NIAID, China Ink Collaboration Plan
On June 19, Dr. Anthony Fauci (l), director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Prof. Hongguang Wang, director general of the China National Center for Biotechnology Development, signed an implementation plan to expand research collaboration on infectious diseases and immunology. After the signing, Wang presented Fauci with a toy giant panda, which is the national animal of China.

NICHD Advises Surgeon General’s Conference

NICHD served as the scientific lead for the Surgeon General’s Conference on the Prevention of Preterm Birth. Shown are (from l) NICHD director Dr. Duane Alexander, acting Surgeon General Steven K. Galson, a rear admiral in the Public Health Service, and Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation. Nearly half a million babies in the United States are born preterm and this number continues to rise. Preterm birth is a major cause of infant death and places infants at risk for serious lifelong disability. Under a congressional directive, experts convened by NICHD developed a research agenda to “speed the identification of, and treatments for, the causes of and risk factors for preterm labor and delivery.” The agenda calls for a national system to more closely track the occurrence of preterm birth and a national education program to help women reduce their chances of giving birth prematurely. Next, Galson will examine the conferees’ findings to determine how to best move forward and will consider how these findings relate to ongoing efforts in the field.

NCI Cohosts Meeting on Biomedical Informatics, Sept. 2-3

Biomedical Informatics Without Borders, a joint conference of the National Cancer Institute and the U.K. National Cancer Research Institute, will be held Sept. 2-3. Organized by the NCI cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG) initiative and the NCRI Informatics Initiative, the meeting will highlight global grid initiatives and tools that are changing the biomedical research landscape through shared data, technologies and collaboration. There will be sessions for both technical and scientific audiences. Whether your focus is biomedical informatics development or the use of these tools for basic and clinical research problems, you will find resources and potential collaborators to help you work more effectively. The meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda. For more information and to register, visit https://cabig.nci.nih.gov/nci-ncri2008conference. Registration is free and open to the public.

Principles of Clinical Pharmacology Course

The Principles of Clinical Pharmacology course, sponsored by the Clinical Center, will begin in Lipsett Amphitheater, Bldg. 10 on Sept. 4. The course will be held Thursday evenings from 6:30 to approximately 7:45 and will run through Apr. 23, 2009.

The course, now in its 11th year, covers topics such as pharmacokinetics, drug metabolism and transport, assessment of drug effects, drug therapy in special populations and drug discovery and development.

Registration is open to all interested individuals at no cost unless the course is being taken for graduate credit. The course may be taken for credit through FAES as PHAR 500 I and PHAR 500 II; contact FAES directly at (301) 496-7976. Deadline for registration is Aug. 22. Certificates of participation will be awarded at the end to all students who attend 75 percent of the lectures. More information is available at www.cc.nih.gov/training/training/principles.html or by calling Donna Shields, (301) 435-6618.

Online Privacy Awareness Course Is Mandatory

Let’s say you’re asked to travel to a conference to give a speech. While hailing a cab at the airport, you lose sight of your luggage and realize your government-issued laptop has been stolen. A dozen thoughts race through your mind about whether you safeguarded the property you were entrusted to protect and whether you have now exposed yourself to legal liability with the potential loss of data stored on the laptop. To help educate you on protecting privacy, NIH has begun online privacy awareness training. The required course provides valuable knowledge of your responsibilities to protect all forms of personally identifiable information. You will also learn what you can do to lessen harm in the event of a breach. Visit http://irtsectraining.nih.gov. If you have questions about the requirement, contact your privacy coordinator at http://oma.od.nih.gov/about/contact/browse.asp?fa_id=3.

Rare Sparrow Visits NIH Animal Center A rare Henslow’s sparrow was recently detected at the NIH Animal Center in Poolesville. “It was first heard sometime in early June and may be a single male looking to attract a mate,” said Lonnie Darr of the Office of Research Facilities. “I visited the site on June 18 and heard the call several times (it calls constantly) but I did not see the bird. This is quite a rare bird to have here during mating/breeding season. It depends on tall grass fields and those are at a premium in this area. Its range is now long grass fields from Ohio west to the Mississippi. It is believed that the species may only have 50,000 individuals in North America.” NIH halted all pasture mowing in the area to protect the rare bird, whose presence was confirmed by others. “We will continue to monitor the bird(s) and will not resume pasture mowing in those fields until we are sure the nesting season has passed and any young have fledged,” said Lynn Mueller, NIH grounds maintenance chief. Photos: Bill Hubick