NIH Unleashed!

‘PuppyCam’ Event Brings Fur, Fun to Campus

Collins sits on floor with several puppies asleep, nestled together in front of him.

Pumped for puppies. NIH director Dr. Francis Collins makes new friends at the event.

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

Smiling, Collins holds a puppy.

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

NIDDK director Dr. Griffin Rodgers cuddles a Hero Dog.

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

NHGRI director Dr. Eric Green permits a pup’s smooch.

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

Riddle (l) and Rice sit on floor with puppies spread over their laps.

NIDCR’s Drs. Melissa Riddle (l) and Elise Rice enjoy the puppies.

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

Ready for a Close-Up. A star of PuppyCam strikes a picture-perfect pose.

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

For the third year in a row, NIH hosted PuppyCam, a live event held Feb. 13 in conjunction with Hero Dogs, Inc., an organization that “improves quality of life for our nation’s heroes by raising, training and placing service dogs and other highly skilled canines, free of charge with lifetime support of the partnerships.”

The event is also sponsored by the Children’s Inn at NIH, whose on-site companion dog Zilly oversees the affair.

Ready for a Close-Up. A star of PuppyCam strikes a picture-perfect pose.

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

Throughout the event held on the FAES Terrace in Bldg. 10, NIH live-streamed on Twitter a group of service-dogs-in-training and therapy dogs while NIH experts gave brief talks on mindfulness, stress reduction and pet therapy.

Two-legged participants included NIH director Dr. Francis Collins, NIDDK director Dr. Griffin Rodgers, NHGRI director Dr. Eric Green, NCCIH director Dr. Helene Langevin and other leading NIH scientists.

There were 30,000 live views, and the video had nearly 47,000 views and was still growing on Twitter just days after the event.