staff training in extramural programs (STEP) committee will hold a Current Controversies in Medicine forum titled, simply, "Pain," on Tuesday, Apr. 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Lister Hill Auditorium, Bldg. 38A.

Pain is something everyone has experienced. It is the most common reason people go to the doctor, and pain relief is a multibillion-dollar industry. However, many people still suffer pain unnecessarily. Are health care professionals and caregivers trained appropriately in the treatment of pain? How do patients and health care professionals balance the risk and fear of addiction with achieving adequate pain relief? The forum will examine the basic biology of pain and will discuss current issues regarding its diagnosis and treatment. Social, cultural and economic ramifications of pain management will also be explored.

FARE Abstract Competition for Fellows

The tenth annual Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) 2004 competition will again provide recognition for outstanding scientific research performed by intramural postdoctoral fellows. Winners of FARE will each receive a $1,000 travel award to use for attending and presenting their work at a scientific meeting. One-quarter of the fellows who apply will win an award.

Fellows who apply to FARE submit an abstract of their research, which will be evaluated anonymously on scientific merit, originality, experimental design and overall quality/presentation. The travel award must be used between Oct. 1, 2003, and Sept. 30, 2004.

The FARE 2004 competition is open to postdoctoral IRTAs, visiting fellows and other fellows with less than 5 years total postdoctoral experience in the NIH intramural research program. In addition, pre-IRTAs performing their doctoral dissertation research at NIH are also eligible to compete. Visiting fellows/scientists must not have been tenured at their home institute. Questions about eligibility should be addressed to your institute's scientific director. Fellows are asked to submit their application, including abstract, electronically, from Apr. 1-30 via http://felcom.nih.gov/FARE. Winners will be announced by the end of September 2003. More information is available on the web site above. Questions may be addressed to your institute's fellows committee representative.

FEW Hosts Dinner Meeting, Apr. 28

Federally Employed Women, Bethesda chapter, invites all to a membership dinner on Monday, Apr. 28, featuring author and practitioner Dr. Brian Sanderoff. He is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, where he teaches a course on herbalism and alternative medicine. He maintains a nutritional counseling practice and holistic pharmacy in Owings Mills, Md., and was cofounder and codirector of a complementary health center in Clarksville.

In 1994, he began hosting and producing "Your Prescription for Health," a talk radio forum about alternative and complementary medicine. Sanderoff is writing a book titled Illness Is Optional about CAM and treatment modalities.

The dinner will be held at the Four Points Sheraton, 8400 Wisconsin Ave., at 5:30 p.m. RSVP by Apr. 25 and remit payment of $25 to Michelle Shorter, Bldg. 31, Rm. 9A34, 594-8842, ms190i@nih.gov. For sign language interpretation and other reasonable accommodation, contact Allyson Browne at abrowne@mail.nih.gov or 451-0002 by Apr. 22.

Tae Kwon Do Beginner's Class

The NIH Tae Kwon Do School is offering a beginner's class for adults and mature teens starting May 12. The curriculum combines traditional striking arts, forms and sparring with emphasis on self-defense. No experience is necessary. Class will meet in the Malone Center (Bldg. 31C, B4 level, next to the NIH Fitness Center) from 6 to 8 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, and will continue for about 2 months until participants can be integrated into the regular school training. Dues are $40 per quarter and a uniform costs $30. Interested persons are welcome to watch regular training sessions. For information call Andrew Schwartz, 402-5197 or visit http://www.recgov.org/r&w/nihtaekwondo.html.

Wednesday Afternoon Lectures

The Wednesday Afternoon Lecture series — held on its namesake day at 3 p.m. in Masur Auditorium, Bldg. 10 — features Dr. Sofia Merajver on Apr. 23, speaking on the topic, "Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Genetic Determinants and Challenges for Novel Therapeutics." She is associate professor of internal medicine, director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Evaluation Program, University of Michigan Medical Center.

On Apr. 30, Dr. Roger Brent, director, Molecular Sciences Institute, senior scholar, Ellison Foundation for Medical Research, Berkeley, will present "The Alpha Project and the Dream of a Predictive Biology."

For more information or for reasonable accommodation, call Hilda Madine, 594-5595.