Environmental Factor, November 2008, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
NIEHS Spotlight
NIEHS Postdocs Honored with FARE Awards
Ten NIEHS post-doctoral fellows (pictured) are among the winners of the 2009 Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) presented at the NIH Research Festival in October. ...read more
Dearry Explores Impact of Global Economy on Health
On October 28, NIEHS Associate Director for Environmental Public Health Allen Dearry, Ph.D., offered public health specialists a compelling argument for instituting reforms related. ...read more
Looking at Risks Posed by Drugs in the Environment
In October and November, NIEHS helped support two scientific meetings investigating the potential threat to human health of pharmaceuticals and personal care products present in the. ...read more
Lecture Series Recognizes Suk and Landrigan
NIEHS Acting Deputy Director Bill Suk, Ph.D., and NIEHS grantee Phil Landrigan, M.D., were honored November 5 as the keynote presenters at the inaugural John P. Wyatt Lecture. ...read more
Hrynkow Chosen as AAAS Committee Chair
Bethesda-based NIEHS Associate Director Sharon Hrynkow, Ph.D., has accepted a November 5 offer from the AAAS Board of Directors of a one-year appointment as chair of the ...read more
Tinkle Chairs Session at U.S.-China Symposium
NIEHS Office of the Director Senior Science Advisor Sally Tinkle, Ph.D., attended the First U.S.-China Symposium on Nanobiology and Nanomedicine in Beijing October 21 – 23. Interactions with Human Health and the Environment”. ...read more
Taking Research from the Bench to the Community
This fall the Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP) at the University of Arizona (UA) once again focused its Binational Center translation and outreach core activities on communities across the border in Mexico. On October 27 – 28, ...read more
Former Council Member Weinstein Mourned
On November 3, NIEHS lost a long-time friend and former member of its National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council with the death of I. Bernard (Bernie) Weinstein, M.D., Sci.D. (Hon.). ...read more
NIH Announces 2009 Roadmap Funding for New Investigators
On October 23, NIH issued a program announcement for the 2009 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award program soliciting applications with an opening date of December 15, 2008. The program is tailored to early career investigators, with grants to cover up to $1.5 million in direct costs over five years. NIH expects to fund 24 awards in September 2009. ...read more
Children’s Health Symposium Tackles the Built Environment
With the help of contributions by platinum sponsor NIEHS and other supporters, the Children’s Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) held its Fifth Biennial Scientific Symposium on October 30 – 31 in Austin, Texas. The focus of this ...read more
Inside the Institute
Disability Awareness Program Showcases Campus Talent
NIEHS concluded its observance of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) with an afternoon of events on October 28. The highlights included a book reading in Rodbell Auditorium by EPA Environmental Engineer and novelist Marc Yves Menetrez, Ph.D., ...read more
Burning the (Weekend) Twilight Oil
Photographer Steve McCaw was on his way home from covering a meeting when he captured this image of NIEHS from across the campus lake on the evening of Saturday November 8. ...read more
Chinese Delegation Visits NIEHS
On November 14, a contingent of Chinese government officials involved in a four-month executive education and English-language immersion program at Duke University attended a half-day workshop at NIEHS as part of their series of weekly field experiences. The program was ...read more
Intramural Research
Intramural Papers of the Month
- Crystal Structure of RACK1 in Arabidopsis thaliana
- SNPs in Human Ion Channel Genes Increase Susceptibility to Disease by Creating New Phosphorylation Sites in the Channel Proteins
- Cumene Exposure Leads to K-ras and p53 Mutations That Are Linked to Lung Tumors in Mice
- Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Is Involved With Streptozotocin-induced Diabetes
Science Notebook
Sixth Annual Science Awards Day Honors Achievements
NIEHS Science Awards Day, held on the first Thursday of November each year, added a new category of award to the 2008 event to honor the year’s outstanding staff scientist. Now in its sixth year, the annual day-long event rewarded, ...read more
NIA Director Visits RTP to Address Students
National Institute on Aging (NIA) Director Richard Hodes, M.D., was the keynote speaker at the 2008 Symposium on the Biology of Aging initiated by the American Foundation for Aging Research (AFAR) and the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation. The symposium was held ....read more
Fibroids and the Black Women’s Health Study
Lauren A. Wise, Sc.D., an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health, visited NIEHS recently to talk about her work on uterine leiomyomata, also known as “fibroids.” Wise presented “Risk Factors for Uterine Leiomyomata in the Black Women’s ....read more
Global Warming and Insect Populations
The Scientific Research Society, Sigma Xi, headquartered in Research Triangle Park, N.C., hosted a presentation on November 17 by North Carolina State University (NCSU) ecologist Rob Dunn, Ph.D., as part of a monthly lunchtime lecture series. The talk, titled “Global Warming ....read more
NIEHS Investigator Advances Understanding of Heparin Biosynthesis
NIEHS Structure and Function Research Group Leader Lars Pedersen, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill have succeeded in creating a group of recombinant enzymes that synthesize novel varieties of heparan sulfate with unique biological functions ...read more
ADHD Medications Do Not Cause Genetic Damage in Children
In contrast to recent findings, two of the most common medications used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not appear to cause genetic damage in children who take them as prescribed, according to a new study by researchers at the ...read more
Upcoming Distinguished Lecture by Gary L. Johnson
The 2008 – 2009 NIEHS Distinguished Lecture Series will feature a talk December 9 by Professor and Chair of the University of North Carolina Department of Pharmacology Gary L. Johnson. ...read more
Calendar of Upcoming Events
- December 4
in the Rall Building Mall
7:30–3:00
Holiday Craft Fair - December 4 (Offsite Event)
at The Weathervane at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill
5:30–8:30 p.m.
North Carolina Special Libraries Association (NCSLA) Officer Installation Banquet with keynote talk by NIEHS Library Director and Chair of the SLA Centennial Commission Dav Robertson on "InfoPrognostications: 100 Years Past, 100 Years Future" - December 5
in Rodbell Auditorium
9:00–10:00
Frontiers of Environmental Sciences Lecture Series - December 8
in Rodbell Auditorium
11:00–12:00
Laboratory of Molecular Genetics Fellows Invited Guest Lecture with Jef Boeke, Ph.D., speaking on “Retrotransposons in humans and other mammals” - December 9
in Rodbell Auditorium
11:00–12:00
Distinguished Lecture Series featuring Gary Johnson, Ph.D., who discuss the topic of “Defining MAP3 Kinase Regulated Signaling Networks: From Metastasis to Tissue Stem Cells” - December 11
in Rodbell Auditorium
8:30–2:30
Outstanding New Environmental Scientists (ONES) Seminar - December 11
in Rall F-193
1:00–2:00
Laboratory of Structural Biology Seminar Series with Lee Pedersen, Ph.D., presenting a "Progress report on the atomic details of making thrombin" - December 16
in Rodbell Auditorium A
11:00–12:00
Biostatistics Branch Seminar with Ori Davidov, Sc.D., topic TBA - December 18
in Rodbell Auditorium
Director’s Annual Honor Awards Ceremony and Reception
View More Events: NIEHS Public Calendar
Extramural Research
Extramural Update
Changes are in the works for the way grant applications are reviewed at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and they are scheduled to be phased in beginning in January 2009. While the NIH peer-review system has received much praise over the years, it had not been scrutinized for potential improvements that could enhance a process that has been in place for more than a decade. It had also become clear that the burden of review could put enormous pressures on reviewers, and NIH decided ... read more