NIH will celebrate Earth Day on Take Your Child to Work Day so we can share concern for the environment with our children. All are invited to the lawn in front of Bldg. 1 on Thursday, Apr. 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to view displays on energy conservation, the wildlife and vegetation of NIH's stream and urban forest, telecommuting, alternative fuel vehicles, vanpool information, waste management, the NIH Bicycle Commuter Club, recycling and the Mercury-Free NIH campaign.

Check out the projects made out of discarded items by children at the NIH Child Care Centers and take a tour of the watershed and stream right here on campus. Get an update on the progress of habitat restoration and the bird houses.

The bike club will sponsor a ride-to-work day (coming May 19) and members will be under the canopy later to talk about routes, maps, showers and their mentoring program. Members of NIH's sustainability interest group will also be on hand and visitors will be able to get lunch, a snack or a cold drink from food vendors.

Save the date and stay tuned for details on the bike ride. Look for a global email about Earth Day with more information.

The staff training in extramural programs (STEP) committee will present a Workplace Strategies Forum on the topic, "Crisis — or Opportunity? Tools for Change Management," on Thursday, Apr. 27 from 8 a.m. to noon in the Natcher conference center, Rms. E1/E2.

The NIH budget goes from fat to flat. CSR reorganizes the study sections in your field. And your new boss arrives next Monday.Change happens, and NIH is always in the middle of a lot of it. Change can be chaotic and painful, or constructive and positive; it's usually all of these. But we can anticipate change in our workplace and seize the opportunities it presents. There are practical strategies to reduce the pain and increase the gain. Come learn from experts how to lead from the middle and make the most of changes happening in your worklife

The Work and Family Life Center will hold a seminar titled, "Basic Self-Defense/Safety Awareness," on Wednesday, May 10 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Bldg. 31, Rm. 6C10. Reduce your personal safety vulnerability by attending this combined lecture and demonstration of self-protection techniques. Learn about victim safety and awareness through understanding people, situations, body language, verbalization, pressure points, body kinetics and versatile "hands-on" self-defense tactics.

There will be a 4-part lecture series on "Evolution and Medicine" in May; the talks will examine how evolution affects both basic science and clinical research in ways that many may not immediately recognize.

May 3, Evolution and Development, Rudolf Raff, Indiana University

May 10, Evolution and Education, Brian Alters, McGill University

May 24, Evolution and Genomics, Eric Green, NHGRI

May 31, Evolution and Infectious Diseases, Robin Bush, University of California, Irvine

All lectures are on Wednesdays and will be held in Natcher balcony B, from noon to 1 p.m. An informal discussion period, from 1. to 2 p.m., follows each talk. Live webcasts will be available and archived at http://videocast.nih.gov/. Sign language interpreters will be available upon request. If you require this or other reasonable accommodation to participate, email moorec@mail.nih.gov, or call (301) 402-2470 (voice), or TTY (301) 496-9706 at least 5 days before the event. The series is sponsored by NIGMS, NHGRI and the Office of Science Education.

This year's National Day of Prayer will be observed Thursday, May 4 at 11:30 a.m. on the lawn in front of Bldg. 1, near the flagpole. The observance invites all people of any faith to pray for the good of the country and its leaders.

NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci will give the 2006 Joseph Leiter Lecture on Wednesday, May 10 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in Lister Hill Auditorium, Bldg. 38A. He will discuss "Pandemic Influenza and Other Emerging Infectious Diseases: Public Health Threat and Research Agenda." A reception follows the talk.

Fauci's lecture will provide an overview and status of pandemic influenza and our nation's ability to detect and counter bioterrorism based on information generated by biomedical research on disease-causing microorganisms and the immune system's response to them.

The Leiter lectureship was established in 1983 to stimulate intellectual liaison between the Medical Library Association and the National Library of Medicine.

"New Insights in Iron Biology" will be held Wednesday, May 3 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Natcher Conference Center to honor Dr. David Badman, a relentless advocate for iron biology research that led to major advances in understanding iron metabolism, genetics and hematopoiesis. Invited speakers are Raymond Bergeron (Univ. of Florida, Gainesville), Ernest Beutler (Scripps Research Institute), Gary Brittenham (Columbia Univ.), Jerry Kaplan (Univ. of Utah) and Elizabeth Theil and Kenneth Raymond (UC Berkeley). Register at www.niddk.nih.gov/fund/other/ironbiology/index.htm.

Kids Discover Brain Power Is Way Cool

Area middle school children learned about the power and resilience of the brain during the annual Brain Awareness Week at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. In mid-March, scientists from five institutes presented short lessons on brain health and neuroscience. The National Institute on Aging took the lead this year and opened the sessions with a kid-friendly video about Alzheimer's disease. Other participants included NIMH, NIAAA, NIDA and NINDS.

Dr. Brandy Fureman and Dr. John Lynch, from NINDS, highlight areas of the brain and discuss symptoms of stroke.

Dr. Roger Sorensen, NIAAA program director, talks to students about the affects of alcohol on the brain. “Fatal Vision” prism goggles simulate drunkenness and challenge students to navigate an obstacle course during Brain Awareness Week.

The 13th annual Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) 2007 competition will again provide recognition for outstanding scientific research performed by intramural postdoctoral fellows. Winners of FARE will each receive a $1,000 travel award to use for attending and presenting their work at a scientific meeting. One-quarter of the fellows who apply will win an award.

Fellows who apply to FARE submit an abstract of their research, which will be evaluated anonymously on scientific merit, originality, experimental design and overall quality/presentation. The travel award must be used between Oct. 1, 2006, and Sept. 30, 2007.

The FARE 2007 competition is open to postdoctoral IRTAs, visiting fellows and other fellows with fewer than 5 years total postdoctoral experience in the NIH intramural research program. In addition, pre-IRTAs performing their doctoral dissertation research at NIH are also eligible to compete. Visiting fellows/scientists must not have been tenured at their home institute. Questions about eligibility should be addressed to your institute's scientific director. Fellows are asked to submit their application, including abstract, electronically by Apr. 30 via http://felcom.nih.gov/FARE. Winners will be announced by the end of September 2006. More information is available on the web site above. Questions may be addressed to your institute's fellows committee (Felcom) representative.

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