Two days before the 114th meeting of the advisory committee to the NIH director on June 8, the President invited NIH director Dr. Francis Collins to remain in that post permanently. The news was met with a round of applause before the ACD got down to a 2-day agenda that included announcement of the Next Generation of Researchers Initiative; presentation of NIH’s efforts to reduce the nation’s opioid epidemic; and an argument for an accelerated pathway toward a universal influenza vaccine.
Dr. Fiona Marshall gave NIH’s 2017 Daly lecture. It honored renowned jungle explorer Dr. John W. Daly, the late NIDDK biochemist and pharmacologist who was a pioneer in natural product research.
Geneticist Dr. David Valle gave a recent Clinical Center Grand Rounds in Lipsett Amphitheater, Bldg. 10. He explained how biology and medicine are rooted in evolution at a Great Teachers version of rounds.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation teamed with NIH for a consultative global health workshop. Topics included vaccine research, point-of-care diagnostics for low-resource settings and the emergence of a coalition for African research and innovation.
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Zebrafish group used in studies of behavioral genetics. One such program aims to identify brain cells that control the startle reflex, which may help us understand post-traumatic stress and other anxiety disorders in people.