OCL Update

NOTES FROM THE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF COMMUNITY LIAISON

As we enter a new year, I first want to take the opportunity to wish all of you health and good fortune. This year will undoubtedly bring with it many opportunities and challenges for us as individuals and collectively as members of the NIH community. But before we face the new, let’s review the accomplishments of 2005.

The past year has been one of transitions. It began with the departure of Thomas Gallagher, Ph.D., as full-time Director of the Office of Community Liaison (OCL), followed by Walter Mitton, his able assistant. Their abilities were complemented by the talents of Amy Blackburn and Sharon Robinson, who fortunately are still with us. In March, Dr. Gallagher took a position in the private sector, and I was appointed Acting Director of the OCL. When Mitton left in July, Blackburn and Robinson provided needed continuity, and the office has not only functioned, but functioned well because of their efforts. The OCL has become a part of the larger Office of Communications and Public Liaison, within the Office of the Director, a move that we think will give the community more access and a greater voice. The search for a full-time, dedicated director is still ongoing, and we look forward to having that position filled.

I inherited a number of projects when I became OCL Director, and before I continue, let me thank each and every member of the Community Liaison Council (CLC) for your thoughtful input and patience as I have learned my way around. I would like to provide you with an assessment of our progress to date. Three of the most important issues we dealt with in 2005 were noise abatement, the South Lawn recreational area and the Perimeter Security System, aka the “fence.”

We optimistically looked forward to reducing the noise emanating from Building 35, the Porter Neuroscience Research Center, and Building 37 in 2005. I am happy to report that the Building 35 abatement was successfully completed. Building 37 has proven more of a challenge, and after completion of the abatement work, NIH engineers found noise levels were not lowered as much as expected. With the patience and input of the CLC, the NIH is now working with an acoustical engineering firm to complete a comprehensive acoustic survey of the entire Bethesda campus and to make recommendations for solving any noise problems found. We anticipate completion of the survey by spring 2006.

The South Lawn was intended to be suitable for light recreation as early as June 2005. Once again we experienced unexpected difficulties. And once again, the CLC rose to the occasion. Stephen Sawicki, representative of the Edgewood Glenwood Citizens Association, ably assisted Tony Clifford, Chief Engineer of the NIH Office of Research Facilities Development and Operations, in identifying problems and working to find solutions. I am grateful for their time and effort on this project and for everyone’s patience.

The CLC has been instrumental in developing the NIH Perimeter Security System by keeping the NIH well aware of the community’s concerns. As a result, the first phase of the system was completed in August 2005 with a minimum of disruption. John Dattoli, NIH Security Director, reported efficiently issuing an average of 2,300 visitor passes per day over the first few weeks of operation. Construction of the Gateway Visitor Center, the visitor parking garage and the commercial vehicle inspection station is ongoing. We expect that the project will be complete by mid-summer 2007. Some of our routines, for NIH employees, visitors and community members alike, will alter in the process, but we hope to make the transition as smooth as possible.

I draw your attention finally to two more important accomplishments of 2005. The NIH completed its new Final Master Plan and Environmental Impact Statement in April, successfully responding to the comments of the concerned communities that surround us. The input of the CLC was invaluable and made for a comprehensive document.

Equally important, but much more fun, was the 2005 Share the Health event, held at Westfield Shoppingtown Wheaton on May 15. The mall reported that the event drew around 6,000 attendees, and cost to the NIH was about one-third that of the previous year’s event. Credit for this astonishing success must go largely to the OCL staff, Walter, Amy and Sharon. Of course, both the community and the NIH shared in the benefits.

Because of the successes of 2005, I look forward to the challenges of 2006. I know the CLC will continue to bring its collective wisdom and cooperative spirit to every endeavor. And with the strong bonds of mutual respect and friendship our work together has built, I know we will successfully tackle the challenges ahead together.

The Community Liaison Council will hold its next meeting on Thursday, February 16, at 4 p.m., in the Visitor Information Center, first floor, Building 45 on the NIH campus.

NIDA Launches New Public Awareness Campaign To Warn Teens About the Link Between Drug Abuse and HIV

In November, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at NIH launched a new public information campaign designed to help combat the increasing number of HIV and AIDS cases among teens in the United States. Armed with the message “Drug Abuse and HIV: Learn the Link,” the campaign reaches out to teens through television public service announcements (PSAs) and a new Web site.

“Drug abuse prevention is HIV prevention,” said NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D., at the launch of the campaign. “Research has shown that a significant proportion of young people are not concerned about becoming infected with HIV. In recent years, the number of young people in the United States diagnosed with AIDS rose substantially. Because drug use encourages risky behaviors that can promote HIV transmission, NIDA views drug abuse treatment as essential HIV prevention.”

To try to alter this type of thinking, NIDA worked with teens in several cities across the nation to develop a message that would resonate with America’s youth. Capitalizing on teens’ growing use of cell phones and text messaging, the PSA shows a young woman walking down a city sidewalk who stops to respond to a text message on her cell phone. The text message conversation is as follows:

u hear bout kim?

what bout kim?

she has HIV.
she got high
got stupid
n now she has HIV!

In between the text messages, flashes of party scenes show “Kim” using poor judgment as the result of drugs, which leads to her subsequent HIV infection. NIDA aired the PSA just prior to World AIDS Day on December 1, 2005.

NIDA also created a Web site, http://www.hiv.drugabuse.gov, as part of the campaign to provide more detailed information for teens, parents and teachers. The Web site uses similar imagery from the PSA, and visitors to the site can view the PSA online.

NLM Adds Papers of Nobel Laureate Salvador E. Luria to Profiles in Science Web Site

Can a slot machine teach a scientist about mutations in bacteria? Apparently it can, if he is Salvador E. Luria, M.D. The late Italian-born bacteriologist (1912–1991), who attributed some of his scientific discoveries to watching a friend gamble, is the most recent addition to the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) Profiles in Science Web site. This NIH-supported site is dedicated to the historical works of notable biomedical researchers.

Early in 1943, Luria was trying to determine how bacteria become resistant to specific viruses following infection: Did exposure to the virus provoke the mutation in a resistant form? Or was it spontaneous and random? The answer struck him one evening as he watched a friend playing a slot machine.

Bacterial mutations, Luria realized, might occur in a pattern similar to that of payouts from a slot machine. For example, slot machines return about 90 percent of the money put into them, but the money is distributed very unevenly—most attempts produce nothing, some yield small amounts and a few produce jackpots.

If random mutation was occurring in 20 different bacteria cultures exposed to a virus, small resistant colonies would be found in some of the cultures, none in others and very large ones in a few. This is exactly what Luria found.

The discovery, made with Max Delbrück (who worked up a mathematical proof that calculated mutation rates from the number of mutants observed), marked the birth of bacterial genetics and demonstrated its usefulness in genetic research. Luria shared the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Delbrück and Alfred Hershey for their “discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses.”

“Luria’s work with Max Delbrück brought bacterial viruses to the center stage of genetics research in the 1940s, and he helped develop bacterial genetics into one of the roots of molecular biology as we know it today,” said Donald A.B. Lindberg, M.D., director of the NLM.

As part of its Profiles in Science project, the NLM is collaborating with the American Philosophical Society to digitize Luria’s papers for online access for educators, researchers and the public. Luria is now the 16th distinguished scientist to be added to a notable list of other remarkable researchers and public health officials whose personal and professional records are featured on the Profiles in Science site at http://www.profiles.nlm.nih.gov.

The online exhibit features correspondence, published and unpublished articles and monographs, photographs, lectures, speeches and laboratory notebooks from Luria’s files. An introductory exhibit section places Luria’s achievements in historical context. For more information or to view the online exhibit, visit the Web site listed above.

NIH-funded Web Forum Launched for Schizophrenia Researchers

Researchers trying to learn more about schizophrenia now have a new online tool—the Schizophrenia Research Forum Web site. This site, funded in part by NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), allows researchers to keep abreast of late-breaking schizophrenia research news. It is also a place where researchers can share ideas with their colleagues on new findings, research articles, upcoming meetings, funding opportunities and more.

“We’re hoping that the forum will become a catalyst for creative thinking that will speed the pace of discovery,” said NIMH Director Thomas Insel, M.D.

Located at http://www.schizophreniaforum.org, the site features active participation among scientists by holding discussions on key research topics, conducting interviews with leading scientists in the field and sharing theories and ideas about the disorder. Sponsored by the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression and the Mental Health Research Association, the site acts as a “virtual community” for researchers and scientists studying schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling brain disorder that affects about 1 percent of people all over the world. People with schizophrenia sometimes hear voices others don’t hear, believe that others are broadcasting their thoughts to the world or become convinced that others are plotting to harm them.

Researchers still have a lot to learn about this complex disorder, and experts are hopeful that this site will help speed up the process. Visitors to the site can chat with schizophrenia experts or view these chats at a later time from archived files. They can also review current schizophrenia-related papers through links to PubMed abstracts posted each week. Resources available from the site include an extensive list of relevant Web sites, downloadable software, databases and other Web-based technologies for scientists. Researchers can also search for job opportunities, visit links to related journals and see current conference announcements.

NIMH is providing $700,000 in initial funding for the Schizophrenia Research Forum for 2005–2007. The site’s executive editor, Hakon Heimer, is assisted by a team of science communicators and web designers who helped develop a Web site for Alzheimer’s disease, after which the Schizophrenia Research Forum site is modeled.

NIH Holds Conference on Women’s Health Initiative Results

NIH is holding a two-day conference in February to address the results of its Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). Designed to expedite medical research on women’s health, the WHI focused studies on the major causes of death and disability in postmenopausal women so that prevention strategies could be designed. Leaders in scientific research are planning to discuss these study results from three multi-year randomized trials and an observational study. They will also comment on future research opportunities and clinical practice guidelines in women’s health.

The conference, which is free and open to the public, takes place February 28 through March 1 in the Main Auditorium of the Natcher Conference Center in Building 45 on the NIH campus in Bethesda. Conference hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the first day and 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the second day. For more information about the program, visit http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/whi/references.htm. The Web site includes background information on WHI, a complete conference agenda and online registration.

New Guidelines Fill Information Gap on Environmental Health

In November, the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation released new guidelines designed to provide doctors with better educational tools to reduce or eliminate environmental triggers for children with asthma.

Environmental Management of Pediatric Asthma: Guidelines for Health Care Providers, which was funded by NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, was designed to respond to rising data that primary health care providers need more environmental health training to prevent, recognize and treat diseases caused by environmental exposures.

The guidelines include practical strategies for managing asthma and are based on the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma. The guidelines offer doctors access to current best practices in asthma management and include competencies for managing environmental asthma triggers in children, an easy-to-follow environmental history form, intervention guidelines, informational flyers that can be reproduced and distributed to patients and a reference list. Authors of the new guidelines plan to incorporate the information into nursing and medical educational curricula as well as into clinical practices so that doctors can use the guidelines as part of a child’s comprehensive asthma management plan.

The complete guidelines are available at http://www.neetf.org/health/asthma.htm.

FAES Graduate School Begins in January

The Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) is beginning its spring semester of graduate courses on Monday, January 23. Classes are held in the evening on the NIH campus in Bethesda and are open to the public. Courses include a variety of science education topics and can be viewed at http://www.faes.org. FAES was organized to foster scientific research and education by facilitating communication among scientists and sponsoring formal instruction in the sciences.

Walk-in and mail-in registration have now closed, but interested individuals can still register for classes with a $10 late registration fee. Tuition is $115 per credit hour. Course catalogs are available in the FAES bookstore in Building 10, Room B1L101, on the NIH campus. Catalogs can also be downloaded from the FAES Web site mentioned above. For more information, call 301-496-7976.

Shopping Event at Area Malls Benefits NIH Charity

If you like to shop and help those in need, now is your chance to do both at the same time. Bloomingdale’s has joined forces with Special Love, an NIH-supported charity, to help the organization raise money on Thursday, February 23. Special Love, which provides programs for children with cancer, will receive $5 for every person who shops with an invitation during the special event. Shoppers can enjoy special storewide savings of 15%–20% off during the event at Bloomingdale’s at White Flint and Tysons Corner malls. Other event features include live entertainment, discounts, cooking demonstrations and fashion events. Admission is free with an invitation or $10 at the door. For more information, contact Dave Smith at dsmith@visuallink.com, or visit http://www.speciallove.org.

NIH Funds Science Education Projects Across the Nation

To help increase public understanding of science and to encourage student interest in research careers, NIH is providing $13 million to fund Science Education Partnership Awards (SEPA) at institutions across the nation, including one in Maryland and one in Washington, DC.

The second round of these awards, which was released in December 2005, went to 12 institutions for programs that included kid-friendly museum and science center exhibits, biotech labs for university students and teachers, microscope imaging stations, science-based curricula for K–12 students and programs reaching minority populations. The first set of awards was released in October 2005.

“The SEPA program is an important part of our public outreach efforts,” said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. “It’s critical to the future of the nation’s health that Americans have a better understanding of clinical research and the life sciences in general. By combining the talents and expertise of researchers, teachers and museum specialists, these programs create excitement about scientific discoveries and deliver important health information to a wide spectrum of audiences.”

Sponsored by NIH’s National Center for Research Resources, the SEPA program develops partnerships among science centers, museums, community groups, educators and researchers to create programs, exhibits and curricula that help demystify scientific concepts and encourage science interest. SEPA grantees receive two to five years of financial support.

The December 2005 SEPA Awardees are as follows:

• Bridgewater State College (Bridgewater, Mass.)
  CityLab Biotech for Students and Teachers
• Children’s Museum of Houston (Houston, Tex.)
  Powerplay: Kids Measuring Their Bodies’ Responses to Physical Challenges
• Exploratorium (San Francisco, Calif.)
  Microscope Imaging Station
• Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences (Washington, DC)
  Diseases and Decisions: The Current Science on Emerging Threats Exhibition
• Maryland Science Center (Baltimore, Md.)
  Cellular Universe: The Promise of Stem Cells
• Milwaukee School of Engineering (Milwaukee, Wis.)
  From Bench to Bedside: Molecular Stories of Research-Based Health Care
• Ohio University (Athens, Ohio)
  Impacting K–12 Learning Environments
• Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (Portland, Ore.)
  Small Museum Research Collaborative: Exhibit-Based Outreach
• University of California, San Diego (La Jolla, Calif.)
  Educating High School Students and Their Families About Clinical Research
• University of Montana (Missoula, Mont.)
  Environmental Health Science Education for Rural Youth
• University of Nebraska Medical Center (Omaha, Nebr.)
  Breaking Barriers: Health Science Education in Native American Communities
• University of Wyoming (Laramie, Wyo.)
  Enhancing Biomedical Science Awareness and Understanding in Wyoming

To see a full description of the SEPA projects, visit http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/ncrrprog/clindir/SEPAdirectoryFY2005.asp. For more information about the SEPA program, visit http://www.ncrrsepa.org.

NIH CALENDAR OF EVENTS*

January 30

2005–2006 NIH Neuroscience Seminar Series: Combining Stem Cell and Gene Therapy for Neurological Disorders by Clive Svendsen, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Madison, noon–1 p.m., Lipsett Amphitheater, Building 10, NIH campus, free and open to the public. Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit is offered. For more information, call Peggy Rollins at 301-435-2232 or visit http://neuroseries.info.nih.gov.

January 31

NIH Clinical Center Grand Rounds: Cancer Epidemiology, Google, and the Dangerous Legacy of GIGO by Clifton Leaf, Fortune Magazine, 8:30–9:30 a.m., Lipsett Amphitheater, Building 10, NIH campus. CME credit is offered. For more information, call Laura Anthony at 301-984-7191, x1696.

February 1

NIH Office of Dietary Supplements Spring 2006 Seminar Series: Folate and Carcinogenesis: The Double-Edged Sword by Young-In J. Kim, Ph.D., University of Toronto, 11 a.m.–noon, Room H, Executive Plaza North, 6130 Executive Boulevard, Rockville. Call Mary Frances Picciano, Ph.D., for more information at 301-435-3608.

NIH National Library of Medicine History of Medicine Seminar Series: Commodifying Lydia Pinkham: The Woman, the Medicine, the Company by Susan Strasser, Ph.D., University of Delaware, 2–3:15 p.m., Lister Hill Visitor’s Center, Building 38A, NIH campus, free and open to the public. For more information, visit http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/happening/seminars or contact a reference librarian at 301-402-8878 or hmdref@nlm.nih.gov.

NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series: The Structure and Function of Flaviviruses by Michael Rossmann, Ph.D., Purdue University, 3–4 p.m., Masur Auditorium, Building 10, NIH campus, free and open to the public. CME credit is offered. For more information, call Hilda Madine at 301-594-5595 or visit http://www1.od.nih.gov/wals/schedule.htm.

February 6

2005–2006 NIH Neuroscience Seminar Series: Crossmodal Integration: Towards General Principles by Shinsuke Shimojo, Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, noon– 1 p.m., Lipsett Amphitheater, Building 10, NIH campus, free and open to the public. CME credit is offered. For more information, call Peggy Rollins at 301-435-2232 or visit http://neuroseries.info.nih.gov.

February 7

Association for Women in Science 13th Annual Seminar Series: Successful Career and Family: How Do You Make It All Work? by Carole Heilman, Ph.D., National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, 5–6 p.m., Lister Hill Visitor’s Center, Building 38A, NIH campus. For more information, contact Alessandra Bini, Ph.D., at 301-402-7708 or binia@nia.nih.gov.

February 8

NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series: Making Maps in the Brain by Michael P. Stryker, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, 3–4 p.m., Masur Auditorium, Building 10, NIH campus, free and open to the public. CME credit is offered. For more information, call Hilda Madine at 301-594-5595 or visit http://www1.od.nih.gov/wals/schedule.htm.

February 13

2005–2006 NIH Neuroscience Seminar Series: The Molecular and Neural Bases of Ethanol-Related Behaviors in Drosophila by Ulrike Heberlein, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, noon–1 p.m., Lipsett Amphitheater, Building 10, NIH campus, free and open to the public. CME credit is offered. For more information, call Peggy Rollins at 301-435-2232 or visit http://neuroseries.info.nih.gov.

February 15

NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series: Winning at Losing: The Art and Science of Long-Term Weight Control by Rena R. Wing, Ph.D., Brown University School of Medicine and The Miriam Hospital, 3–4 p.m., Masur Auditorium, Building 10, NIH campus, free and open to the public. CME credit is offered. For more information, call Hilda Madine at 301-594-5595 or visit http://www1.od.nih.gov/wals/schedule.htm.

February 17

NIH Director’s Seminar Series: Natural Products: From Structure to Mechanisms, and Potential for Therapeutics by Carole Bewley, Ph.D., National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH, noon–1 p.m., Wilson Hall, Building 1, NIH campus, free and open to the public. For more information, contact Colleen Crone at 301-496-1921 or cronec@od.nih.gov or visit http://www.nih.gov/about/director/dirsem.htm.

February 22

NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series: Epithelial Cell Polarity: Life in Between Two Worlds by Enrique Rodriguez-Boulan, M.D., Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 3–4 p.m., Masur Auditorium, Building 10, NIH campus, free and open to the public. CME credit is offered. For more information, call Hilda Madine at 301-594-5595 or visit http://www1.od.nih.gov/wals/schedule.htm.

February 27

2005–2006 NIH Neuroscience Seminar Series: Synaptic Plasticity Regulated by Stargazin and PSD-95 by David Bredt, M.D., Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, noon–1 p.m., Lipsett Amphitheater, Building 10, NIH campus, free and open to the public. CME credit is offered. For more information, call Peggy Rollins at 301-435-2232, or visit http://neuroseries.info.nih.gov.

February 28

Association for Women in Science 13th Annual Seminar Series: The Facts of a Scientific Career Are Stranger Than Fiction: Perspectives of a Scientist, Mystery Writer, and Reborn Feminist by Frances Brodsky, D.Phil., University of California, San Francisco, 5–6 p.m., Lister Hill Visitor’s Center, Building 38A, NIH campus. For more information, contact Alessandra Bini, Ph.D., at 301-402-7708 or binia@nia.nih.gov.

March 1

NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series: The Margaret Pittman Lecture: Evolution of Membrane Traffic: Intelligent Design or Not? by Frances Brodsky, D.Phil., University of California, San Francisco, 3–4 p.m., Masur Auditorium, Building 10, NIH campus, free and open to the public. CME credit is offered. For more information, call Hilda Madine at 301-594-5595 or visit http://www1.od.nih.gov/wals/schedule.htm.

March 6

2005–2006 NIH Neuroscience Seminar Series: The Robert Whitney Newcomb Memorial Lecture: Ionic Mechanisms of Spontaneous Activity in Central Neurons by Bruce Bean, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, noon–1 p.m., Lipsett Amphitheater, Building 10, NIH campus, free and open to the public. CME credit is offered. For more information, call Peggy Rollins at 301-435-2232 or visit http://neuroseries.info.nih.gov.

March 7

NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Seminar Series: Aging and Cognitive-Cortical Plasticity by Arthur F. Kramer, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 3–4 p.m., Room C, Neuroscience Building, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Rockville, free and open to the public. For more information, visit http://obssr.od.nih.gov/bssrcc/BSSRLectures_Winter06.htm or contact Ronald Abeles, Ph.D., at abeles@nih.gov.

March 8

NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series: Regulation of the Production of IL-10 by T cells, Macrophages and Dendritic Cells: Implications for Immune Responses to Pathogens by Anne O’Garra, Ph.D., National Institute for Medical Research, London, 3–4 p.m., Masur Auditorium, Building 10, NIH campus, free and open to the public. CME credit is offered. For more information, call Hilda Madine at 301-594-5595 or visit http://www1.od.nih.gov/wals/schedule.htm.

March 10

NIH Director’s Seminar Series: Drug Abuse’s Smallest Victims: In Utero Exposed Neonates by Marilyn Huestis, Ph.D., National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, noon–1 p.m., Wilson Hall, Building 1, NIH campus, free and open to the public. For more information, contact Colleen Crone at 301-496-1921 or cronec@od.nih.gov or visit http://www.nih.gov/about/director/dirsem.htm.

NIH National Library of Medicine History of Medicine Seminar Series: The Origins of the World Health Organization by Marcos Cueto, Ph.D., Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru, 2–3:15 p.m., Lister Hill Visitor’s Center, Building 38A, NIH campus, free and open to the public. For more information, visit http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/happening/seminars, or contact a reference librarian at 301-402-8878 or hmdref@nlm.nih.gov.

March 13

2005–2006 NIH Neuroscience Seminar Series: Attentional Modulation in Primate Visual Cortex: Space, Features and Objects by Stefan Treue, Ph.D., German Primate Center, noon–1 p.m., Lipsett Amphitheater, Building 10, NIH campus, free and open to the public. CME credit is offered. For more information, call Peggy Rollins at 301-435-2232 or visit http://neuroseries.info.nih.gov.

*Calendar items subject to change. Call to confirm your event.

OTHER NEWS & ACTIVITIES OF INTEREST

Holy Cross Hospital Offers New Women’s Health Lecture Series

Holy Cross Hospital is launching a new free lecture series designed for women to discuss women’s health issues. Called Wednesdays for Women, the new series features experts in women’s health to share what they know about preventing, diagnosing and treating diseases common to women. Topics include new advances in minimally invasive surgery, heart disease, breast cancer, gynecological screening, menopause and more. A complete schedule is listed below. The lectures are held from 7–9 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month, now through May 2006, in the Professional and Community Education Center at the hospital in Silver Spring. Call 301-754-8800 to reserve your space in the program, or register online at http://www.holycrosshealth.org/wednesdays_women_form.htm. Registrants who attend the program will be eligible to win a $175 spa package from Roxsan Day Spa at White Flint Mall. To download a brochure with the lecture schedule, visit http://www.holycrosshealth.org/pdfs/wednesdays_women.pdf. The hospital is located at 1500 Forest Glen Road.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Can Chocolate Help Your Blood Pressure?

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at NIH is seeking volunteers to help answer this question. Volunteers are needed to participate in a six-week study evaluating the effect of dark chocolate on blood pressure and the blood’s glucose and insulin levels. Participation in the study will help researchers learn more about chocolate’s impact on hypertension and diabetes. To participate, volunteers between the ages of 21 and 60 who have hypertension and can be safely removed from their blood pressure medication are needed. Study participants should not be taking any other nutritional supplements or other medications besides those for hypertension. Compensation and dark chocolate will be provided. For more information, call 301-496-3244.

Healthy Volunteers Needed

Scientists in the Pulmonary-Critical Care Medicine Branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at NIH are looking for healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 65 to participate in a research study. Participants will receive a complete medical evaluation and financial compensation for their participation. For more information, call 301-402-1553.

Are You a Trauma Survivor?

Researchers in the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health are looking for trauma survivors to participate in research studies involving brain imaging. If you have experienced an event such as sexual abuse, physical assault, accident, disaster or other trauma, you may be eligible to participate. Compensation is available for study participants. For more information, call Holly Giesen at 301-435-8982 or TTY: 1-866-411-1010.

Myositis Study

Doctors at NIH are looking for patients with myositis to participate in a research study. This study of inflammatory muscle diseases will examine what causes these diseases and describe the signs and symptoms associated with them. Patients 16 years or older with polymyositis, dermatomyositis or a related disorder may be eligible to participate. All study-related tests are provided free of charge, and treatment may be available. For more information, call 1-866-444-2214 or TTY: 1-866-411-1010 and refer to study 91-AR-0196.

If you would like to list an upcoming event of interest to the local community, call Terry LaMotte at Palladian Partners, OCL support contractor, at 301-650-8660, or send her an e-mail at tlamotte@palladianpartners.com.

OCL Update

Published monthly by the Office of Community Liaison, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Office of Community Liaison
National Institutes of Health
Building 1, Room 332
One Center Drive, MSC 0172
Bethesda, MD 20892-0172
Phone: 301-496-3931
Fax: 301-594-2592
URL: http://ocl.od.nih.gov