Nobel laureate Dr. Oliver Smithies (front, c) poses with NIH director Dr. Elias Zerhouni (front, far l), NHLBI director Dr. Elizabeth Nabel (front, far r), Randolph-Macon College students and their teacher, Dr. W. Wallace Martin (back row, 4th from l).

Dr. Oliver Smithies was the first speaker of the new year in NHLBI’s Biomedicine Lecture Series and promises to be a tough act to follow. Winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, Smithies—an Excellence professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill— shared his love of science and detailed personal notes, dating back to New Year’s Day 1954, with a packed audience in Masur Auditorium.

“There is no better demonstration of the value of scientific enterprise than Dr. Smithies,” said NIH director Dr. Elias Zerhouni. He noted that Smithies was no stranger to NIH, having received grants from NIGMS, NIDDK, NCI and NHLBI since 1973.

A group of 20 students from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., traveled to NIH with their history of medicine professor, Dr. W. Wallace Martin, to meet and learn from Smithies.

“The students are very familiar with Dr. Smithies’ work and for them to have the opportunity to hear a Nobel laureate speak about his work really has an impact on them,” said Martin. “They will never forget this experience and it gives them confidence—that these esteemed researchers are just people too.”

While giving a lecture he titled “Two Mouse Tales,” Smithies admitted that he had “fallen in love with his own experiments all over again” and acknowledged the group of students in the audience, saying that meeting with young scientists is always gratifying. “If I can do anything to help them on their way to discovery, I am happy to do it,” he said.

“NHLBI, through our strategic plan, is committed to supporting science education in schools to ensure a steady stream of enthusiastic and creative young scientists,” said NHLBI director Dr. Elizabeth Nabel. “It is presentations like these that inspire students to keep doing well in science.”

Nick Artabazon, a senior at Randolph-Macon currently doing research on cancer- causing genes, said Smithies is a true pioneer in science; seeing him in person was an opportunity he could not pass up. “I am about to start my Ph.D. program and I know there is a lot I can learn from him,” Artabazon said. He eventually wants to go to law school to study intellectual property law while specializing in genetics.

Catherine Wallace, also a senior, just completed research on a variety of fungi to determine if one could be considered a new species. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to talk with a Nobel Prize winner,” she said. “He has a great deal of influence over much of what we do in the lab.” Next up for Wallace are a master’s program and a decision on attending veterinary school.

“Dr. Smithies is an exciting speaker—humorous and engaging—just the kind of person you’d want your students to emulate,” concluded Martin.

For more information on the monthly lecture series, visit www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/lectures/.