Congressional Staff Visit NIH, Children’s Inn

Doctors in white coats speak to staff members in a lab

Dr. Rosa Nguyen (r), a physician-scientist early investigator in NCI’s Pediatric Oncology Branch, talks about her lab’s work to develop innovative new therapies, including immunotherapy approaches, for high-risk neuroblastoma.

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

Group of adults gather around an architectural model of the hospital, as a woman points to features of the structure

POB Deputy Chief Dr. Carol Thiele (third from l) and POB Chief Dr. Brigitte Widemann (third from r) welcome staffers and discuss features at the Clinical Center model, ahead of a visit to two labs.

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

Staffers stand around the HOPE statue at the playground

Jennie Lucca (eighth from l), CEO at the Children’s Inn at NIH, hosts congressional staffers at the new HOPE sculpture, which is the centerpiece of the inn playground. The playground was renovated over the winter and re-opened in June.

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

Congressional staff from the offices of Reps. Kathy Castor (D-FL) and Mike Kelly (R-PA); Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); and the Office of the First Lady visited NIH’s Bethesda campus on June 28.

The visit was coordinated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and marked the fifth annual NCI-led visit for congressional staff focused on childhood cancer research.

The group met with NCI extramural program leaders Drs. Malcolm Smith, Nita Seibel, Greg Reaman and Michelle Mollica as well as leadership of NCI’s Pediatric Oncology Branch (POB) Drs. Brigitte Widemann and Carol Thiele, and participated in two lab tours with POB investigators Drs. Troy McEachron, Zhihui Liu and Rosa Nguyen.

The staff also participated in a tour of the Clinical Center and a tour of the Children’s Inn at NIH, which provides free lodging and services for many families with children, adolescents and young adults participating in clinical trials and natural history studies at NCI and other NIH institutes and centers.