Special Exhibits on Resources for Intramural Research

Natcher Conference Center

Special information booths on intramural research resources will be displayed in the lobby areas of the Natcher Conference Center on October 14 and October 15.  The following NIH institutes/centers, offices, programs and organizations will be represented:

Applied Technology Program, SAIC

SAIC-Frederick, Inc. manages a broad range of activities to accelerate the development and delivery of new treatments to patients with cancer and AIDS. Through a number of scientific programs, researchers at the NCI and other NIH institutes are offered highly specialized support and partnership opportunities to help them succeed in today’s complex and fast-paced biomedical research environment.  The Advanced Technology Program provides a wide range of cutting-edge technologies in the fields of genetics, genomics, proteins, proteomics, imaging, nanotechnology and biomedical computing.  The Biopharmaceutical Development Program has manufacturing and regulatory compliance capabilities to support preclinical development and clinical trials for selected innovative projects. The Laboratory Animal Sciences Program provides comprehensive small animal husbandry services, transgenic animal model development, and pathology and histotechnology services. More information and access to these programs can be found at http://www.ncifcrf.gov/default.asp .

Center for Information Technology (CIT)

The Center for Information Technology (CIT) offers a full range of administrative and scientific IT services and support to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal agencies.  CIT provides centralized, world-class information technology to the NIH in support of its mission to uncover new knowledge about the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and disability.  CIT maintains a central role in IT management at NIH, and also directly supports cutting-edge biomedical research activities through its computational bioscience program.

Applied Biomedical Supercomputing on the NIH Helix Systems, CIT

The NIH Helix Systems (CIT) provides high-performance scientific computational resources, training, consulting and collaboration for the intramural NIH community. Resources available to Helix users include Linux cluster with more than 4,500 processors, powerful shared-memory systems, and high-performance file systems supported by a dedicated technical staff. Applications include licensed products such as Matlab and the Biobase suite for gene regulation and transcription interpretation, web applications such as the EMBOSS sequence analysis suite, in-house-developed tools such as DNAworks for oligonucleotide design and StrucTools for 3-D structure analysis, and applications for small- or large-scale use in the areas of computational chemistry, molecular dynamics, sequence analysis, linkage and phylogenetic analysis, structural biology, mathematical and statistical analysis, image processing, proteomics, and more. (http://helix.nih.gov).

CIT Application Services

CIT staff will be on hand to discuss various application services available to the NIH community.  Included will be NIH Intramural Database (NIDB), Website Design and Development, Content Management System Services (SharePoint), Event Registration, Nomination, and Scheduling Systems (FileMaker Pro), and Custom Applications.   

The Collaborative Technology Innovation and Video Services (CTIVS) Branch of CIT/DCSS

The Collaborative Technology Innovation and Video Services (CTIVS) Branch of CIT/DCSS offers a variety of services which enable the NIH community to work effectively with distant collaborators: Eliminate travel time and conserve funds by holding meetings online. Increase group productivity by using Connect to telecommute. Conduct seminars live over the internet. Offer recorded sessions as podcasts to enable researches to view your presentation at their convenience. We can even modernize your conference room so you can easily take advantage of the latest collaborative technologies. Demonstrations all day. See http://video.nih.gov for more information.

CIVIL

CIVIL is a team of NIH experts which helps prevent workplace violence through: a) policy development; b) education; c) assessment of potentially violent incidents; and d) response to violent or potentially violent incidents. CIVIL is not an acronym but was chosen to represent the goal of "civil behavior in the workplace" and as the number to call from an NIH phone for assistance (301-40-CIVIL which is 301-402-4845).  Its advisory services and assistance are available to all individuals at NIH facilities.  Callers may be helped directly or referred to other resources. CIVIL is not intended to be used as a substitute for calling 911 when an individual feels police or other emergency help is needed. Additional information on CIVIL is available at http://civil.nih.gov.

Division of Logistics Services, OD

The Division of Logistics Services, comprised of Supply and Services, Transportation Services, and Property, is responsible for integrating supply chain processes including e-commerce, e-business, information technologies, warehousing and distribution channel, to enhance efficiencies and customer value; responding to customer demand by managing supply operations including the NIH central supply system, warehouse and self-service stores; publishing the NIH supply catalog; managing, storing and distributing incoming freight in many different commodities.  DLS also acquires and manages vehicles for rental and lease to ICs; managing and operating the NIH automotive vehicle  maintenance program; managing the NIH moving service program which is responsible for the relocation of NIH offices and laboratories; managing outbound freight; receiving, monitoring, temporarily storing and ensuring customs clearance on international shipments; arranging for shipment of all types of freight to both foreign and domestic destinations; including material packaging; arranging transportation of household goods and personal effects for NIH civilian and commissioned officer employees.  Property Services include managing all aspects of the NIH personal property (equipment asset management) program; providing written policy and procedural guidance to NIH Institutes and Centers regarding property accountability, physical and perpetual inventory; utilization, and disposal; and maintaining the system integrity of the NIH property management system.

Exhibition Program, NLM

The Exhibition Program is a section within the National Library of Medicine’s History of Medicine Division (HMD) which is one of the world’s largest repositories for historical medical works. From ancient Arabic health practices to current public health issues, the HMD houses a millennium’s worth of media on diverse health topics in its collections. The Division offers access to these treasures to scholars, as well as the general public. The Division’s Exhibition Program also presents interactive, science and medicine-related, museum-style exhibitions; and offers educational programs tailored to visitors’ interests which highlight the Library’s resources and the Division’s priceless holdings. Our current exhibition, “Against All Odds: Making a Difference in Global Health” offers a broad perspective of the causes of illness, and encourages visitors to take action to improve health and well-being in their communities and worldwide. The exhibition highlights successful public health campaigns in film and photographs, and features historic artifacts including the Nobel Peace Prize won by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and The AIDS

Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences

The Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) is a non-profit organization at the NIH that was established in 1959 by a group of senior scientists "to foster and encourage scientific research and education, and to facilitate communication among scientists, by whatever means may be practical." Initially, FAES organized a Graduate Evening academic program at the NIH to permit investigators to supplement laboratory training with advanced formal education. The success of this program now known as the "The FAES Graduate School" served as a catalyst towards creating additional programs and services including: Conference Management, Chamber Music Series, FAES Scientific Bookstore, FAES Social and Academic Center, and an Insurance Program.

Fellows Editorial Board

The Fellows Editorial Board is a valuable service provided free of charge to all fellows at the NIH or FDA.  We edit research manuscripts, reviews, grants, abstracts, and other types of publication for proper English usage, content, flow, and clarity.  We do not comment on scientific merit.  All submissions to the board are kept completely confidential and are returned within 10 business days.  Each submission will be provided with hand-written corrections on the manuscript itself concerned with grammar, punctuation, and word usage as well as an electronic report that details suggested changes for improved clarity, flow, and content.  Additionally, if further clarification is required we gladly accept re-submissions or meet in person with the author.  Please consult our website at http://ccr.nci.nih.gov/careers/feb/ for more information on how to submit and our manuscript submission form.  In addition to serving the NIH community as an editing service, the Fellows Editorial Board is an excellent way to gain experience in scientific editing.  Fellows interested in joining the board may fill out a membership application at our website.  Please visit our exhibit at the NIH Research Festival to learn more about our editorial services or about board membership.  We look forward to seeing you soon.

NIAID Bioinformatics and Scientific IT Program 

The Bioinformatics and Scientific IT Program (BSIP) exhibit showcases three suites of scientific services and resources for the NIAID research community and its collaborators: Biocomputing Research Consulting; Bioinformatics Software Development; and Scientific Computing Infrastructure. The BSIP exhibit highlights its Biocomputing Research Consulting Section which is composed of subject matter experts in Biostatistics, Microarray Analysis, Phylogenetics, Sequence Analysis, and Structural Biology. The BSIP consultants assist researchers with routine biocomputing and analysis tasks as well as long term collaborations and scientific software training. The exhibit includes demonstrations of software applications designed for NIH by the BSIP Bioinformatics Software Development Section, our team of expert bioinformatics software developers. The BSIP developers provide custom software for data analysis, database mining, and the automation of routine lab tasks. Interactive exhibits will include a look at the BioCluster web portal (https://niaid-biocluster.niaid.nih.gov) which offers over 200 bioinformatics applications to any NIH researcher through a simple web interface. The exhibit will also highlight scientific computing infrastructure including NIAID site licenses for scientific software and the NIAID 3-D Printing resource. To learn more about how the Bioinformatics and Scientific IT Program can help advance your research, please contact us at: ScienceApps@mail.nih.gov

The NCI Cancer Diagnosis Program

The NCI Cancer Diagnosis Program exhibit will provide information on various biospecimen resources that are available to the NIH research community, as well as to extramural scientists in academia and industry. More information on these resources and on how to make requests is available at the websites listed below:
The Cooperative Human Tissue Network (CHTN) prospectively collects and provides human tissue specimens (malignant, benign, diseased and normal tissues) and pathology report data for use in basic discovery and translational cancer research. The procurement and processing of specimens varies according to the protocol of each individual investigator: fresh, frozen, or chemically-fixed. The CHTN also produces tissue microarrays (TMA) from multiple tissue types to study cancer and others diseases. Isolation and distribution of the nucleic acids from the CHTN-procured specimens can also be performed to serve investigator’s interest. http://www.chtn.nci.nih.gov

The Cooperative Breast Cancer Tissue Resource (CBCTR)

Provides researchers with access to approximately 9,000 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded breast cancer specimens, with associated pathological and clinical outcome data. The collection is particularly well-suited for validation studies of diagnostic and prognostic markers. CBCTR provides both full tissue sections and TMAs. Prognostic and progression CBCTR TMAs were designed to ensure high statistical power for validation of breast cancer biomarkers. http://www.cbctr.nci.nih.gov

Melanoma Progression TMAs

Consist of 273 tissue specimens containing nevi, primary melanomas, metastatic melanoma to the lymph node, and visceral and dermal metastatic melanoma. These TMAs are designed to investigate differences in expression of markers in various stages of melanoma progression and should be used as screening arrays. http://www.cancer.gov/tarp

Colon Cancer Progression TMA

Has over 350 primary colon cancers and 100 control tissues and is designed for examination of associations of markers with tumor stage, clinical outcome, and other clinico-pathological variables in Stages I-IV. http://cdp.nci.nih.gov/ .

The NCI Cooperative Group Banks Associated with Clinical Trials

Have banked tumor specimens from large numbers of uniformly treated cancer patients with a variety of malignancies. Each group has a review process for research proposals. If proposals receive favorable reviews, specimens with clinical, treatment, and outcome data can be made available to researchers through collaborative arrangements. These banked specimens are most useful for clinical correlative studies on uniformly treated patient populations. Interested investigators may visit the NCI Specimen Resource Locator Website at http://pluto3.nci.nih.gov/tissue/default.htm or contact the Tissue Expediter at tissexp@mail.nih.gov.

 NCI Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid™ (caBIG™)

The Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid™ or caBIG™ is a virtual informatics infrastructure that connects data, research tools, scientists and institutions to leverage their combined strengths and expertise in an open environment with common standards. Demonstrations and discussions will highlight tools and data sets of interest to the intramural researcher and define what it means to be caBIG™ compatible.  Interoperable tools include management systems for microarray data (caArray), biobanking (caTissue Core), and genome-wide data (Cancer Genome-Wide Association Studies: caGWAS); repositories for clinical data (Clinical Trials Object Data System: CTODS) and images (National Cancer Imaging Archive: NCIA); and caBIG™-compatible analysis tools including geWorkbench and GenePattern. The use of common standards to build interoperable applications permits the robust analysis of large data sets, and allows basic research findings to more readily inform clinical decisions, accelerating the flow of information from bench to bedside.

NCI Center for Cancer Research Fellows and Young Investigators Association

The National Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Research Fellows and Young Investigators (CCR-FYI) Association is designed to support, advocate, and represent the interests of fellows and young investigators in all aspects of their professional training and career development.  The CCR-FYI works to organize and promote educational activities such as training courses and seminars, to help orient new trainees, to plan networking and social events, and to facilitate communication with the CCR Office of the Director, CCR Office of Training and Education, NIH Fellows Committee (FELCOM) and National Postdoctoral Association to further enhance the training experience.  We also provide a series of networking lunches and career development seminars that everyone is welcome to attend.  The CCR-FYI also holds an annual Colloquium with distinguished keynote speakers, various career-related workshops, a career fair and oral and poster sessions for trainees to present their work.  The CCR-FYI is open to all trainees within CCR and trainees/fellows are encouraged to join the Steering Committee to assist us in our mission to continue to enhance the training experience at the NCI.

NCI Technology Transfer Center

NCI’s Technology Transfer Center (TTC) provides a complete array of services to support the National Cancer Institute's technology development activities. A large part of TTC's responsibilities includes the day-to-day negotiations of transactional agreements between the NCI and outside parties, including universities, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. These agreements provide for:

1. The exchange of research materials under the Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs);
2. Collaborative research conducted under Collaborative Agreements (CAs) and cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs);
3. Clinical studies to determine the safety and efficacy of new agents and devices under clinical trial agreements (CTAs); and
4. Exchange of confidential information under confidential disclosure agreements (CDAs).

To learn more about NCI tech transfer, please visit us at http://ttc.nci.nih.gov/.

NIH Blood Bank

The NIH Blood Bank display will provide educational information about donation opportunities. Learn about whole blood components, apheresis, and research. Learn how each donation saves a minimum of three lives and how you can help. You can call 301-496-1048 to donate or visit http://www.cc.nih.gov/dtm for more information.

NIH Environmental Management System

The health of our environment is of increasing concern to all elements of society, and academic institutions around the country have begun to consider how they can more aggressively reduce their environmental burden. What can we do here at NIH to help alleviate the large environmental footprint that comes from our day-to-day activities? The NIH has launched the NIH Goes Greener Campaign to help identify actions we can all take to reduce our environmental impact. No matter what your role is at NIH, there are steps you can take to help protect our environment. The NIH Environmental Management System is the tool that underlies these initiatives. If you are unable to stop by the table, visit the NIH Goes Greener website www.nems.nih.gov for up to date information and join the NIH Greenserve: https://list.nih.gov/archives/greenserve-l.html. If you have suggestions or ideas about ways to green the NIH, contact: green@mail.nih.gov.

NIH Rapid Access to Intervention Development (NIH-RAID) Pilot

This NIH-wide pilot program makes available, at no cost, certain critical resources needed for the development of new therapeutic agents. Available services include: production, bulk supply, GMP manufacturing, formulation, development of an assay suitable for pharmacokinetic testing, and animal toxicology. Assistance also will be provided in the regulatory process, through access to independent product development planning expertise. The NIH-RAID Pilot is not a grant program; successful projects will gain access to the government’s contract resources, as well as the assistance of the NIH in establishing and implementing a product development plan.

NIH Royalties Program

The Office of Technology Transfer (OTT), Division of Administrative Management, Royalties Administration Unit (RAU) and the Office of Financial Management (OFM) Government Accounts (GA) work closely to manage the NIH Royalties Program, which grew to more than $98 million dollars in royalties in fiscal year 2005.  Because of the complex interaction between OTT and OFM, many inventors and institute administrators are left with questions about the royalty process.  We will seek to answer those questions and bring to light areas of interest with which inventors may not previously have been familiar.  Such answers and interest areas include the method of calculation and timing of royalty payments, methods of disbursement to inventors and institute administrators, the role of the U.S. Treasury, and taxation of royalties.  We will also identify the proper points of contact for those with questions or concerns.

NIH Schizophrenia Research

Consider participating in a research study examining genes and brain function. The National Institute of Mental Health seeks healthy volunteers to participate in a study. Participation involves a blood draw, non-invasive neuroimaging, interviews, and cognitive testing. No overnight stays or medications are involved. Compensation is provided. To participate, call 301-435-8970.

Office of Animal Care and Use, OD

The Office of Animal Care and Use (OACU) provides regulatory oversight and assistance to ICs conducting biomedical research using animals within the Intramural Program. The OACU serves as an information resource for NIH scientists, Animal Care and Use Committee (ACUC) members, veterinarians, animal care specialists, and other NIH staff. The OACU offers a variety of training courses at no cost to assist personnel to fulfill Federal training requirements for working with animals. From the OACU website: http://oauc.od.nih.gov/training/index.htm, NIH employees and trainees may access online courses, view the OACU training schedule for lecture course dates, and register online for the lecture courses.

Office of Communications and Public Liaison, OD

NIH Communications — the voice of the nation's medical research agency.
The National Institutes of Health wants you to know about the important medical discoveries we're making to improve health and save lives.  That's why you'll hear about NIH on television and the radio. You'll see our scientists quoted in newspapers and magazines. And you can read stories about medical research in action on our Web site.  There are communication offices at each of our 27 Institutes and Centers. The Office of Communications & Public Liaison (OCPL) in the Office of the Director provides leadership and guidance, and speaks for NIH as a whole. The OCPL is actively involved with: Hispanic Health Fairs, Internet, Magazines, Newspapers, Podcasting, Radio, Research Festival, TV Broadcast News, Vodcasting, and thru the OCPL’s Visitor Information Center arranging overviews, tours, meetings, speakers and other special programs for NIH visitors.

Office of Intramural Training & Education, OD

The Office of Intramural Training & Education (OITE) is responsible for ensuring that the biomedical research experiences of trainees in the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) are as rewarding as possible. The NIH IRP offers programs for high school and college students, recent college graduates, graduate students, professional students, and postdoctoral and clinical fellows. OITE staff members recruit trainees to the various IRP programs, both in person, by attending professional conferences and other events, and via the OITE website, which facilitates communication between potential trainees around the world and the NIH IRP.

Research should be the highest priority for NIH trainees in the IRP; OITE aims to ensure that they also take part in relevant career development activities, learn all they can possibly learn from the scientific staff at the NIH and from their fellow trainees, and have a good time. In addition, OITE staff members are available to help trainees resolve any problems that might arise during their time at the NIH. Staff members in OITE encourage all trainees to:

• Take part in orientation sessions when they arrive at the NIH to make certain they get off to a good start.
• Subscribe to one or more electronic mailing lists so that they are aware of ongoing activities and job opportunities.
• Visit the OITE Web site regularly to check for new opportunities.
• Stop in at OITE "Open Offices" for refreshments and a chance to talk with OITE staff members and other trainees.
• Participate in career and professional development workshops.
• Make use of the OITE Virtual Career Center and Career Library.
• Register for free courses, such as Writing about Science, Speaking about Science, Interviewing, and Improving Spoken English.
• Attend the many scientific seminars, lectures, and lecture series offered at the NIH.
• Get involved in training program governance and planning.
• Share their research with the NIH community at Poster Days.
• Explore and contribute to the community around them.

OITE programs complement the training activities of the NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs). OITE collaborates with the Medical Education Program to support clinical trainees and works closely with the Fellows Committee to plan activities for postdoctoral, research, and clinical fellows and with the Postbaccalaureate IRTA Committee to develop programs for trainees who are recent college graduates.

OITE is housed on the second floor of Building 2. The office maintains an open-door policy and welcomes trainees to drop by anytime.

Office of NIH History and the Stetten Museum, OD

The Office of NIH History and the Stetten Museum (ONH) works with all NIH components to document, preserve, and interpret the history of the NIH.  We answer inquiries from NIH staff, the media, and the general public and have an active Fellows program.  The collection includes an archive of policy and program documents, scientific notebooks, photographs, videos, oral histories, etc.  The Stetten Museum collects biomedical research instruments related to the NIH and non-scientific objects which place the NIH in a historical context.  At our booth this year, we will be collecting information about NIH support and scientific staff with multigenerational connections to the NIH; conducting a survey on the most important thing(s) that the public should know about NIH and its research (respondents will be entered in a raffle of the book Biomedicine in the Twentieth Century--a new ONH publication); and displaying photos for identification while asking the question "Who will remember you?"   We hope to inspire people to take pictures in their labs and forward them to us to be archived.  We will also have the usual literature about our office and free pens!

Office of Research Facilities, OD

The Office of Research Facilities (ORF) is responsible for all aspects of NIH facilities planning, construction, maintenance, and operations nationwide. We are also responsible for protecting the NIH environment. We support NIH priorities with safe, secure, sound, healthy, and attractive facilities. Find us on the web at http://orf.od.nih.gov.

Office of Research Services, OD

The Office of Research Services (ORS) provides a comprehensive portfolio of services to support the NIH, and empower the NIH research programs to function and prosper. Some examples of the diverse areas in which ORS provides services include security and public safety, crime prevention, personnel security and access control, occupational health and safety, radiation safety, occupational medical services, waste management and disposal, veterinary resources, services for foreign scientists, fire and rescue services, NIH library services, conference and events management, employee transportation services, mail and printing services, medical arts and photography, cafeteria, travel, interpreting, child care, fitness services, and other employee amenities that enrich and enhance the NIH worksite.

Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office, CC

The Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office (PRPL) is a service of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. PRPL staff members support the medical research performed at the Clinical Center by assisting researchers at the 27 institutes and centers of the NIH in enrolling patients and healthy volunteers to clinical research studies. There are more than 1,000 studies available to patients and healthy volunteers that cover a wide range of diseases and conditions. The PRPL staff strives to increase public awareness of the NIH Clinical Center and promote understanding of clinical research through community outreach and partnership building.

Recording Program at the National Institutes of Health

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic is a non-profit organization that provides recorded textbooks for students with print disabilities.  With headquarters in Princeton, NJ, RFB&D units in cities around the country rely on over 5,800 volunteers to produce recorded textbooks in all subject areas.  The Washington, DC unit, located at 5225 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, hosts about 400 volunteers week in week out, who read, direct the recordings, prepare books for production, and do a variety of other jobs.  In recent years the organization has been faced with a much greater demand for high-level science texts than can be fulfilled at the main studio.  To help meet this demand, RFB&D established a recording space at NIH for the convenience of scientists and medical experts who can record college and post-graduate level science texts.  NIH volunteer readers fill a greatly needed gap by sharing their science and medical expertise.  Our studio is located in the basement of Building 31 on the NIH campus, offering an exciting volunteer opportunity for NIH employees.  For more information or to volunteer, contact Kathryn Sparks at ksparks@rfbd.org <mailto:ksparks@rfbd.org>  or (202) 244-8990.

SciMentorNet

SciMentorNet is a free e-mentoring program that helps high school and college students who are interested in behavioral and social science, biomedical science, and healthcare careers find a mentor. Mentors are carefully screened science, healthcare, and education professionals who volunteer to provide information, guidance, and support as students develop their careers.