NIDDK’s Schechter Feted at All-Day Symposium
Photo: Ernie Branson
Dr. Alan Schechter, who began his NIH career in 1965 at NIAMS, was honored June 27 at a daylong symposium in Lipsett Amphitheater titled “Yellow Berets to Gray Hair: Training Physicians and Non-Physicians for Research Careers.” The event recognized his 50+ years at NIH.
Schechter is chief of NIDDK’s Molecular Medicine Branch and chief of its molecular biology and genetics section. The symposium highlighted the training of physician and non-physician scientists as exemplified by NIDDK’s Laboratory of Chemical Biology (LBC), which was the precursor of the Molecular Medicine Branch.
Nobel Prize recipient Dr. Christian Anfinsen was first chief of the LBC. He was followed by Schechter, who is a leading investigator in hemoglobin structure and function, especially as related to sickle cell disease, and interactions with nitric oxide and circulatory physiology.
Photo: Credit Ernie Branson
For the past five decades in his lab, Schechter’s experience and leadership have encouraged an atmosphere of professional development; he has served as a mentor to many scientists. Speakers included former lab trainees and associates and representatives from hematology, genetics and immunology research training programs. The symposium concluded with a panel discussion on training for clinical and basic research.