STEP Presents 'Life in the Extremes,' July 20
You think you have it rough! Imagine living in ice water, a volcano, salt water, boiling water, and the great depths of the oceans. Also imagine that some of the more useful products that are used in science and in everyday life come from some of these organisms. These and other topics will be addressed in the Science for All session titled, "Life in the Extremes: Some Like It HotÉ," presented by the Staff Training in Extramural Programs committee on Tuesday, July 20 from 8:30 a.m. to noon, Wilson Hall, Bldg. 1.
Topics and speakers include "Squeezing DNA Out of Rocks: Microbial Life Deep in the Ocean Crust," Dr. Stephen J. Giovannoni, professor of microbiology, Oregon State University; "Some Like It Hot: Microorganisms from Life's High-Temperature Extreme," Dr. James F. Holden, research associate faculty of biochemistry and molecular biology, University of Georgia; and "Speculations on Phenotype from Genotype in Uncultivated Microbes," Dr. Jeff Stein, chief scientific officer, Quorum Pharmaceuticals.
The session is free and open to all NIH staff on a first-come, first-served basis. No advance registration is necessary. Please inform us regarding any need for sign language interpretation or reasonable accommodations on or before July 15. For more information, contact the STEP office at 435-2769.
Gayle To Deliver Diggs Lecture, July 27
Dr. Helene Gayle, director of the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will present the fifth annual John Diggs Lecture on Tuesday, July 27 at 11 a.m in Wilson Hall, Bldg. 1. The title of her lecture is "Beyond AIDS: STDs in the New Millennium." This seminar is cosponsored by the speakers bureau of the NIH Black Scientists Association, NIAID's Office of Special Populations and Research Training, the NIAID minority scientists advisory committee, the NIH Office of Equal Opportunity, the NIH Office of the Director and NINDS. The seminar is open to the public, but targeted to NIH summer students. Sign language interpretation will be provided.
Native American Youth Visit NIH
Dr. John Ruffin (second from l), NIH associate director for
research on minority health, chats with Margaret Knight (c),
executive director of the Association of American Indian Physicians
(AAIP) and NIEHS principal investigator Dr. Jerrel Yakel, during
lunch with about four dozen Native American high school students
who visited NIH recently as part of the National Native American
Youth Initiative. The initiative, offered by AAIP as part of its health,
biomedical research and policy development program, is an intense
academic enrichment and reinforcement program consisting of mini
courses in leadership, communication, study and testing skills plus
assertiveness, networking and professional behavior, interactive
learning and time management. The young scholars were chosen
from across the United States for an all-expenses-paid, week-long
visit to the 
Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. In an effort to
encourage the students to consider professions in the health
sciences, NIH's Office of Research on Minority Health hosted the
program on campus. The visit was also supported financially by
ORMH and many other NIH institutes and centers. At right, Yakel,
who gave the keynote address to the group, chats with some of the
students during the lunch break.