NRC Commissioner Visits NIH
On Apr. 17, NIH hosted a visit by Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner David Wright, who toured several clinical areas as part of his “get out and meet the licensees” initiative. As a cancer survivor, he was particularly interested in visiting the NIH program and seeing how radiation and radioactive materials are used for cancer research.
NIH Radiation Safety Officer Cathy Ribaudo of the Division of Radiation Safety, ORS, organized the tour. Stops included a kick-off meeting with Clinical Center CEO Dr. James Gilman, the hospital’s nuclear medicine and PET departments, the department of transfusion medicine, NCI’s Ex-Vivo Laboratory and the Molecular Imaging Program.
Multiple clinicians took the time to explain their research and showcase the innovative uses of radioactive material at NIH, as well as discuss some novel cancer research applications. Wright was delighted with everything he saw, Ribaudo reports.
The final tour stop was Bldg. 1 for a meeting with Dr. Alfred Johnson, NIH deputy director for management, Dr. Michael Gottesman, NIH deputy director for intramural research and OIR deputy director Dr. Richard Wyatt. Wright shared his gratitude and favorable impressions of his NIH visit and committed to continuing his advocacy work on cancer awareness and education.