Tabakoff Gives Keller Lecture, Oct. 30

Dr. Boris Tabakoff will give the 2007 Mark Keller Honorary Lecture on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 1:30 p.m. in Lipsett Amphitheater, Bldg. 10. Tabakoff is professor and chairman, department of pharmacology, University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. His talk is titled “Why Mice, Rats and Some Humans Drink Alcohol: A Neurobiologic/Genomics Perspective.” NIAAA established the lecture series as a tribute to Mark Keller, a pioneer in the field of alcohol research. The Keller lecturers are researchers who have made significant and long-term contributions to our understanding of alcohol’s effects and how alcohol problems can be prevented and treated.

Annual Leave: Use It or Lose It

Annual leave in excess of the maximum carryover balance (in most cases 240 hours) is normally forfeited if not used by the end of the current leave year. If you have not already planned to take those excess hours of annual leave, you should discuss your leave with your supervisor now while there is still time to schedule it. Your bi-weekly Leave and Earnings Statement tells you how much annual leave you must use so that you will not lose it when the leave year ends on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008.

In spite of planning, circumstances sometimes arise that prevent you from taking leave that has been scheduled and approved earlier during the leave year. In such cases, you and your supervisor are jointly responsible for ensuring that any “use or lose” leave is officially rescheduled. This year, your “use or lose” leave must be scheduled not later than Saturday, Nov. 24.

If you or your supervisor have questions about “use or lose” leave, contact your administrative officer.

NIDA’s Volkow To Speak, Oct. 23

NIDA director Dr. Nora Volkow will give the third lecture in the Anita B. Roberts Lecture Series: Distinguished Women Scientists at NIH, sponsored by the NIH women scientist advisors committee and ORWH. Her talk, “Why Is It So Hard for the Addict’s Brain to Just Say No?” will be held Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 1:30 p.m. in Lipsett Amphitheater, Bldg. 10. The lecture is open to all and will be followed by a question-and-answer session addressing career issues for women in science. Sign language interpreters will be provided on request.

NIH Goes Live on ‘Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day’

NIH reached out to the Washington, D.C., community on Sept. 18 with “Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day,” part of a national campaign spearheaded by syndicated radio host Tom Joyner of WMMJ/Radio-One (102.3-FM). Actress Vivica A. Fox (left) pitched in to promote the event. Joyner and his colleagues broadcast live from the lobby of Providence Hospital, interviewing ORWH’s Dr. Vivian Pinn, NCI’s Dr. Worta McCaskill-Stevens, NICHD’s Dr. Alicia Armstrong and NINDS’s Dr. Richard Benson, among others. WMMJ also provided NIH with exhibit space in the hospital lobby, where visitor estimates topped 1,000. “Hopefully, we will be able to convince WMMJ to host the live program from the NIH campus next year,” said Calvin Jackson, chief of NIH’s News Media Branch. WMMJ, named the #1 R&B station in the country for 2006 by Billboard Magazine, reaches nearly 500,000 listeners weekly.

NIAID’s Winter Medals at Games

NIAID program officer Dr. David Winter (l) is a member of the U.S. national team and attended the 2007 International Dragon Boat Federation World Championship in Sydney, Australia on Sept. 20-23. He competed in the senior men’s division and earned two bronze medals and one silver medal in the sprint races.

Savvy Employees Win Contest

Congratulations to Name That Spot! winners, NICHD’s Linda Lord (r) and Chanya Liv (see NIH Record, Aug. 24 and Sept. 7). The walking buddies’ collaboration yielded a near-perfect score. “It really motivated Linda to get outside,” Liv quipped. “We walked the whole campus,” said Lord. “Plus it really made us stop and look at stuff, and that was neat.” Answers to Name That Spot! Plaque commemorating the year 1926 (in Roman numerals) on Bldg. 15K Plaque commemorating white oak at the corner of North Drive and Center Drive Signs on the NIH shuttle Atrium ceiling in the CRC lobby Overhang in the garden area, CRC (clue to distinguish from front entrance: note building wing at right angle to overhang) Top of Central Utility Plant facing Center Dr. Detail on gutter, Bldg. 15K Courtyard garden, Bldg. 12 Elevator, Bldg. 1 Banister on front steps, Bldg. 1 Cross-section of white oak in the display case in the CRC.

Meeting of NIH Director’s Council of Public Representatives, Oct. 26

The 18th meeting of the NIH Director’s Council of Public Representatives (COPR) will be held on Friday, Oct. 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Bldg. 31, 6th floor, Conf. Rm. 6. The meeting is open to the public. To view the meeting agenda, visit the COPR web site at copr.nih.gov/meetings.asp.