2004 Flu Vaccine for NIH Employees

Last year's flu season began earlier, peaked earlier and was more severe than usual. This year, NIH has ordered more doses of vaccine and is trying for earlier delivery in order to be able to offer vaccine to NIH employees early in the fall.

The influenza vaccine for the 2004-2005 season contains the following strains recommended by the FDA's vaccines and related biological products advisory committee: A/New Caledonia/20/99-like (H1N1), A/Fujian/411/2002-like (H3N2) and B/Shanghai/361/2002-like.

Look for the upcoming schedule of dates and locations in the NIH Record and the Division of Safety web site at http://www-staging.ors.od.nih.gov/ds/flu/. If you have questions about the influenza vaccine, call the Clinical Center Hospital Epidemiology Service, (301) 496-2209.

OD Hosts Honor Awards Ceremony

The NIH Office of the Director Honor Awards Ceremony will be held on Friday, Sept. 17 at 1:30 p.m. in Natcher auditorium. The ceremony will present NIH Merit Awards, Commissioned Officer Awards (Achievement Medal or Public Health Service Citation) and recognize individuals with 40 years of service to the federal government. All are welcome.

Hispanic Heritage Celebration

The annual Hispanic Heritage Month celebration begins Wednesday, Sept. 15 from 9 a.m. to noon in Lipsett Amphitheater, Bldg. 1. NIH director Dr. Elias Zerhouni will welcome attendees to a program titled, "Disease Invasion: Emergent Species." Guest speakers are Dr. Mercedes Pascual of the University of Michigan and Dr. Carlos Castillo-Chavez of Arizona State University. Sign language interpretation will be provided. For more information contact Elsa Berenstein, (301) 496-2514.

NIH Library Announces Fall/Winter Classes

Learn to use EndNote 8 and Reference Manager 11 (the latest versions) as well as EMBASE &$151; an international biomedicine and pharmacology database. Free, hands-on classes on eight additional topics are provided by staff at the NIH Library Training Rm., Bldg. 10, or at the Fernwood Bldg. For more information, visit http://nihlibrary. nih.gov/ResourceTraining/.

Children's Inn Volunteers Needed

The Children's Inn at NIH needs volunteers to drive families to and from the grocery store. The volunteers arrive at an established time each evening (6:30 p.m.) to help families do their food shopping. The process usually takes at least 30-40 minutes. Drivers use one of two inn vans to transport families. Volunteers may take a weekly run or volunteer every other week at the same time. Training is provided for each van operation.

The inn is also looking for volunteers to help assist with general handy work that needs to be done. Assignments include hanging pictures, shelves, etc. Use of power drills and hammers is necessary. Interested individuals should contact Laura King, director of volunteers at the inn, on weekdays at (301) 496-5672 or email lking@mail.nih.gov for more information.

Wednesday Afternoon Lectures

The Wednesday Afternoon Lecture series — held on its namesake day at 3 p.m. in Masur Auditorium, Bldg. 10 — features Dr. Lily Y. Jan giving the annual Margaret Pittman Lecture on Sept. 22; her topic is "Potassium Channels." She is HHMI investigator and Lange professor of physiology and biophysics, University of California, San Francisco.

There is no lecture on Sept. 29 due to NIH Research Festival.

For more information or for reasonable accommodation, call Hilda Madine, (301) 594-5595.

Camera Club Holds Competition

The annual photo competition sponsored by the NIH Camera Club will be held Tuesday, Oct. 12 at the Classic Residence by Hyatt, 8100 Connecticut Ave., Chevy Chase. Registration of entries begins at 6:15 p.m. and judging begins at 7. Contest entry fee is $1/image and judging will be done by a panel of three expert photographers from the community. Cash prizes will be given for the top three images in each category and ribbons will be given for honorable mention. The categories are black and white prints, color prints and color slides. Individuals may enter up to four images per category. Go to http://www.recgov.org/r&w/camera.html for competition rules and more information on the location or call Harvey Kupferberg (301) 983-0167 or Margaret Sprott (301) 299-6805.