FDA Chapter of Sigma XI The Scientific Research Society
Newsletter -- May 20, 2003
Report on the 9th Annual, 2003 FDA Science Forum
There were over 2050 registrants for the April 24-25, 2003 9thAnnual FDA Science Forum, at the new Washington Convention Center. It was a very successful forum, not only as indicated by the numbers of people who attended (a new record), but in the quality of the talks and posters. Among the many notable speakers for this year Science Forum was the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Tommy Thompson; Dr. Elias Zerhouni, Director of NIH; Dr. Mark McClellan, Commissioner, FDA; Dr. Lester Crawford, FDA Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Norris Alderson, FDA Associate Commissioner for Science and many more. The chairperson of the 2003 Science Forum was Dr. Kathryn Carbone, CBER and the chairperson of the 2004 Science Forum will be Dr. Thomas Cebula, CFSAN.
Sigma Xi's role in 2003 FDA Science Forum
The FDA Chapter of Sigma Xi was responsible in part for the success of the poster session. Special thanks goes to Fred Fry for providing speedy access to the poster abstracts, as well as, many of the logistics for the poster session itself. Other thanks go to all those Sigma Xi members who joined with other judges (37 in total) to evaluate more than 359 posters in this year's event. It was not an easy task due to the diversity and complexity of the science and the short of amount of time to review and select the winners. For the first time, Sigma Xi encouraged Center participation in the judging process. We also had winning posters in the "People's Choice" category and new this year were awards given in "Clear Science Communication". Please look at our Chapter's web site for a complete list of the winning posters. Wonderful transparent lucite trophies, ribbons and certificates were given to the poster winners.
Jeffrey Yourick, the FDA Chapter of Sigma Xi regional science fair chairman, did a wonderful job in organizing this year's judges and awards. Special thanks goes to all those Sigma Xi members who participated in judging the local science fairs. We all enjoyed the interaction with these young scientists. Jeffrey presented the certificates and savings bond ($200 to the first prize winner) to each of the winners at the spring banquet. For a complete list of regional science fair winners please refer to our Chapter website. The first place winners were invited to present their posters at this year's spring banquet. Sigma Xi also invited their parents to attend the banquet.
Report on Spring Meeting and Banquet:
Our annual banquet was held jointly with the DC Chapter of Sigma Xi. It was held on May 2, 2003 at the Anchor Inn in Wheaton, MD. The food was delicious and a capacity crowd of 68 attended the event. The speaker, Dr. John D. Rummel, a biologist and NASA Planetary Protection Officer, gave a most interesting talk accompanied by some incredible pictures. There are many scheduled unmanned launches into outer space and to Mars. The model of the newer, more multifaceted Mars land rover was impressive to behold. We were reminded that it is important that whether leaving or re-entering earth's atmosphere, the objects must be free of any living material.
New members to Sigma Xi and our Chapter:
We have seven new members and six more who have requested to have their membership transferred into our Chapter this year. Please welcome the following new Sigma Xi members: Margaret Kraeling, Douglas Chadwick, Angela Eppler, Robin Y. Woo, Yoshiyuki Tokiwa, Evaristus Enogene and Malgorzata Garcja Mikolajczyk. Sigma Xi members transferring to our Chapter include: Devaraya Jagannath, Eric Garber, S. Nasir Ali, Chettemgre (C.N.) Venkateshan, Hyoung Lee, and Susan Gouge (re-activated). We hope that they will all find the experience rewarding and enriching. For information about the national organization refer to: http://www.sigmaxi.org
Submitted by: Paddy W. Wiesenfeld, Ph.D.
President, FDA Chapter Sigma Xi, 2003
Phone: (301) 827-8526
E-mail: pwiesenf@cfsan.fda.gov