November 20, 2009

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

American Heart Association Recognizes Two NHLBI Staff Members

The American Heart Association has honored two NHLBI staff members for their outstanding work in cardiovascular disease research.

Dr. Daniel Levy received the AHA's Population Research Prize for his direction of the Framingham Heart Study over the past 15 years. The association credited Dan with deepening our understanding of the relationships between cardiovascular disease and risk factors such as hypertension and genetics; recognizing and justifying the benefit of advanced imaging and biomedical technology; transforming the study into a cross-disciplinary endeavor that includes basic, translational and population-based research; and recruiting a new cohort to the study.

Dr. Gail Pearson received the AHA Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young’s Distinguished Achievement Award for her contributions to the council and her promotion of pediatric cardiovascular research. Director of the NHLBI's Adult and Pediatric Cardiac Research Program, Gail has led the NHLBI-funded Pediatric Heart Network for the past eight years. This program has changed the field of pediatric cardiovascular research by facilitating evidence-based care for children with congenital and acquired cardiovascular disease. Such research has historically lagged behind studies for adults. Gail has also developed other significant pediatric cardiovascular programs, such as the NHLBI's newly launched "Bench to Bassinet" translational research initiative.

Dan and Gail accepted their respective awards on November 14 and 17, 2009 at the AHA's Scientific Sessions in Orlando. Please join me in congratulating them both.

NHLBI staff members Dr. Daniel Levy (left) and Dr. Gail Pearson (right).

November 18, 2009

Remarks by Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel for "Genes to Proteins: Decoding Genetic Information," a symposium marking Dr. Marshall Nirenberg's deciphering of the genetic code as a National Historic Chemical Landmark, November 12, 2009

Good morning. Thank you, [Dr. Rodgers], for your kind introduction, and thank you [Dr. Schechter] for chairing this symposium to honor our colleague, mentor, and true scientific hero, Marshall Nirenberg.

We recognize Marshall today for his landmark discoveries starting 50 years ago with the observation that the RNA sequence "UUU" – and I'm sure my 17-year-old daughter would have some euphemism for UUU, something on YouTube or something else – but nonetheless, the RNA sequence "UUU" encodes the amino acid phenylalanine. As a critical piece of the puzzle of how genes work, Marshall, your deciphering of the genetic code helped set the stage for the genomic era we are living in today.

In 1962, Marshall had his pick of prestigious labs. We are honored that he chose to pursue his research career at the NHLBI's precursor, the National Heart Institute. He has been with our intramural program ever since—for 47 years. And that's quite an accomplishment.

He certainly didn't waste any time when he arrived at our institute. Within three years, he and his team had won the race to identify the RNA codons for all twenty amino acids.

Marshall could have coasted on the success of his early work, which eventually made him the first intramural researcher and Federal employee to become a Nobel laureate. But instead, during his time at the NHLBI, he has continued to make significant discoveries in neurobiology and genetics. His interest in neuroblastoma led to pioneering work in culturing neural cells. He has become a leader in studying gene expression, stem cell differentiation, and nervous system development.

In the 1980s, Marshall and an NHLBI postdoc discovered a fruit fly gene that is essential for normal heart development. And that discovery actually has gone on to have important clinical significance as well. It's an important contributor to congenital heart disease and has led to a number of other important clinical discoveries. Other investigators have found mutations in the human version of the gene that causes congenital heart disease.

More recently, Marshall has made remarkable innovations in small-molecule screening for applications as wide-ranging as addiction, memory, and heart and blood disorders.

Marshall's accomplishments have not been limited to the laboratory [or] even the clinic. For example, he was one of the first scientists to speak out about the need for ethical guidelines regarding genetic manipulation and cloning.

His colleagues will tell you that he has one of the most intangible but critical qualities in science: He knows how to pick the right problem, and he knows how to design the perfect experiments to solve them.

Not only that, but I think one of Marshall's finest qualities is that he knows how to choose the right team. He has worked with some of the most talented young researchers who have ever been at the NIH. Those who have trained in Marshall's lab at the NHLBI have become leaders in such respected institutions as the Carnegie Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Harvard University, Merck, the Roche Institute for Molecular Biology, the University of Texas, and the Environmental Health and National Cancer Institutes. Two collaborators went on to receive Nobel Prizes of their own—Joseph Goldstein in 1985 and Al Gilman in 1994. Marshall's lab is among the best at the NIH for producing so many distinguished scientists.

Through it all, Marshall has remained boundlessly enthusiastic about new approaches. He shares his excitement with those around him, regardless of whether a discovery came from his lab or from another researcher.

In fact, I think it's accurate to say that Marshall's rigor, intensity, intellect, and pure joy in thinking about and doing science has made him an NHLBI "gold standard" of how we judge excellence.

DeWitt Stetten, then Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, once referred to the NIH-wide effort to complete Marshall's prize-winning research as "NIH's finest moment." What he didn't say is that all those people pitched in partly because Marshall was—and is—someone you can always get behind.

Marshall, to borrow one of your favorite words, you're a "terrific" guy and a "terrific" researcher, and I'll add a terrific friend and colleague as well. It's really been my enormous pleasure to have had the opportunity to work alongside of you for the past 10 years, and I'll miss our friendship and collaboration as I move on in several months. But I look forward to keeping in touch over the years.

So thank you again. We're looking forward to the day's symposium. I'll now turn over the podium to Dr. Michael Gottesman, our Director of Intramural Research.

• To see a videocast of the symposium, visit http://videocast.nih.gov/Summary.asp?File=15434

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel joined Dr. Marshall Nirenberg to celebrate the naming of a National Historic Chemical Landmark at the NIH, November 12, 2009.

November 9, 2009

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

November Is National COPD Awareness Month

This month, the NHLBI is shining a spotlight on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. Also known as emphysema or chronic bronchitis, COPD limits the breathing of 24 million people in the United States and is one of the leading causes of death. One in five people over the age of 45 has symptoms of this serious lung disease, including shortness of breath during activities that were once easy, wheezing, and a chronic "smoker's" cough.

A new survey shows that more Americans are becoming aware of COPD, but less than half of them know that COPD is treatable. Those who are most at risk—current and former smokers—are less likely to talk to their doctors about symptoms that could indicate they have COPD.

To better inform patients who have been diagnosed with COPD, people who are at high risk of developing the disease, and healthcare providers, the NHLBI created the COPD Learn More Breathe Better^® campaign. Its latest program, Country Conquers COPD™, reaches out to at-risk groups—not in the doctor's office, but at country-themed fairs and festivals across the nation. In its first month, Country Conquers COPD has already spread the word about COPD in Nashville and Lexington, N.C., where visitors enjoyed country music concerts, sang and danced, and took complimentary breath tests and pamphlets at the COPD booth for a fun and educational experience.

If you think you or a loved one has COPD, take some time this month to talk to your doctor. With a simple breathing test, you can find out whether you have COPD and start a treatment plan. Together, we can conquer COPD. Remember: Learning more is the first step toward breathing better.

Grand Ole Opry member and country chart topper Terri Clark entertained the crowd at the Country Conquers COPD event outside the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville in October.

October 23, 2009

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., to Take New Position at Brigham and Women's/Faulkner Hospitals

Dear NHLBI Colleagues,

It is with bittersweet emotions that I write to let you know that I will be leaving the NHLBI/NIH to take on a new position as President and CEO of Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner Hospitals in Boston, effective January 1, 2010.

It has been my extraordinary privilege and honor to be part of this remarkable Institute and the NIH community for the past 10 years. Never have I met such dedicated and talented individuals who are so devoted to fostering research discoveries and translating them to improve the health and lives of individuals around the world. Your commitment to public service has been inspiring.

Over the next few weeks, I will be working with Drs. Collins and Kington to prepare a smooth transition for the NHLBI. The NHLBI is in a strong position, thanks to your talents and hard work. I am so very proud of what we have accomplished together over the past five years.

I thank each and every one of you for your service, your gifts to the NHLBI, and for what you have taught me. I hope to stay connected to you through continued service to the NHLBI and NIH as a private citizen.

With my affection and very best wishes,
Betsy

For more information:

• Press release from Brigham and Women's Hospital

October 20, 2009

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

The NHLBI Hosts Third Symposium on Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine

Some of the world's most innovative cardiovascular stem cell researchers came to the NIH on October 14 and 15 to review how far the field has come and consider future directions. As the host of the third Symposium on Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine, the NHLBI welcomed these top stem cell researchers from the United States and abroad to discuss the state of the science.

Stem cell research is among the NHLBI’s top science priorities, and on October 15, I had the pleasure of introducing several representatives of the newly funded Progenitor Cell Biology Consortium. The consortium consists of 18 teams of research scientists working to develop the high-potential field of stem and progenitor cell tools and therapies. Each of the invited consortium speakers offered insights into their ongoing and planned efforts. Kenneth R. Chien, M.D., Ph.D., a principal investigator with the consortium from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, highlighted the potential for induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) to be used for modeling diseases, such as Down syndrome. IPSCs are artificially derived human stem cells that can give rise to any fetal or adult cell type.

We have made great strides in basic stem cell research, but we must continue to move promising laboratory discoveries into treatments that will one day help patients. We hope the speakers and panel discussions helped re-energize the 500-plus symposium participants to return to their respective institutions and continue pushing the boundaries of stem cell research.

The NHLBI thanks the sponsors of the symposium for their support in making this event a success: BioSpherix, Ltd., the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, and Pfizer. I would also like to thank the NHLBI’s Manfred Boehm, M.D., and the other institute staff involved in organizing this symposium.



Kenneth R. Chien, M.D., Ph.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, discusses the potential for induced pluripotent stem cells to help repair the heart during the Symposium on Regenerative Cardiovascular Medicine held October 14 and 15. Chien is a member of the NHLBI’s newly funded Progenitor Cell Biology Consortium. (NIH Photo/Medical Arts)

October 20, 2009

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel for the 229th Induction Ceremony of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on October 10, 2009

“Scientific and Medical Discovery - in Service of Human Health”

Good afternoon and welcome. I am honored to speak to you today on behalf of Class II, the Biological Sciences. Congratulations to all of you on a very well deserved honor.

While we come from different backgrounds and have different research interests, for those of us in Class II, we share a passion for science and a responsibility to put intellectual contributions to humanitarian use.

Our nation’s citizens and leaders are in the midst of a vitally important discussion on health care. This debate has provided insights into who we are as Americans and what we value.

All people deserve to be healthy. Yet unfortunately, even now for many middle-class Americans, good health has become increasingly unaffordable due to lost jobs, a lack of insurance and/or insufficient income. It is my belief, shared and articulated by many in the audience, that health is a basic human right, and my comments today will focus on two dimensions of this discussion from the perspective of a physician-scientist.

While issues of access, quality, and affordability are complex and difficult to solve, they do not negate the underlying principle that Americans should have the ability to enjoy good health. The intensity of our national health care debate offers the scientific and medical community an important opportunity. Many of us have worked in impoverished areas in this country and abroad. We understand that there is a close association between poverty, a lack of decent housing and education, and poor health. How should we respond? What is our duty to our fellow citizens? A recent survey confirms that the vast majority of physicians consider it a professional obligation to address societal and health policy issues. Health care professionals, for the most part, are eager to serve. And so these efforts, begun by many in this Class of new fellows, must continue – our voices must be heard as we, as scientists and physicians, advocate for health as a human right. We must continue to reach out to those in need, and to those whose voice may be muffled to society’s ears, to those who are the most vulnerable.

This past summer, I had an opportunity to witness such advocacy in rural Rwanda, when I visited the Partners In Health program at the Rwinkwavu District Hospital. Rwanda is a war-torn land that is now rebuilding itself after decades of politically motivated atrocities. Here is a place where divisive acts in 1994 shredded the fabric of a country where Tutsi, Hutu and Twa residents once peacefully coexisted. During the 1994 genocide, neighbor turned against neighbor, and the country was literally destroyed. The country’s infrastructure is being rebuilt due to the vision and leadership of Rwanda’s President, Mr. Paul Kigame. Access to quality health care in Rwanda, as in many impoverished or politically unstable regions, is far from guaranteed. But, the advocacy is making a difference, and there is a lot of room for hope and optimism.

I visited with government and health leaders in Rwanda, and I was impressed by what is being done and by the potential for what can be done. For example, Partners In Health is currently making great progress in caring for sick Rwandans, rebuilding the medical care infrastructure, and training local people to do vital work. I acknowledge in particular the vision and on-the-ground efforts of my colleague and our fellow inductee Dr. Paul Farmer, the medical anthropologist and physician who is Partners In Health’s founding director. He has accomplished similar gains in Haiti.

One of the most profound and lasting ways we can serve our fellow citizens in places where poverty and political oppression vanquishes the right to good health is through biomedical research. That is because research results are multiplicative – extending benefit that is not possible through individual contact. Basic discoveries, translation to clinical medicine and implementation into urban and rural communities have been the story line of medical advances for decades, sparing millions from infections, cancer and heart disease. Much of this work is supported by tax payer investments in biomedical research in this country through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation, and other government agencies.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt foresaw the power that basic research could bestow on human health when on October 31, 1940, he dedicated the newly established NIH on the Bethesda campus where I am now privileged to work:

“We cannot be a strong nation unless we are a healthy nation. And so we must recruit not only men and materials but also knowledge and science in the service of national strength. … The ramparts we watch must be civilian in addition to military.”

And so we should remember that the NIH came to be during a time in which this country was suffering, in the wake of the Great Depression. President Roosevelt appreciated the necessity of this research investment and we can attest today that he was correct in his vision. I am continually inspired by the many outstanding minds that have followed suit and devoted their talents to public service in the worlds of science and medicine. A perfect embodiment of this ideal is fellow Academy member and my colleague at the NIH, Dr. Tony Fauci, with whom I work closely and often on a range of policy issues that make a mark on national and global health.

This is a very special and challenging time for our biomedical community. We are in another time of economic hardship, and the NIH was fortunate to be the recipient of a multi-billion dollar investment from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to create jobs and accelerate the pace of medical discovery. We can and should use the urgency of the current health care discussion as an opportunity to focus on the role of biomedical research and medical discovery in laying the foundation for better human health. It is also a time for physicians to renew their commitment to advocating for health as a human right.

We are optimistic that knowledge from important fields of NIH-funded research will contribute significantly to our progress in achieving affordable and high quality health care for all Americans. Research gives us the mechanism to improve health outcomes by developing and disseminating evidence-based information to patients, clinicians and other decision makers about which interventions are most effective for which patients under specific circumstances. Research in the areas of health economics, health systems research, health disparities, and personalized medicine will also undoubtedly inform the health care discussion in unique and important ways.

As physicians and scientists, we carry deep within us a belief that health is a human right and an understanding that when our health system does not serve many of our fellow Americans adequately, we must change it. Biomedical research offers hope to improve vaccines, therapeutics, devices and health system approaches that will bring health and security to the nation. This health care discussion is not solely about our nation’s health. Rather, it is a testament to our commitment to civility and to the protection of core human values. Thank you.

To watch Dr. Nabel’s speech, please visit The American Academies of Arts and Sciences .



NHLBI Director, Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., spoke before colleagues at the induction ceremony for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 229th class of new members. Dr. Nabel was elected as a Fellow of the Academy’s section on medical sciences and was chosen to represent her section as a speaker at the ceremony held at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (American Academy of Arts and Sciences Photo/Martha Stewart)

October 14, 2009

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

The NHLBI's The Heart Truth^® Campaign Goes to the Republic of Argentina

On September 9, 2009, more than a dozen Argentine celebrities—women from the media, arts, and sports—gathered in Buenos Aires to walk the runway at the annual "Alta Moda" fashion show. But this was no ordinary catwalk. Decked out in the Red Dress Collection by local designer Claudio Cosano, these women were helping to officially launch an initiative to improve women's heart health.

The first introduction of the NHLBI's The Heart Truth^® campaign in Latin America, "Cuidá tu corazón" The Heart Truth™ (Take Care of Your Heart) will spread the word throughout the Republic of Argentina about women's risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In Argentina, 250 in every 100,000 people die of heart disease each year—40 percent of whom are women. Partnering with the NHLBI is the Favaloro Foundation, a non-profit organization in Argentina dedicated to providing medical care, generating scientific knowledge, and educating health professionals.

Among the "Cuidá tu corazón" The Heart Truth™ program's goals are to request a nationwide campaign declaration from the Argentine Congress; showcase the celebrities' red dresses in different fashion shows and medical conferences around the country; promote educational materials during weekly health education classes organized by the Favaloro Foundation; and disseminate heart health information through the media to the Argentine public.

The NHLBI is also working to reduce cardiovascular disease in Latin America through our Global Health Initiative. Just one day before the fashion show, Cristina Rabadán-Diehl, Ph.D., M.P.H.—program director in the NHLBI Division of Cardiovascular Diseases and of the NHLBI Centers of Excellence Global Health—helped launch the Argentina Center of Excellence in Cardiovascular Health in Buenos Aires. As one of the Global Health Initiative's 11 Collaborating Centers of Excellence in developing countries across the globe, and in partnership with the Institute for Clinical Effectiveness and Health Policy, this Center will focus on research, training, and health education for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease in the Southern Cone of Latin America.

More information about the Global Health Initiative and other Centers of Excellence can be found at: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/globalhealth/.

Dr. Rabadán-Diehl (fourth from right), program director in the NHLBI Division of Cardiovascular Diseases and of the NHLBI Centers of Excellence Global Health, with the Argentine celebrities during the "Cuidá tu corazón" The Heart Truth™ Red Dress Collection fashion show in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

^® The Heart Truth is a registered trademark of HHS.
™ "Cuidá tu corazón" The Heart Truth is a trademark of HHS.

October 13, 2009 to November 23, 2009

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

Recruiting for Associate Director for Administrative Management

The NHLBI Office of the Director is seeking exceptional candidates for the position of Associate Director for Administrative Management (ADAM). This is a career federal position in the Senior Executive Service, where you will be among a group of highly skilled executives, contributing to one of the most important missions in the federal government: improving the health of the nation and saving lives. The NHLBI employs approximately 1,300 scientists, other professionals, support staff, and contractors and has a FY 2009 budget in excess of $3.1 billion.

The incumbent is the principal advisor to the Director, NHLBI and the Institute's senior staff on all phases of administrative management involved in operating the Institute, and makes or influences critical decisions in the day-to-day operation of a program that has both national and international prominence. The ADAM has been delegated responsibility by the Director and has full authority to execute the business management policies of the Institute and to commit the resources of the Institute to business management activities. The incumbent is responsible for analyzing, evaluating, and implementing rules and regulations governing the activities of the Institute's scientific programs and the research support services provided by its staff offices. In this capacity, the incumbent is responsible for directing and supervising the financial management, workforce planning and human resources management, management analysis, general administrative management, procurement, and the coordination of the Institute's ethics and Equal Employment Opportunity/Diversity programs.

To qualify, applicants must meet the mandatory Executive Core Qualifications and the additional job-specific Professional/Technical Qualifications requirements detailed on USAJOBS. Candidates will be evaluated on the basis of the quality and extent of total accomplishments, experience, and education they possess. Applications will be accepted from U.S. Citizens and Non-Citizens as allowed by appropriations and statute.

Please apply online at USAJOBS - Announcement No. NHLBI-09-08SES.

Your application package must be received by November 23, 2009.

October 13, 2009

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

NHLBI Launches New Web Site to Access Biospecimens and Data Sets

On October 1, the NHLBI launched a new Web site about the Biologic Specimen and Data Repository Information Coordinating Center, or BioLINCC.

BioLINCC facilitates access to two valuable NHLBI scientific resources: the Biologic Specimen Repository and the NHLBI data set repository. Investigators will now be able to search for data and biospecimens collected on NHLBI-supported clinical trials and epidemiological studies. Using BioLINCC, investigators can electronically request access to biospecimens and data sets and submit requests to store new biospecimen collections.

To date, 2.9 million biospecimens from eight study collections and over 70 data sets with clinical and phenotypic data are available to the scientific community on BioLINCC. The number of biospecimen collections is expected to rise in the coming months, as the phenotypic data continues to be linked to the biospecimen inventory.

For more information, visit https://biolincc.nhlbi.nih.gov/.

October 13, 2009

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

Join Us to Encourage a Healthy Weight

Two-thirds of adults in America are overweight or obese, putting them at increased risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, breathing problems, sleep apnea, and other illnesses.

I had the chance to discuss the impact of obesity on our lives at CNN’s Fit Nation tour this past weekend in St. Paul, Minn., in conjunction with the Twin Cities Marathon. Dr. Sanjay Gupta hosted a panel on multiple health and wellness issues, and obesity was a major focus. I have "tweeted" several messages about the event. Joining me on the panel were Jillian Michaels, fitness expert and trainer on The Biggest Loser; NHLBI grantee Dr. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, a community nutrition professor at the University of Minnesota; and Jim Kauffman, national director for health and well-being at YMCA of the USA. I was delighted to speak alongside such inspiring health activists and to be invited back to Fit Nation later this month for the Marine Corps Marathon here in Washington, DC.

Overweight children have a higher risk of becoming overweight or obese adults, facing health problems that can reduce the length and lower the quality of their lives. But we don’t have to accept this sobering statistic. We are given a chance to reduce our weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle with every action we take, such as parking farther away from the store when running errands, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and choosing lower-calorie foods at every meal—whatever we can work into our days. Dr. Gupta's Web site offers some inspiring success stories .

To have healthy kids, we need to build healthy families, and that starts with healthy parents. The NIH's We Can!™ national education program, offers resources for parents and communities to help children maintain a healthy weight by improving food choices, becoming more active, and spending less time in front of the computer or TV. You can calculate your body mass index, or BMI, on the NHLBI Web site. If it turns out you or a loved one fall into the "overweight" or "obese" group along with so many other Americans, please take action. You owe it to yourself to stay healthy and fit! This takes a lot of courage, and we at the NHLBI support you.

NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D. (second from right) spoke about obesity and other health topics at the Fit Nation tour in St. Paul, Minn. Fellow panelists included (l to r): Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of CNN's "Fit Nation"; NHLBI grantee and University of Minnesota nutrition professor Dr. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer; Jim Kauffman, national director for health and well-being at YMCA of the USA; and Jillian Michaels, fitness expert and trainer on The Biggest Loser.

October 1, 2009

NHLBI’s Nancy Geller Honored with Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Statistical Sciences Dr. Nancy Geller, Director of the Office of Biostatistics Research of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), was honored with the eighth annual Janet L. Norwood Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Statistical Sciences on September 16. The award recognizes Nancy’s national and international contributions to statistical sciences and acknowledges her many accomplishments during her ongoing tenure as part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) community. As part of the award, Nancy received an honorarium and participated in a distinguished lecture at the at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), School of Public Health, in addition to meeting with students and young faculty. This recognition brings to the forefront the continued need for women’s participation in the sciences, on a national and international level. Nancy’s perseverance and dedication in the field of statistical sciences is a testament to the many scientific endeavors she has seen through to fruition. We are fortunate to have her in the NIH community as well as the global scientific community. To learn more about the Janet L. Norwood Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Statistical Sciences, please visit: http://www.soph.uab.edu/ssg/norwoodaward/aboutaward.

Dr. Nancy Geller, Director of the Office of Biostatistics Research of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), was honored with the eighth annual Janet L. Norwood Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Statistical Sciences.

September 30, 2009

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

President Obama Makes Historic Funding Announcement at NIH

On September 30, 2009, we had the honor of hosting President Barack Obama and Secretary Sebelius as we marked a milestone in distributing funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Our nation's "Scientist-in-Chief," as NIH Director Francis Collins introduced him, announced that as of September 30, 2009, the NIH had awarded $5 billion in Recovery Act funds to support research grants in academic institutions across the country. Calling this economic and scientific stimulus "the single largest boost to biomedical research in history," President Obama highlighted the ultimate goals of the Recovery Act-spurred research: "to conduct cutting-edge research all across America, to unlock treatments to diseases that have long plagued humanity, to save and enrich the lives of people all over the world." The President went on to name heart disease as one of the significant public health problems we hope to better understand, prevent and treat now that Recovery Act funds are making it possible to apply more of what we have learned through the Human Genome Project. The President's announcement included the NHLBI's "Grand Opportunity" Large-Scale DNA Sequencing Project, which will spend more than $63 million to identify genetic connections to the heart, lung, and blood diseases that account for three of the four leading causes of death in the United States. President Obama also recognized the enormous efforts of those who review the grants and conduct the research projects that are at the core of the Recovery Act's success. Addressing the audience gathered in the Clinical Center's Masur auditorium and watching the videocast from their computers, he said: "The work you do is not easy. It takes a great deal of patience and persistence. But it holds incredible promise for the health of our people and the future of our nation and our world." To learn more about this historic visit, please visit the links below: The White House blog, featuring Dr. Collins and others: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Creating-Jobs-and-Finding-Cures/ President Obama's Visit to NIH videocast: http://videocast.nih.gov/Summary.asp?File=15315 The White House transcript: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-on-the-American-Recovery-and-Reinvestment-Act-at-the-National-Institutes-of-Health/

September 17, 2009

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

New Director of the NHLBI Division for the Application of Research Discoveries Named

It is my pleasure to announce that Dr. Denise Simons-Morton has accepted the position of Director of our Division for the Application of Research Discoveries (DARD) and will assume these new responsibilities on November 9.

Denise joined the NHLBI in 1992 as a Research Medical Officer and subsequently led the Prevention Scientific Research Group and the Clinical Applications and Prevention Program/Branch and was later appointed Senior Scientific Advisor in DCVD/DPPS. Currently, she serves as the scientific Project Officer for the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial. Previously, Denise was the scientific Project Officer and collaborator on numerous NIH-funded multicenter controlled trials of efficacy or effectiveness questions for cardiovascular disease prevention that dealt with the effects of dietary patterns and lifestyle interventions on blood pressure; community approaches on health-care seeking behavior for acute cardiac events; behavioral interventions on obesity and physical activity levels; and glycemia, blood pressure, and lipid treatment strategies on cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetes.

Trained in family practice, public health, preventive medicine, and epidemiology, Denise is board certified in Preventive Medicine and Public Health. She received her M.D. from the University of Maryland, an M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Texas. Prior to joining the NHLBI, Denise was Assistant Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health at the University of Texas and subsequently in the Department of Community Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine. She is the author or co-author of more than 90 journal or book publications and over two dozen NIH Funding Opportunity Announcements.

Denise is looking forward to working with the talented and dedicated staff in DARD and other colleagues.

September 14, 2009

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

Enhancements Made to the NHLBI Recovery Act Web Pages

I am delighted to announce the debut of several new and enhanced communication tools from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to keep you informed about our activities – and those of the scientists we support – related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act).

The investment of Recovery Act monies in the NHLBI allows us the opportunity to both accelerate the implementation of the NHLBI Strategic Plan: Shaping the Future for Research and to help stimulate the nation's economy. Through our enhanced Recovery Act Web pages, Twitter, and other activities, we will provide you with updates on the NHLBI's investment in basic and clinical research through Recovery Act funds.

The NHLBI Recovery Act Web pages feature general Recovery Act information, details on funding and policies, stories and videos about the researchers we support, and media resources. You can also find our new online Leadership Journal, where the NHLBI senior staff and I will share our personal perspectives on the strategic directions and impact of Recovery Act-supported research.

In addition, our inaugural issue of The NHLBI’s Recovery Act News, an e-newsletter devoted exclusively to Recovery Act updates and announcements, will be posted on the Web pages later this week. The newsletter will also highlight stories about how Recovery Act funds are making real-life differences and links to other tools that the NHLBI has designed to enhance Recovery Act communications.

... And, follow me on Twitter (@NHLBI_Nabel) for general and Recovery Act-related updates on a regular basis!

September 9, 2009

NHLBI Staff Recognized for Demonstrated Excellence in the Workplace

On September 8 and 9, I had the pleasure of joining other members of the NHLBI leadership team in recognizing staff members who made significant contributions to the NHLBI mission.

Staff members received awards in three categories: Excellence in Support of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Excellence in Mentoring, and Excellence in Administrative and Technical Support. All NHLBI staff members, except for the senior executives, are eligible for Star Awards.

I was particularly proud of the staff members who were recognized for their contributions to the NHLBI as mentors to others, and this recognition is appreciated by our employees. After receiving the Star Award, one of our employees told his supervisor, "I never really thought of myself as a mentor, but now I do."

At the NHLBI, mentors play a critical role in our efforts to support research and education to prevent and treat heart, lung, and blood diseases. Not only do mentors help other staff members to do their jobs better and more efficiently, they also make the NHLBI a better place to work—a place where we grow as individuals and as professionals.

The award recipients received an engraved crystal heart with the NHLBI logo and the words, “Star Award.” To see a group photo of the recipients, visit the NHLBI Leadership Journal.

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, NHLBI Director, [left] and Dr. Robert S. Balaban, NHLBI Scientific Director, [right] with one of the Excellence in Mentoring NHLBI Star Award recipients, Dr. Yasuhiro Katagiri.

August 21, 2009

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. Sworn in as the 16th Director of the National Institutes of Health

This week we welcomed back to the NIH my dear colleague, Dr. Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., who was officially sworn in as the 16th director of the National Institutes of Health on Monday, August 17, 2009.  On his first day back on campus, we welcomed him with an NIH All-Hands Town meeting where he shared his vision and priorities for the NIH (see videocast).

Dr. Collins has been a pioneering force in science with his groundbreaking research in genetics and his leadership as director of the National Genome Research Institute.  His work on the Human Genome Project revolutionized science and the way we look at DNA and genes, opening up many doors for advancement in medicine.  He has been the driving force behind myriad landmark discoveries of disease genes, including those responsible for cystic fibrosis, neurofibromatosis, Huntington’s disease, a familial endocrine cancer syndrome, and type 2 diabetes.

Prior to coming to the NIH, Dr. Collins and I were both on the faculty at the University of Michigan and I subsequently have had the pleasure of collaborating with Dr. Collins on a number of projects, including an effort to find a cure for Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes premature aging in children. 

His commitment to scientists and the advancement of public health will serve him well in his role as the NIH Director.

I look forward to working with Dr. Collins in his new capacity.

August 7, 2009

Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Awarded Honorary Degree from St. George’s, University of London

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel [first row, right], Dr. Gary Nabel [first row, left] with members of the St. George’s University
faculty and Honorary Degree recipient, Elaine Murphy, Baronness Murphy of Aldgate  [Front row, center].

Dr. Nabel was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (Medicine) from St. George’s, University of London, alongside her husband, Dr. Gary Nabel, Director of the Vaccine Research Centre of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The Nabels were honored for their contributions  to the advancement of knowledge in clinical sciences.

“We are honored in recognizing the scientific contributions of these immensely gifted and dedicated professionals whose groundbreaking work is likely to have enormous significance for the lives of thousands of people around the world,” said St. George’s Principal Professor Peter Kopelman.

The graduation ceremony took place on June 29at the Barbican Centre in London.

August 7, 2009

Tougaloo College Students Aspiring Toward Careers in Public Health Visit the NIH Campus

Dr. Robert Hoyt, Division of Intramural Research, Laboratory of Animal Medicine
& Surgery, NHLBI, takes students on a tour of his lab.

Students from Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi, visited the National Institutes of Health (NIH) July 28-29, as part of the Jackson Heart study training program, an initiative supported by the Office of Research Training and Minority Health (ORTMH), Office of the Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

The program is designed to help prepare students for careers in research, medicine, public health, and epidemiology related to cardiovascular diseases and is a joint collaboration with the Jackson State University, Tougaloo College, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The Jackson Heart study training program provides curriculum to students to carry out medical research studies such as the Jackson Heart Study - the largest cohort study to investigate the inherited (genetic) factors that affect high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other important diseases in African Americans.

During their two-day tour of the campus, the 12 students had a wonderful opportunity to engage with leaders across the NIH as staff from various Institutes and Centers spoke to the students and shared their many experiences with them. They also visited several NHLBI laboratories. The NHLBI Deputy Director Susan Shurin, M.D., welcomed them and shared the many contributions that the NIH makes to the national and international community as a steward of scientific research.

Among the celebrated leaders, students also met with Tougaloo College Alumni including Office of Communications and Public Liaison Branch Chief Calvin Jackson and National Cancer Institute Research Fellows Drs. Audray Harris and Kimberly Jackson, all of whom shared stories with the students and reflected on how their experiences at Tougaloo College helped define who and where they are today as members of the NIH community.

The student’s visit to the NIH campus marks the sixth year of this program – a testament to the NHLBI’s commitment to the advancement of research for generations to come. This program was a shared learning experience for everyone involved and the NIH community looks forward to the many contributions this talented group of young adults will make to the larger scientific community. Office of Research Training and Minority Health (ORTMH) Director Helena O. Mishoe, Ph.D., MPH, who helped organize and lead the two-day tour, said of the program, “Each year we are excited to bring a new cadre of Tougaloo scholars to the NIH. The power of their imagination after visiting the NIH makes their career possibilities truly infinite. We are delighted to play a part in their future.”

To learn more about the Tougaloo College Students and the Jackson Heart Study, please visit: http://jhs.jsums.edu/jhsinfo/

July 21, 2009

UPenn Cardiologist Receives Presidential Early-Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and Separate ARRA Award from the NHLBI

President Obama announced that Thomas Cappola, MD, ScM, an assistant professor in the division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine, was awarded the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, in recognition of his NHLBI-funded research on causes and treatments for heart failure.

The Award was created to honor those young scientists and engineers who have shown immense potential in their chosen field. Through this award, Dr. Cappola, who is about to begin his third year of NHLBI-funded research, will receive an additional two years of funding from the Institute to support his heart failure research, which seeks to identify several critical genetic factors associated with the condition.

“Dr. Cappola is an outstanding young physician investigator and we are thrilled that he was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers,” said Dr. Nabel.

Separately, Dr. Cappola received NHLBI ARRA funding to hire research coordinator, Ms. Erin McIntosh— a premedical student at the University of Pennsylvania—to help enhance heart failure patient recruitment and thus enable more extensive genotyping. The award will help to accelerate the pace of the research, while contributing to economic recovery by providing a full-time job.

July 17, 2009

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel delivered the Commencement Address to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University on June 2, 2009

“People First”

President Joel, Dean Spiegel, members of the faculty, Board of Trustees, alumni, distinguished guests, parents, and friends:

It is with great honor and pride that I join with you today in this distinguished venue, to celebrate the achievements of the Class of 2009 of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. It is especially meaningful for me to be here in Avery Fisher Hall because I sat just where you are sitting 28 years ago at my own medical school graduation from Cornell, right here in Lincoln Center.

To the new physicians and researchers of the Class of 2009, we offer our most sincere congratulations!

Today, I want to also acknowledge another special group of people. They are the 50 physicians from the Class of 1959—the very first graduates of this medical school. In fact, I am so pleased to say that I know one of them--our earlier speaker, Dr. Lou Aledort. We met back in 1979 while I was doing a hemophilia project at Cornell with his colleague Dr. Margaret Hilgartner. Dr. Aledort is a renowned hemophilia researcher and strong advocate for patient care. You are lucky to have him in the Einstein family. [Story of Margaret Hilgartner – role model and clinical researcher].

Many other members of the Class of ‘59 are here with us today on the occasion of the medical school’s 50th anniversary. So please join me in giving them a round of applause and genuine thanks for sharing in this day with us!

Today, we celebrate 250 new graduate degrees. You are 181 new M.D.s, 59 new Ph.D.s—14 who earned both—and 10 new Clinical Research master’s degree recipients. All told, that’s over 1,000 years’ worth of work!

Each one of you has worked extremely hard to reach this day. Bask in the sunshine of your achievements and the warmth of the friendships you have developed on this journey.

Class of 2009--you and your families have made many sacrifices to get to this special time and place. They are so proud of what you have accomplished and see your future success on the horizon. Please join me in thanking these important people!

Some of you are the first in your families to attend college, and many are the first to go to medical school. Some of you also have full-time jobs as parents or caregivers—you have learned first-hand the real-world definition of multitasking. The challenges you all have faced have been far and wide, and your paths have all been different.

But today, our cause for celebration is not your differences but your commonality, the one thing you all share. You have all pledged to serve humankind through promoting good health.

Class of 2009--think of yourselves 10, 20, 50 years from now. At that time, you will cherish many special memories from this landmark period of your life. Relaxing with some good eats at the “real” Bronx Little Italy right here in this neighborhood, not the Arthur Avenue Little Italy impostor … Trading war stories at Gleason’s [bar] … Cheering for the Yankees, or the Mets, or the Giants, or the Jets, or any other of the many sports teams in this town. Or uncoiling the tension of a difficult week amid the tranquility and splendor of the New York Botanical Garden.

Some of you have met your life partners during your training: I can relate, because I met my husband Gary when I was a resident—he was just an intern at the time. Our first date was over a bet: about a patient diagnosis.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine has a proud tradition of blending clinical care and research, and a culture that maintains such a strong humanitarian ethos. Since the very beginning, Einstein has been open to students of all backgrounds—this was the condition imposed by your namesake, the brilliant physicist and compassionate humanitarian.

Yours is a richly diverse group of individuals, drawn from 16 states across the nation. One in five of you was born outside the United States, from Colombia to Japan to Trinidad & Tobago, and just about everywhere in between. Over half of you speak one of 23 different foreign languages!

And fifty-seven percent of you are female. We are so fortunate to have in our audience today Dr. Evelyne Albrecht Schwaber, one of only three women in the first graduating class of 50 students.

Reading Dr. Schwaber’s remembrances for this 50th anniversary occasion, I am struck by what a pioneer your school was from the very start. Dr. Schwaber writes that during her medical school years:

“[Einstein’s] expectations for excellence and for humaneness, respect for one’s personhood, were entirely egalitarian.”

Sometimes today we all take for granted the remarkable gains our society has made toward gender, ethnic, and religious equality, but let us recognize the foresight your founders had in these matters. For that you should stand extremely proud.

Now, let us look forward: What does your future hold? This is one of the most exciting times to be launching a medical career.

Look at what the revolution in science and technology has already given us. Sequencing the human genome is helping us unravel the genetics of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes. It seems like each week new data gets us that much closer to the day when we can screen patients accurately for disease risk, and act early to prevent symptoms from ever surfacing.

Thanks to biotechnology and new understanding of the vastly complicated frontiers of the brain and immune system, we are closing in on treatments for neurodegenerative diseases that rob us of family and friends, and we are getting nearer to finding vaccines for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB.

You will begin your residencies next month, probably with equal doses of excitement and anxiety. Many of you will find it exhilarating but a little awkward to be called “doctor.” You will get on with life and all the responsibilities it brings. [Story of meeting my husband, Gary. Intern, resident, 25th anniversary].

What is the common thread to all the different roles your life as a doctor will introduce?

The answer, of course, is people, your patients. You have chosen a profession that is so much more than a job, or a career. It is a calling of the highest order. It is a commitment to keeping people first in everything you do. This is as true today as when Hippocrates penned his famous oath.

The person, your patient, is the center of all medicine. And due to the extraordinary research progress we have made—the dawn of personalized medicine is nearly here. It will be your commitment to find for your patient the right treatment, deliver it in the right setting, and at the right time.

Yes, some of personalized medicine will be about genomics and using customized biological therapies. But, really, the goal of personalized medicine is much more than that, for it is really about making good choices. Engaging your patients in their own care. Finding out what cultural factors will help a teenager stay healthy for a lifetime. It’s about understanding and listening to people first.

Your time at Einstein has readied you for this. Among this school’s pioneering educational initiatives is bringing first-year students into contact with patients and linking classroom study to case experiences. You have a faculty deeply committed to teaching the art of basic clinical skills—and it is an art--that requires patience, practice, and attention throughout your medical life.

Your commitment to being an advocate for your patients, to recognizing that what you do as a physician is a calling of the highest order, and to putting people first will be the keystone of your success as a doctor. And it will frame the opportunities and challenges that you will face during your career, many of which will extend far beyond the art and the science that you practice—wherever that may be.

Some of you will care for the very young, or for the very old. Hopefully, many of you will find a way to use all those foreign language skills to communicate with the rich diversity of patients that you will meet in the coming years!

Some of you will work tirelessly to bring health care to those who cannot afford it.

Some of you will choose careers that take you abroad—to work with communities very different from our own.

Some of you will make your mark doing research.

One of the most exciting programs I’ve had the chance to initiate as Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute is our Global Health Initiative. We now are partnering with national research funding agencies in China, India, Australia, Canada, and the UK, to focus on prevention and treatment of chronic disease such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic lung disease.

And next week we will be launching a partnership with the United Health Group, the largest health insurer in the US, to support 11 Centers of Excellence in research, training and health care delivery around the world – China, India, Bangladesh, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Argentina, Peru, Guatemala, Tunisia, and the US Mexican border. I hope some of you will join us in these programs during your training.

That’s why I was delighted to hear about your colleague Mark Goldin, who journeyed to Beijing, China for a global health fellowship. There, he did genetic and epidemiological research on HIV infection at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, at Peking Union Medical College.

During the only two months he was in China, Mark’s work contributed to learning about how the virus is spreading from high-risk groups to the general population. He also participated in a study looking at sequence data to assess the prevalence of HIV resistance to various anti-HIV treatment regimens.

I recently spent a week in China visiting with Chinese public health and research officials about collaborations, and I can tell you that partnerships like these are so important for our global community.

Einstein has a long and proud research history and all of you have been amid this environment of discovery throughout your time here. I encourage you to keep learning—during your residencies and throughout your medical career. It is vital that you learn the basic principles of translational and clinical research—and that is why your schooling here has been special.

Louis Pasteur’s famous words really are true: “Chance favors the prepared mind.” You need to be ready for what comes at you, so prepare yourselves to embrace new opportunities that will come your way, often unexpectedly.

Today, as director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, I am so lucky to be immersed in the world of research every day. Science is a true passion for me. But in this role I also have the pleasure of helping people by leading several public awareness campaigns that reach millions of Americans.

One of these targets women and heart disease; it is called the Heart Truth. Heart disease is the number-one killer of women in this country, and we created the Red Dress as a symbol of heart disease and women.

My interest--my passion for this, really--comes directly from the lessons that I learned from one of my patients at the University of Michigan. Let me introduce you to this woman that shaped my career.

“Anne” developed diabetes in 1952, when she was only 7 years old. Insulin was available only on an experimental basis then, but Anne’s loving and determined mother, who was a nurse, brought her to the Joslin Clinic in Boston, where she could receive state-of-the-art treatment.

Over the years, Anne was able to take meticulous care of her diabetes, largely through the extraordinary devotion and support of her mother. I met Anne in 1990 when she came to the hospital with a second-life threatening illness--heart disease. Anne’s father and brother had both died of heart attacks in their late 40s, and Anne had a heart attack herself at age 45, undoubtedly due to a genetic factor. We performed an angioplasty, she survived, but she went on to ultimately require bypass surgery.

As I got to know Anne and her mother, I learned many lessons. Yes, heart disease can strike a woman at any age. And we need to get that message out. But also, I was inspired by the confidence of Anne and her mother that they could meet this challenge--or any other challenge--head on and overcome it.

And Anne has. She is now 64, having lived 57 years with type 1 diabetes and 17 years post by-pass heart surgery. She is doing extremely well. Her belief that she was equal to any challenge taught me a profound lesson that I never would have learned in any class.

The commitment you are making by becoming a doctor, a scientist, or both, is not just about upholding ethical standards for treating individual people like the Annes of this world, but also about your promise to make ours a society in which the very best of medical science is used in the service of all of humankind.

The value of the basic research that fuels medical progress cannot be underestimated. One of your colleagues receiving a Ph.D. today is a terrific example. Abraham Guerrero worked in the lab of faculty member Dr. Bettina Fries, studying the pathogenesis of Cryptococcus neoformans, a threat to immunocompromised people.

I learned that Abraham is the first in his family to complete a higher education degree, and that he has dedicated his thesis to all his teachers and mentors. He is already giving back, sharing his love of science with middle schoolers in the Bronx and staying active in the recruitment of minorities to medicine and science.

Good luck, Abraham, as you continue your journey at the “Hutch” cancer center in Seattle!

It is vital that we continue to invest significantly in the medical research NIH supports here and at institutions across the nation. You will be part of this effort, whether your primary role is keeping abreast of the latest advances in genomics, imaging, clinical informatics, or many other cutting-edge areas, and applying them to the care of your patients; engaging your patients and colleagues in clinical investigations; or finding the thrill of discovery in the lab, like Abraham, Mark, and others, delving into fundamental research questions.

There are so many opportunities to bring people of all ages in your community into the research process.

In 2006, Einstein became the only medical institution in New York City, New York State, and the entire northeast to serve as a research site for the Hispanic Community Health Study, the largest research study of Hispanic health ever. Through this effort, Einstein researchers are helping us look at the prevalence and development of disease in Hispanics/Latinos, and find risk factors that we can use for disease prevention. This is incredibly important work.

Your school was also the only New York City institution selected to participate in my Institute’s landmark Women’s Health Initiative. The results of this research, while at times difficult to interpret and explain to the public, have made an enormous impact on women’s health.

It’s clear that Einstein knows how to put the people in its community first. I am so pleased to learn of the efforts going on here with respect to programs like the Einstein Community Health Outreach (ECHO) Free Clinic. It is so wonderful that programs like ECHO, begun only 10 years ago--and the first-ever student-coordinated community health clinic in the state--provides medical care, health education, and social services to the uninsured in the South Bronx and neighboring communities.

It is through these collaborative efforts that we need to listen to people, understand their needs, find out what is going to be effective--and practical--in our complex and diverse world. Nowhere does “one-size-fits-all” apply when it comes to modern patient care.

And we all recognize that our social neighborhood has grown so much. We are all part of a global community, and it will be your job to contribute in any way you can to advancing the health of the world’s most needy citizens. As a doctor, you are an ambassador for preserving the health of all people.

Once again, here at Einstein, many of you have already had these opportunities thanks to the school’s ongoing strong commitment to global health.

In reviewing materials for this speech, I came across some other moving stories from students, like Mark Goldin, who participated in your school’s Global Health Initiative. We should celebrate the spirit of these efforts that go right to the heart of what it means to be a physician:

I was also inspired by Monica Payares’ story. Before reaching the age of 10, Monica knew she wanted to be a doctor, having two younger brothers in full-length leg casts for long periods due to a rare disorder. In honor of her father, who succumbed to an aortic stenosis at age 44, Monica established la Fundación Juan José Payares Bustos—to help provide care in her native Colombia. Last year, she organized the foundation’s first health fair for the residents of Galerazamba, Colombia.

There, she gathered a team of physicians who provided free screenings, medical exams, and general health and nutrition education and she says, “Many people had never seen a doctor. One man, who hadn't been seen by any medical professional for 15 years, was overjoyed to put on a new pair of glasses. "His first request was to read the newspaper,” Monica says.

And your colleague Victoria Costales did several global health fellowships during her four years here—traveling to the Philippines, Honduras—and just this March, to Uganda. There, she worked with Einstein faculty member Dr. Gerald Paccione, in the program he has established in Kisoro. With the help of Einstein medical students, Dr. Paccione has developed an inexpensive yet efficient approach to identify women at risk for cervical cancer, the leading cancer killer among Ugandan women.

These initiatives—whether in the Liaoning Province, Galerazamba, Kisoro—or right here in the poor sections of the Bronx—show us the value of putting people, out patients, first. It serves as a reminder of what it means to do the job we have chosen to do, that is, to comfort and to heal.

Class of 2009, congratulations! From here on, we are relying on your smarts, your competence, your diligence, and above all, your compassion.

And we are also relying on your voice. Speak out to ensure that what you know, what you see, what you experience, cannot be ignored as our nation and our world debates what direction we will take. You are tomorrow’s leaders.

I am confident that keeping people first, your patients first, will always lead you to the right decisions, and you will live the life of integrity embodied in the Hippocratic Oath.

Congratulations, good luck, and Godspeed.

July 13, 2009

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel to Speak at Aspen Health Forum

Dr. Nabel has been invited to speak at the second annual Aspen Health Forum, which will be held at the Aspen Institute campus in Aspen, CO, July 24-27, 2009.

The Forum will feature over 75 of the top medical scientists and leaders in health care in a venue that allows for open discussion between industry leaders and everyday citizens on health-related issues.

To learn more, please visit The Aspen Health Forum

July 1, 2009

Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Elected into American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Nabel was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ section on medical sciences. 

The Academy, which was established in 1780 by the founders of the nation, honors individuals who have demonstrated excellence and provided service to the nation and the world with its primary focus on science, technology, and global security; social policy and American institutions; the humanities and culture; and education.

The new class will be inducted at a ceremony on October 10, 2009, at the Academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Dr. Nabel will be installed alongside three additional NIH scientists, Dr. Alan G. Hinnebusch of NICHD, Dr. Sankar Adhya of NCI, and Dr. Attila Szabo of NIDDK.

July 1, 2009

New Study Finds Direct Correlation between NIH Funding and Population Changes

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on June 22, 2009, published an article titled, “NIH Funding Trajectories and Their Correlations with U.S. Health Dynamics from 1950 to 2004,” which explores the prospective effects of the NIH funding and its direct correlation with population changes in the risk of specific diseases.

In the article, authors Kenneth G. Manton, Xi-Liang Gu, Gene Lowrimore, Arthur Ullian, and H. Dennis Tolley examine four major chronic diseases: cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes. As part of their research, they identify four major shifts in U.S. national health between 1938 and 2004 that correlate with funding from the NIH, particularly from the NHLBI.

To learn more, please read the PNAS article.

June 29, 2009

An Update on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

Dear Colleagues:

I want to provide an update on the NHLBI’s participation in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  The NIH received a tremendous response to Recovery Act requests for applications, including more than 20,000 for Challenge Grants.  Given the high volume of response, I outlined in the chart below how we plan to invest the NHLBI ARRA funding.  Please note that the projected level of funding and number of awards are estimates.   

Additionally, the NIH has released to the public a beta version of its new Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool Expenditures and Results (RePORTER) system.  This new tool, found at http://projectreporter.nih.gov, retains all of the features of CRISP while providing additional query fields that can be sorted and downloaded and includes a search field for ARRA-funded grants.

As we move forward with the review and award of ARRA-related applications, the Institute will continue to work closely with its advisory council to advance the nation’s biomedical research agenda, create and preserve jobs, and stimulate the economy.  More details about the Institute’s rationale, approach, and requirements are provided at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/recovery. 

We remain committed to conducting all of our activities in a spirit of public service and with a commitment to excellence, innovation, integrity, respect, compassion, and open communication.  We welcome your comments, feedback, and suggestions at nhlbi.listens@nih.gov.

*Of the $10 billion provided to the National Institutes of Health, the NHLBI received an allocation of $763 million.
**The number of applications/requests received as of June 24, 2009.

June 8, 2009

The NHLBI Expands Global Health Initiative

I am pleased to update you on the expansion of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI’s) Global Health Initiative, an effort to further the Institute’s engagement in global health issues by working to prevent chronic disease worldwide. This initiative builds upon our commitment to provide international leadership through research, training, and education, as described in the NHLBI Strategic Plan.

Chronic diseases know no boundaries, and data show that they are affecting the young and the elderly, the rich and the poor, and every ethnic group across the world. To address this growing global burden, the NHLBI is joining in two collaborative efforts to counter chronic disease: the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases and the “UnitedHealth and NHLBI Collaborating Centers of Excellence.”

The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases is a public-private partnership composed of national health agencies, which together represent about 80 percent of all public research funding in the world. The formation of this alliance brings to fruition a global commitment to increase the resources and attention to chronic noncommunicable diseases, which are causing a growing rate of illness, disability, and premature death around the world. View a photo of the alliance signatories.

Additionally, the NHLBI is awarding 10 contracts totaling more than $34 million and joining with the UnitedHealth Group’s Chronic Disease Initiative to form “UnitedHealth and NHLBI Collaborating Centers of Excellence.” Each Center of Excellence is led by a research institution in a low- or middle-income developing country paired with at least one partnering academic institution in a developed country to enhance research and training opportunities. This worldwide, collaborating network of research and training centers will build institutional and community capacity to prevent and control chronic diseases.

We look forward to continuing to work with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations to forge collaborative research activities and foster a sustainable and significant reduction of illness, disability, and death due to chronic diseases. Together, we can make more efficient advances in heart, lung, and blood diseases – and help people around the world to live longer, healthier lives.

For more information for the NHLBI’s Global Health Initiative, please visit: http://www.globalhealth.nhlbi.nih.gov.

SEATTLE, WA SUNDAY JUNE 14 2009 Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases signatories, standing back row left to right, Depei Liu (China), Warwick Anderson (Australia), Abdallah Daar (University of Toronto), Stig Pramming (Oxford Health Alliance), and Leszek Borysiewicz (UK), front row seated left to right, Dr. Elizabeth Nabel (USA) and Alain Beaudet (Canada). (Kevin P. Casey for the Global Alliance)

June 4, 2009

Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Reviews Proposed FY2010 Budget

On May 21, 2009, the Senate Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies held a hearing to examine the President’s proposed fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget for the NIH and to discuss the $10.4 billion provided to the NIH in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

NIH Acting Director Dr. Raynard Kington, NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, NHLBI Director Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, and NCI Director Dr. John Niederhuber testified.

Dr. Nabel presented the NHLBI’s FY 2010 budget of $3,050,356,000, which includes an increase of $34,667,000 over the FY 2009 appropriated level of $3,015,689,000.

In her statement, Dr. Nabel emphasized several initiatives that are being undertaken during the current FY and outlined a number of opportunities to be addressed in FY 2010, including the development of a stem cell consortium, a new clinical trial on hypertension management strategies, an asthma network, a hemoglobinopathies data system, cardiac translational research implementation program, and new programs to prevent and treat childhood obesity.

To read Dr. Nabel’s full testimony, please visit: Statement by Dr. Nabel before the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

May 21, 2009

Draft NIH Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research Now Available for Public Comment – Deadline is May 26

The NIH is seeking public comment on the "National Institutes of Health Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research.” The draft guidelines were developed to implement Executive Order 13505, which calls for the removal of limits on federally supported research on human embryonic stem cells. Written comments must be received by the NIH on or before May 26, 2009.

This is your opportunity to share your comments about the proposed criteria for existing or new embryonic stem cell lines to be used under the new guidelines. As drafted, the guidelines allow funding for research using human embryonic stem cells that were derived from embryos created by in vitro fertilization (IVF) for reproductive purposes and are no longer needed for that purpose. The draft guidelines do not allow NIH funding for research using human embryonic stem cells derived from other sources, including somatic cell nuclear transfer, parthenogenesis, and/or IVF embryos created for research purposes. Funding will continue to be allowed for human stem cell research using adult stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells.

To read the full draft guidelines or to learn more, please visit: Draft National Institutes of Health Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research.

Comments may be submitted at: Draft NIH Human Stem Cell Guidelines - Comments Form.

April 20, 2009 to May 17, 2009

Recruiting for Director, Division for the Application of Research Discoveries

The NHLBI is seeking an exceptional candidate to serve as the Director of the Division for the Application of Research Discoveries (DARD). DARD provides leadership for the vigorous pursuit of excellence in national and international research translation, dissemination, and utilization programs to speed the application of scientific advances in the prevention, detection, and treatment of cardiovascular, lung, and blood diseases and narrow the discovery-delivery gap.

As a key member of the senior leadership of the Institute, the DARD Director manages a broad sphere of responsibilities, including collaboration with closely aligned programs across the NHLBI, NIH, and other organizations and the development of priorities and goals for the Division.  The DARD Director also plans and implements novel strategies to bridge the gap between knowledge creation and application, accelerating incorporation of science-based information into clinical and public health practice.

Applicants must possess a PhD, or MD, or equivalent doctoral degree and expertise in research translation, dissemination, utilization, and health communications in the areas of heart, lung, and blood diseases. Successful candidates will be accomplished researchers, educators, and administrators, with impeccable personal qualities, integrity, vision, collaborative philosophy, and outstanding communication skills. The position is open for U.S. Citizens and Permanent Resident non-citizens.  

Please apply online at USAJOBS - Announcement No. NHLBI-09-337587.

Your application package must be received by May 17, 2009.

April 6, 2009

The NHLBI Announces New Clinical Trial Related to Warfarin Dosage

The NHLBI is launching the largest prospective, multi-center, randomized clinical trial in the United States to test whether adding a gene-based strategy to clinical information for determining initial warfarin doses will improve anticoagulation control, as measured by a blood test. Called Clarification of Optimal Anticoagulation through Genetics (COAG), the trial is supported by the NHLBI, with additional funding for genome analyses from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NIGMS).  The COAG trial, which will be conducted at 12 sites across the U.S., is expected to begin recruiting in May.

COAG will test a dosing strategy similar to that developed by researchers in the International Warfarin Pharmacogenetics Consortium (IWPC), whose results were published in the February 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.  When they applied the strategy to information from a large database of patients, the IWPC researchers found that the predications of ideal dosages of warfarin were more accurate when the gene-based strategy was used than when clinical information alone was used.

The results of COAG could represent a major advancement toward applying personalized medicine principles to one of the most widely prescribed medications in the world.

For more information, please read NIH News Release.

April 3, 2009

An Update on the NHLBI’s Participation in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to update you on the NHLBI’s planning and implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).  I want to share with you how energized we are with this opportunity.  The investment of ARRA monies in the NHLBI allows us the unprecedented opportunity to accelerate the implementation of the NHLBI Strategic Plan: Shaping the Future for Research and to stimulate the economy.

The NHLBI intends to invest its ARRA funding in research that advances basic discoveries of the causes of diseases, promotes the translation of the basic discoveries into clinical practice, and fosters training and mentoring of emerging scientists and physicians. The funding plan strikes an important balance between our commitment to investigator-initiated research grants and “signature” projects.

A section of our website is dedicated to providing detailed information about the NHLBI’s participation in the ARRA, http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/recovery. On these pages, you will find information on the funding mechanisms as well as two useful tools, the Frequently Asked Questions section and Milestone Changes to the NHLBI’s Recovery Pages, which is a log of updates to the ARRA-related web pages.  As new information becomes available, we will update these pages and therefore encourage you to check back periodically. 

I look forward to continuing our work together during this historic opportunity.  We welcome your comments, feedback, and suggestions at nhlbi.listens@nih.gov.

March 30, 2009

Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Named Lifetime Remarkable Woman

Dr. Nabel has been named a “Remarkable Woman” by Lifetime Networks’ Every Woman Counts campaign. The 2009 campaign unveiled Remarkable Women, a weekly series that spotlights extraordinary women who inspire and empower others to make a difference in their communities. Dr. Nabel was recognized for her dedication to service and her contributions to the scientific community.

To watch the video tribute to Dr. Nabel, please visit: Every Woman Counts Salutes Dr. Elizabeth Nabel.

March 26, 2009

Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Named to Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research

Dr. Nabel was named by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as one of 15 members of the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research.  Authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the new council will help agencies of the federal government coordinate research and guide investments in comparative effectiveness research (CER) and related health services research. The ARRA allocates $1.1 billion to support CER.

The NHLBI has been involved in a number of landmark studies in CER, evaluating prevention, treatment, and technologies that target major cardiovascular and pulmonary disorders, including heart attacks, sudden death, heart failure, high blood pressure, cholesterol, emphysema, and asthma.

For more information on the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research, please read HHS News Release.

To learn more about CER at the NHLBI, read Comparative Effectiveness Research: The View From the NHLBI by Michael Lauer, M.D., Director of the Division of Prevention and Population Science at the NHLBI.

March 5, 2009

NHLBI Information About the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

The NHLBI has been working to develop research grant and contract support mechanisms for its participation in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This is truly an extraordinary opportunity to advance heart, lung, and blood research, and I want to keep you informed.

The NHLBI has posted information regarding its participation in the ARRA on The Director’s Corner and on the Funding & Research page to include information on research grants and administrative and competitive supplements. This is where you will also find details pertaining to the new NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research, with specific challenge topics related to the NHLBI’s mission. As we progress in our planning and implementation, we will periodically update these web pages, so I encourage you to check back with us often.

For more details on the NIH’s role in the ARRA, please visit: NIH’s Role in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

For communications regarding the NHLBI’s participation in the ARRA, please email the NHLBI Liaison Officer.

I look forward to furthering the goals of the NHLBI's Strategic Plan by translating the Institute's share of the ARRA into progress in heart, lung, and blood research.

February 27, 2009

The NHLBI’s Participation in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) signed by President Obama on February 17, 2009, provides the scientific community with an extraordinary opportunity to advance biomedical research.

Under the law, the NIH will receive a total of $10.4 billion to use during 2009 and 2010. Of that amount, $8.2 billion will be dedicated to scientific research priorities, allocating $7.4 billion to the institutes and centers and $800 million to the Office of the Director.

The NHLBI will receive about 10 percent of the $7.4 billion, an amount that is proportional to the Institute’s share of the overall NIH appropriation. That additional funding will allow us to expand substantially our investment in research in support of our mandate to provide global leadership in the prevention and treatment of heart, lung, and blood diseases -- diseases that include three of the four leading causes of death in the United States.

We have been working diligently to select the most effective research support mechanisms to use in investing our share of the ARRA funds, and we are working closely with the DHHS to ensure transparency and accountability for Recovery Act funds.

An overriding principle in making our funding decisions will be scientific merit. Although many types of funding mechanisms are likely to be supported, the NIH—and the NHLBI—will focus primarily on the following:

• Recently peer-reviewed, highly meritorious applications for research project grants (R01s) and similar mechanisms capable of making significant advances with a two-year grant.
• Targeted supplements to current NHLBI grants and contracts.
• Challenge grants.

We welcome the confidence that President Obama and the United States Congress have placed in the NIH and our scientific community. We believe that we will more than justify their confidence by adhering to our guiding principles. We are committed to conducting all of our activities in a spirit of public service and with a commitment to excellence, innovation, integrity, respect, compassion, and open communication.

I look forward to sharing updates with you as we, as an Institute, proceed in translating our share of the ARRA funds into advances in heart, lung, and blood research that will lead to improved health for the American public.

For more details on the NIH's role in the ARRA, please visit:
NIH's Role in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

For additional information on ARRA, please visit: Recovery.Gov.

February 26, 2009

NHLBI POUNDS LOST Study

NHLBI study results show that heart-healthy diets that reduce calorie intake can help overweight and obese adults achieve and maintain weight loss. Results of the Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies (POUNDS LOST) were published February, 26, 2009, in the New England Journal of Medicine.

NHLBI Director, Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., said, “The results show that, as long as people follow a heart-healthy, reduced-calorie diet, there is more than one nutritional approach to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. This provides people who need to lose weight with the flexibility to choose an approach that they’re most likely to sustain one that is most suited to their personal preferences and health needs.”

For more information, please read NHLBI News Release.

Watch a video clip of Dr. Nabel’s interview (file size: 16 MB).
Video Transcript of interview with Dr. Nabel about the NHLBI POUNDS LOST Study.

January 2009

Enhancing Peer-Review at NIH

In June 2007, the NIH initiated the effort to formally review the NIH peer review system with input from both external and internal communities to address the many new challenges of modern research. Following the March 2008 release of the final report, the NIH completed the design implementation plan in June 2008. The plan identified the following goals: 1) to engage the best reviewers, 2) improve quality and transparency of review, 3) ensure balanced and fair reviews, and 4) continuous review of peer review. The implementation of selected actions started in September 2008 with recent updates provided at the Enhancing Peer-Review at NIH website.

January 5, 2009

W. Keith Hoots, M.D. joins NHLBI as Director, Division of Blood Diseases and Resources

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

Dear Colleagues:

I am very pleased to announce that Dr. W. Keith Hoots, M.D. has joined us effective January 5th, 2009 as Director of our Division of Blood Diseases and Resources. Dr. Hoots comes to us from the University of Texas (UT) Medical School at Houston where he was Professor of Pediatrics and Division Head of Pediatric Hematology; Section Head of Pediatric Hematology, UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; and Medical Director, Gulf States Hemophilia and Thrombophilia Treatment Center. Dr. Hoots also directed the Fellowship Program at M.D. Anderson.

Dr. Hoots received his A.B. in English and Chemistry and his M.D. from the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. While a senior at UNC, he worked in the hemostasis laboratory of Dr. Kenneth Brinkhous. He then completed his Pediatric Internship and Residency at Children's Medical Center, Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas. He returned to UNC for his Fellowship in Pediatric Hematology Oncology and worked in the laboratory of Dr. Harold Roberts. Dr. Hoots then joined the faculty at M.D. Anderson. Keith's major interests involve the management and diagnosis of congenital and acquired bleeding disorders and clotting disorders. His work includes the creation of longitudinal follow-up of hemophilia cohorts with HIV and hepatitis, gene therapy trials for Hemophilia A and B, clinical trials of new clotting concentrates for Hemophilia A and B, and the impact of care and clotting factor product on Hemophilia patient outcome. He also has a 20 year interest in the diagnosis and treatment of diffuse intravascular coagulation (DIC), in particular DIC in head trauma. He has been intimately involved in the development of safe coagulation factor products, having completed his training as the HIV epidemic was evolving in hemophilia patients. By the late 1980’s, he was able to return to the hemostasis focus which initially attracted him to the field, and he has continued to be a productive investigator and collaborator. He has a strong interest in global collaborations and in developing public-private partnerships and recently completed his sabbatical in Belgium.

Keith is a past member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Blood Safety and Availability Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Health, past chair of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee for the National Hemophilia Foundation and subcommittee co-chair of the DIC Subcommittee of International Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis. He has also been an associate editor for Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis and served on the editorial boards of Haemophilia, Haemophilia Forum and the International Monitor on Hemophilia. He is a past president of the Hemophilia Research Society of North America.

Dr. Hoots is looking forward to meeting our talented staff and exploring exciting new directions for the Institute.

December 29, 2008 to January 9, 2009

Recruiting for Director, Office of Global Health

The Institute is seeking a dynamic and innovative global health expert to provide strategic leadership for the new Office of Global Health. The Office of Global Health (OGH) will represent the NHLBI to other national and international organizations, governments, and private sector. This office will develop policies and facilitate collaborations related to global health issues, provide leadership and coordination for bilateral programs with selected countries and provide policy guidance and coordination on refugee health policy issues.

The OGH Director will provide executive leadership, manage the Office’s resource allocations, and serve as a global health advisor to the NHLBI Director. The OGH Director will promote and support public health research and training initiatives internationally to reduce disparities in global health. The OGH Director will advocate in the areas of critical importance to the global populace, and establish and nurture internationally-renowned programs congruent with NHLBI’s Strategic Plan. As a key member of the senior leadership of the Institute, the OGH Director will have a broad sphere of responsibilities that include the development of priorities and goals and collaborating with closely aligned programs across the NHLBI, NIH, DHHS and other federal agencies. These programs will build public health research capacity and develop human capital in the nations and countries of the greatest need.  Working in collaboration with other NIH Institutes, federal agencies, and organizations in the developing world, the OGH Director will address the public health challenges in the most crucial areas, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, emerging infectious diseases, chronic diseases, bioethics, medical informatics, environmental and occupational health, maternal and child health, and others.  The Director will support the NIH EEO program.

Please apply online at USAJOBS
Look for Jobs Announcement No. NHLBI-09-315242-DH. Your application package must be received by January 9, 2009.

December 18^th, 2008

Dr. Thressa C. Stadtman Donates Land to Rock Creek Regional Park

The Montgomery County Planning Board accepted a generous gift from Dr. Thressa C. Stadtman, a Principal Investigator in the Laboratory of Biochemistry, NHLBI, which added 5.8 acres to Rock Creek Regional Park in Derwood.  There were only two conditions associated with Dr. Stadtman’s gift:  that the land is not developed and is managed in perpetuity as conservation parkland to maintain the existing natural resources; and that the tract of land is named “The Stadtman Preserve.”  The home in which Dr. Stadtman still resides is located on the gift property and contains more than 1,000 azaleas and rhododendrons which were planted by her late husband, Dr. Earl Stadtman. For more information on the news release, please visit Montgomery Parks Media Center.

The Stadtmans were the first husband-and-wife scientists at the National Heart Institute when they joined the NIH in 1950.  The NIH opened an exhibit in their honor, “The Stadtman Way: A Tale of Two Biochemists at NIH” in 2004.  To learn more about this remarkable couple, visit http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/stadtman/index.htm.

December 4, 2008

NHLBI Announces New Genetic Target for Sickle Cell Disease

Researchers have identified a gene that directly affects the production of fetal hemoglobin, which is instrumental in modifying the severity of the inherited blood disorders sickle cell disease and thalassemia. The discovery could lead to breakthrough therapies for sickle cell disease and thalassemia, which could potentially eliminate the devastating and life-threatening complications of these diseases, such as severe pain, damage to the eyes and other organs, infections, and stroke.

Dr. Alan Michelson, Associate Director for Basic Research in NHLBI, through his article 'From Genetic Association to Genetic Switch' gives a scientific perspective to this significant research discovery.

• Article Summary
• Full Text

For more information, please visit NHLBI Press Release.

November 25, 2008

Drug Testing – Typical Patients with Complex Symptoms

There is a growing movement in the medical research community to introduce clinical research trials that include patients with complex medical problems who are not "typical" study participants.  In order to identify how drug usage affects patient with complex medical problems, read what researchers are doing to initiate what are being called “real world” or "pragmatic" clinical trials in the article "New Arena for Testing Drugs: Real World", by Gina Kolata - NY Times, Nov 25, 2008.

November 17, 2008 to January 21, 2009

Recruiting for Director, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases

The Institute is seeking a dynamic physician-scientist to provide strategic leadership for its Division of Cardiovascular Diseases (DCVD). The DCVD Director will have a profound impact upon the national investment in research, and the quality of service to the international research community. The DCVD supports and oversees research in vascular medicine and biology and vascular, cerebral, renal, peripheral, and other cardiovascular disorders. The DCVD fosters biotechnological research in CVD-related genomics, proteomics, nanotechnology, imaging, device development, cell- and tissue-based therapeutics, and gene therapy. DCVD also supports training and career development programs in cardiovascular research at all educational levels, including programs for individuals from diverse populations.

The DCVD Director will recruit scientists and scientific administrators, develop and nurture a strong workforce, and build depth in disease-specific branches. As a key member of the senior leadership team of the Institute, s/he will collaborate with closely aligned programs in the Institute, advocate for areas of critical importance to the national and global populace, to improve the health of the public, and to establish and implement programs congruent with NHLBI’s strategic plan. Additionally, the Director will provide leadership for creating and nurturing internationally-renowned programs for an extramural program that integrates basic science and clinical research, including translational research, networks, and multicenter clinical trials and guide a national research program on the causes and prevention and treatment of diseases and disorders such as atherothrombosis; coronary artery disease; myocardial infarction and ischemia; heart failure; arrhythmia; congenital heart disease; cardiovascular complications of diabetes and obesity; and hypertension.

Salary is commensurate with the experience of the candidate and a full package of Civil Service benefits is available, including: retirement, health, and life insurance, long term care insurance, leave and savings plan (401k equivalent).

Please apply online at USAJOBS
Look for Jobs Announcement No. NHLBI-09-309850. Your application package must be received by January 21, 2009.

November 9, 2008

Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Recipient of 2008 Eugene Braunwald Mentorship Award

Dr. Nabel was honored in New Orleans at the 2008 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association with the Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award. Dr. Braunwald is a highly distinguished researcher and physician whose contributions in the field of cardiovascular disease have improved the health care of people world-wide. The award was established in 1999 and is presented to identify and honor individuals whose academic careers have included a long-term record (spanning at least 20-25 years) of successful mentoring of promising young academicians and is based upon a consistent record of molding the careers of multiple individuals during a continuous academic career.

In accepting the award, Dr. Nabel acknowledged the students, fellows, post-docs and faculty members she has worked with over the years and thanked them for their intellectual curiosity, their passion for cardiovascular research, and their commitment to make a difference in the lives of their patients. She concluded her remarks with a special tribute to Dr. Braunwald, who was her "steadfast mentor, trusted friend and faithful colleague for the past 25 years. Dr. Braunwald sets the gold standard for mentorship; in his training of over 1500 individuals in his internal medicine training program and countless additional cardiology fellows, he has taught us the true meaning of being a wise and trusted counselor, and he has inspired us to lead and mentor by his example."

November 9, 2008

NHLBI Issues Statement on the Role of Inflammation on Preventing Heart Disease

NHLBI has issued a statement on the role of inflammation on the prevention of heart disease. The statement briefly describes the results of three studies that provide the strongest evidence to date that a simple blood test for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is a useful marker for cardiovascular disease. One study, known as JUPITER (the Justification for Use of statins in Prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin), demonstrated for the first time that a statin (rosuvastatin) reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death in individuals with high levels of hsCRP and normal or low levels of LDL cholesterol. Two other studies, which were supported by NHLBI, reinforce earlier findings that adding hsCRP levels to assess risk of a first heart attack or stroke in middle-aged or older adults improves accuracy over the traditional assessment tools. Together, these studies show great promise in helping clinicians better identify and treat individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease – potentially saving millions more lives. An expert panel convened by NHLBI will include these findings as part of the rigorous scientific review to distill the scientific evidence and generate an evidence-based, comprehensive set of clinical guidelines for primary care practitioners to help adult patients reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease.

• For more information on the statement, please visit NHLBI Press Release.
• To learn more about NHLBI's cardiovascular guidelines, please visit Background, CVD Risk Reduction, Cholesterol, Hypertension, and Obesity Guidelines.
• To watch NHLBI Director Dr. Elizabeth Nabel on the CBS Evening News discussing these findings, please visit Keeping A Healthy Heart Video.

October 6, 2008

NHLBI Launches New Website for Parents on Medical Research Studies for Children

NHLBI is launching a new web resource that will give health care providers and parents an insider's guide to children's medical research. Children and Clinical Studies (www.ChildrenAndClinicalStudies.nhlbi.nih.gov) combines information about how clinical studies in youth are conducted with award-winning video of children, parents, and healthcare providers discussing the rewards and challenges of participating in research. The new website was developed by NHLBI in collaboration with New England Research Institutes and Hands On Productions. Additional support was provided by the NIH Foundation; NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Center for Research Resources; and the National Marfan Foundation.

For more information, please read the NHLBI Press Release.

September 10, 2008 to December 1, 2008

Recruiting for Director, Office of Communications and Legislative Activities

The Institute is seeking exceptional candidates for the position of Director, Office of Communications and Legislative Activities. This is a career Federal position in the Senior Executive Service. The individual selected for this leadership position will manage the Institute’s key policy, communications, public affairs, health campaigns and consumer services, legislation, Congressional activities, and Freedom of Information and Privacy Act functions in a manner supportive of the NHLBI research mission. This individual will provide expert advice and guidance to the Director, Deputy Director and other senior Institute officials in initiating, developing, implementing and evaluating the effectiveness of a dynamic, nationally and internationally visible program for these functions and has the responsibility for developing a strategic communication vision and dynamic program to help implement the Institute’s new Strategic Plan; communicating leading edge scientific research results, enhancing effective internal communications, and effectively managing the human and fiscal resources of the Office. The Director of the Office of Communications and Legislative Activities is also responsible for advising the Institute Director on national heart, lung, and blood policy, legislation and regulations, scientific research programs, and external relations with various Institute/DHHS/Federal constituencies, national and international constituencies and stakeholders. S/He provides executive leadership and management in the comprehensive and continuing development and analysis of policies and communications strategies related to the ethical, social and legal implications of heart, lung, and blood research and for matters relating to communications on a national and international level, media relations and public inquiries. This individual also directs the NHLBI Congressional liaison activities and in this role administers and coordinates Congressional testimony preparation, reviews of pending and new legislation and regulations and briefings of members and staff of the Congress.

Please apply online at USAJOBS.
Look for Jobs Announcement No. NHLBI-08-08SES. Your application package must be received by December 1, 2008.

August 4, 2008

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel [left] with Nobel Laureates, Dr. Joseph L. Goldstein [center] and Dr. Marshall W. Nirenberg [right]

NHLBI hosts lecture by Nobel Laureate Joseph L. Goldstein

NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., introduced Nobel Laureate Joseph L. Goldstein, M.D., who gave a lecture entitled, "The Cholesterol Feedback Story: A Tale of Membrane Proteins and Sterol Sensors”. Dr. Goldstein together with his colleague, Michael S. Brown, M.D., won the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Goldstein and Brown’s ground breaking work on the regulation of cholesterol metabolism laid the groundwork for the development of statins, drugs that are used by millions around the world to lower high cholesterol and prevent heart attacks. Dr. Goldstein shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1968 with Nobel Laureate Marshall W. Nirenberg, Ph.D. From 1968 to 1970, Dr. Goldstein worked in Dr. Nirenberg's NIH lab as a post-doctoral fellow.

June 6, 2008

NIH Director Announces Enhancements to Peer Review

Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, NIH Director, announced critical changes to enhance and improve the NIH peer review system. This marks the end of a year-long effort to determine ways to further enrich the process. An important component of the new plan is an increased commitment to investigator-initiated high-risk, high-impact research to prevent a slowdown of transformative research, despite difficult budgetary times. Collaborative teams of participants worked to tackle challenges of the system and discover solutions. A comprehensive framework was created and implementation will be carried out over the next 18 months.

For more information, please visit NIH Director Announces Enhancements to Peer Review, June 6, 2008 News Release.

April 18, 2008

Featured Speaker: NIH Council of Public Representatives Bethesda, Maryland

"NIH Policy for Data Sharing of NIH Supported Genome Wide Association Studies"

At the meeting of the NIH Council of Public Representatives, Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, described the goals and implementation of the new NIH Policy for Data Sharing for studies of human genetic variation that will help advance our understanding of human health.

View or download Dr. Nabel’s presentation on the NIH Policy for Data Sharing of NIH Supported Genome Wide Association Studies

March 10, 2008

NHLBI Announces Realignment of Its Sickle Cell Disease Program

The NHLBI's National Sickle Cell Disease Program is a major research effort dedicated to improving the lives of patients with sickle cell disease. Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, Director, NHLBI, announced today a series of innovations to realign its support for outstanding research that will continue to yield benefit for Sickle Cell Disease patients. To read the Announcement and report of the recommendations of the Institute's Advisory Council please visit NHLBI Announcement: Institute to Realign its Sickle Cell Disease Research Program.

February 11, 2008

NHLBI Celebrates American Heart Month with The Heart Truth’s Red Dress Collection 2008 Fashion Show in New York and a Special Event at the White House

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel Speaks at the White House on 2/11/08

NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D. welcomed then First Lady Laura Bush, the Heart Truth’s national ambassador, at the campaign’s 2008 Red Dress Collection Fashion Show held on National Wear Red Day, February 1, at Fashion Week in New York’s Bryant Park. Mrs. Bush opened the show with remarks about the power of the red dress in drawing women’s attention to heart disease and Hollywood leading ladies walked the red carpet runway in fabulous red dresses created by America’s top designers.

Also on February 1, Mrs. Bush spoke to the nation on a topic "close to my heart—America’s heart health" during the weekly Presidential radio address. She noted that although heart disease deaths among women have decreased every year from 2000 to 2005, more people need to know The Heart Truth, as too many women, especially African Americans, still die of heart disease. Mrs. Bush’s Heart Truth radio address is available at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/02/20080201-2.html

On February 11, 2008, then First Lady Laura Bush held an event at the White House to honor The Heart Truth and fifth anniversary of the introduction of the Red Dress as the campaign’s national symbol and the support of the many campaign partners. Then President George W. Bush thanked the fashion industry for "stepping up" to fight heart disease and Mrs. Bush for her service and commitment to The Heart Truth. Mrs. Bush talked about the success that is being achieved in raising awareness of women’s heart disease and the power of the Red Dress Symbol. Dr. Elizabeth Nabel gave a brief history of The Heart Truth campaign, recognizing results achieved and the challenges that still remain. More information about this event, including a video, is available on the White House’s Web pages at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/02/20080211-10.html

December 10, 2007 to February 1, 2008

Recruiting for Director, Division of Blood Diseases

The Institute is seeking a dynamic physician-scientist to provide strategic leadership for its Division of Blood Diseases and Resources (DBDR). The Director will assume responsibility for creating and nurturing internationally-renowned programs which will participate actively in international research in hematologic diseases and disorders of thrombosis and hemostasis across the spectrum of basic science and clinical research including translational research and the conduct of a wide variety of clinical trials. Cellular therapies and the use of a wide variety of blood products and substitutes are within the mission of the Division. The DBDR Director will have a profound impact upon the national investment in research, and the quality of service to the international research community. The Director, DBDR will have the opportunity to advocate for areas of critical importance to the national and global populace, to establish and implement programs congruent with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s strategic plan, and to improve the health of the public. Applicants must possess an M.D., Ph.D., or equivalent degree, as well as senior level research experience, interpersonal and communications expertise and ability. The successful candidate will be a respected, accomplished researcher with maturity, integrity and outstanding communication skills. Salary is commensurate with experience and a full package of Civil Service benefits is available including retirement, health and life insurance, leave and savings plan (401K equivalent). This vacancy is open to all U.S. citizens.

Please apply online at USAJOBS.
Look for Jobs Announcement No. NHLBI -08-236193. Your application package must be received by February 1, 2008.

November 29, 2007

Surgeon General and Zerhouni Announce Expanded Efforts to Address Childhood Overweight Epidemic

NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., participated in a national We Can! event to announce three new We Can! Cities - Boston, Pittsburgh, and Las Vegas - and a partnership with the Association of Children’s Museums. We Can! is a national education program developed by the NIH to help prevent obesity in overweight youth ages 8 - 13. Acting U.S. Surgeon General Rear Admiral Steven K. Galson, M.D., M.P.H. and NIH Director Elias Zerhouni, M.D., addressed the nation on the topic of childhood overweight and recognized We Can! for its contribution to the prevention of childhood overweight. Across the country, other We Can! Community Sites held simultaneous events to announce or demonstrate their efforts to prevent childhood obesity. Events were held in Boston, MA; New York, NY; Las Vegas, NV; Pittsburgh, PA; Memphis and Oak Ridge, TN; Rockford, IL; and Carson City, NV.

For more information on the We Can! event, please see: http://public.nhlbi.nih.gov/newsroom/home/GetPressRelease.aspx?id=2494

November 29, 2007

Nabel Joins HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt and NIH Director Elias Zerhouni to Honor Participants in the Framingham Heart Study

NHLBI Director Elizabeth Nabel joined the nation's top health officials at an event in Framingham, Mass., to pay tribute to the more than 9,000 current participants in the long-running Framingham Heart Study, spanning three generations and funded by the NHLBI. The Framingham Heart Study has made countless contributions to the nation's health, and is known for identifying the major risk factors for heart disease.

For more information on the Framingham Heart Study event, see: http://public.nhlbi.nih.gov/newsroom/home/GetPressRelease.aspx?id=2492

November 29, 2007 to February 1, 2008

Recruiting for Director, Office of Communications

The Institute is seeking an exceptional candidate to serve as Director of the new Office of Communications. The Director of the Office of Communications will provide executive leadership to a dynamic and complex communications program for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The individual selected for this leadership position is a person with vision who works in partnership with the scientists and leadership of NHLBI to provide comprehensive, integrated and technology supported communications. The NHLBI’s communications program is highly visible nationally and internationally and has an extensive impact on a broad range of constituencies in the public and private sector, serving as both a resource and model by the many components of the public and private sectors that influence the funding, conduct, and utilization of the Institute’s research. The Director of the Office of Communications will provide authoritative analysis and advice to the NHLBI Director and other senior staff on the formulation of communication strategies and on sensitive and complicated communications issues that will be conveyed nationally and abroad and may be of concern to the National Institutes of Health Director, Office of the Secretary, the Legislative Branch, or the Executive Office of the President. Salary is commensurate with experience and a full package of Civil Service benefits is available including retirement, health and life insurance, leave and savings plan (401K equivalent). This vacancy is open to all U.S. citizens.

Please apply online at USAJOBS.
Look for Jobs Announcement No. NHLBI -08-228537-DE or NHLBI -08-228537-MP. Your application package must be received by February 1, 2008.

November 13, 2007

NIH Director's Pioneer and New Innovator Award Programs Launch 2008 Application Cycles

NIH is calling for applications for 2008 NIH Director's Pioneer Awards and New Innovator Awards. Both programs are part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research and support exceptionally creative scientists who take highly innovative approaches to major challenges in biomedical or behavioral research.

Pioneer Awards provide $2.5 million in direct costs over 5 years and are open to scientists at any career stage. New Innovator Awards provide $1.5 million in direct costs over the same period and are for new investigators who have not received an NIH regular research (R01) or similar grant.

NIH expects to make 5 to 10 Pioneer Awards and up to 24 New Innovator Awards in September 2008.

To continue its strong record of diversity in these programs, NIH especially encourages women and members of groups that are underrepresented in NIH research areas to apply.

The Pioneer Award application period is from December 16, 2007 to January 16, 2008. Visit 2008 NIH Director's Pioneer Award Program for application instructions. For more information, visit NIH Director's Pioneer Award - Overview. Send questions to pioneer@nih.gov.

Submit New Innovator Award applications between March 3 and 31, 2008. Application instructions are at 2008 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award Program (DP2). For additional information, visit NIH Director's New Innovator Award - Overview. Send questions to newinnovator@nih.gov.

November 8, 2007

Nabel Briefs COPD Congressional Caucus

NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., was honored to provide an update on COPD research and awareness- building activities to the Congressional COPD Caucus at a Capitol Hill briefing sponsored by the U.S. COPD Coalition. Dr. Nabel shared the dais with Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), two members of the COPD Caucus, as well as Grace Anne Dorney Koppel, patient advocate and spokesperson for the NHLBI's COPD Learn More Breathe Better campaign.

For more information on the NHLBI campaign, see: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/lung/copd/index.htm

October 1, 2007

Featured Speaker at NHLBI Symposium on Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine Bethesda, MD

"Can Stem Cells Rescue Failing Hearts?"

Stem cell therapies to repair or regenerate tissue or blood vessels could provide a revolutionary approach to helping patients with cardiovascular disease. To accelerate the advancement of stem cell biology from bench to bedside for treatment of cardiovascular disease, NHLBI and the Foundation for NIH hosted the scientific symposium Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine. The goal of the symposium was to stimulate discussion about tissue specification in stem cell biology and cardiovascular development, and identify areas of opportunity for applying regenerative therapies to cardiovascular disease.

Read the Science.com article on the symposium at:
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/1002/3

Read more about the Symposium on Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine or view the symposium agenda

October 1, 2007

NIH Launches Extensive Open-Access Dataset of Genetic and Clinical Data

The NIH is launching one of the most extensive collections of genetic and clinical data ever made freely available to researchers worldwide. Called SHARe (SNP Health Association Resource), the Web-based dataset will include data from the Framingham Heart Study on more than 9,300 participants spanning three generations. NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., said, "As one of the most comprehensive studies ever undertaken, the Framingham Heart Study will play a vital role in laying the foundation for this vast dataset to help researchers link genes and disease."

For more information about SHARe, please visit the NHLBI News Room

September 25, 2007

Then First Lady Laura Bush acknowledges The Heart Truth campaign at Global Health and Literacy Luncheon

NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., was honored to attend the September 24th Global Health and Literacy Luncheon hosted by then First Lady Laura Bush in New York. Invited guests were spouses of world leaders attending the 62nd United Nations General Assembly. Mrs. Bush acknowledged the importance of NHLBI's Heart Truth campaign to raise women's awareness about heart disease. "Through the 'Heart Truth' campaign, the U.S. government, media organizations, and the fashion industry have joined to raise public awareness of this disease . . . Nothing draws attention like a red dress, so this is the Heart Truth's symbol. Over the last five years, women have come to recognize that little red dress. They're reminded to pay attention to the symptoms of heart disease." Mrs. Bush, who serves as ambassador for the Heart Truth campaign, called upon the world’s first ladies and other dignified guests to pick up a red dress pin after the luncheon and "join the campaign to tell the 'Heart Truth.'"

Read Mrs. Bush's luncheon remarks at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/09/20070924-4.html

August 29, 2007

Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D. Featured Speaker and Moderator: Revised Asthma Guidelines Press Briefing

The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program issued the first comprehensive update in a decade of clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma. The guidelines emphasize the importance of asthma control and introduce new approaches for monitoring asthma. Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel led a telephone briefing for the media and is appearing on national news programs to announce the guidelines.

Watch a video clip of Dr. Nabel on the guidelines.

For more information, please visit the NHLBI Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Asthma.

August 10-September 17, 2007

NHLBI Recruiting for Director, Center for Biomedical Informatics

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI:

The Institute is seeking a strategic-minded scientist with expertise in research informatics and information technology who will bring significant experience in a research environment to operate in an intellectually challenging Federal biomedical research institution engaged in a national research program to understand, treat, and prevent heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders throughout the world. Applications should be received by September 17, 2007.

• This position offers a unique and challenging opportunity for the right individual to work directly with the NHLBI director to develop a program in research informatics, incorporating information technology. Applicants should possess an advanced science degree and research experience related to bioinformatics or research informatics. Specifically, the successful candidate should have experience in providing bioinformatics support in the areas of biology, molecular biology and genetics, including the terminology of basic, translational, and clinical research. Additionally, applicants should have sufficient education and experience that will ensure success in managing a professional and technical staff engaged in providing complex and computationally intense modeling and analytics in the areas of bioinformatics, genomics, proteomics and imaging. It is highly desirable for the successful applicant to also have extensive experience in information technology management, encompassing strategic planning, complex organizational structures, technical project management and process transformation. The successful candidate will serve as the Chief, Information Officer for the NHLBI, and will oversee operations systems, data warehouse and management reporting and information security and the day to day operations of staff providing IT infrastructure development and support. Strong leadership qualities, negotiation skills, and exceptional interpersonal skills are imperative.
• Application Process: Salary is commensurate with experience and a full package of Civil Service benefits is available including retirement, health and life insurance, long term care insurance, leave and savings plan (401K equivalent). Send your application package including: CV, bibliography, and two letters of recommendation to the National Institutes of Health, attn: Alesha Hopkins, 31 Center Drive, MSC 2490, Bldg 31A, Room 5A16, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892-2490. For further information, please contact Ms. Hopkins by email: hopkinsa@mail.nih.gov or telephone (301) 594-4910. Your application package should be received by September 17, 2007. All information provided by applicants will remain confidential and will only be reviewed by authorized officials of the NHLBI. All information provided by candidates will remain strictly confidential and will not be released outside the NHLBI search process without a signed release from candidates.

The NIH encourages the application and nomination of qualified women, minorities and individuals with disabilities. HHS and NIH are Equal Opportunity Employers.

July 25, 2007

Featured Story: NIH Heart Center at Suburban WUSA 9 News Now

"State of the Art Heart Surgery"
By Howard Bernstein

"Using cameras that are mounted on surgeons’ heads and taking that video and sharing it on multiple monitors, everyone in the operating room can see what’s going on. Video of EKG’s and of angiograms along with other medical information can also be fed to the monitors. Dr. Keith Horvath, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Suburban Hospital allowed us in to watch a mitral valve repair...."

To see this video, please visit:
http://www.wusa9.com/rss/local_article.aspx?storyid=61148  

April 30, 2007

Featured Speaker: University of Minnesota, Center for Lung Science and Health, Minneapolis, MN

"NHLBI Strategic Plan: Future Opportunities for Lung Research"

The Center of Lung Science and Health held a special event for those interested in lung science and health on Monday April 30, 2007. The Lung Center works to facilitate interdisciplinary research, education and outreach activities in order to promote lung health and improve care of patients with lung disease. Research topics included: translational control of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancer, proteomic methods to find novel markers for lung transplant rejection, tobacco cessation and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease research.

View or download Dr. Nabel’s presentation on the NHLBI Strategic Plan: Future Opportunities for Lung Research

April 17, 2007

Featured Article: The New York Times, Health Section

"Answers to Questions About Heart Disease"

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, a practicing cardiologist and researcher studying the genesis of plaque in coronary arteries, answers questions about ways to prevent and control heart disease.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/health/16heartqa.html?ex=133541280
0&en=b0caeb698623a88d&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

April 8, 2007

Feature: Quotation of the Day, The New York Times

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel shares a comment using the "rule of halves" to describe the level of treatment relating to people in need.

For more information, please visit:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE1DE143FF93BA357
57C0A9619C8B63

April 7, 2007

Special Article Series: The New York Times, Health Section

SIX KILLERS: HEART DISEASE; Lessons of Heart Disease, Learned and Ignored

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: Blood Pressure, Cholesterol and Smoking: Controlling the Risk Factors Can Provide Crucial Aid in Prevention

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel highlights 5 distinct factors relating to heart disease, and what signs to look for in the prevention and control of this deadly killer.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/health/08heart.html?ex=1335240000
&en=22eafe30faa84ee5&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

April 6, 2007

Release of NHLBI Strategic Plan

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI:

I am very pleased to share with you the Institute's new Strategic Plan, Shaping the Future of Research, which will guide the NHBLI's scientific directions over the next five to ten years. This plan is the result of an inclusive, bottom-up approach involving the efforts of over 600 individuals and feedback from our many intermediary groups.

Even though the Strategic Plan is complete, our work is not yet done -- implementation is our next, critical step. The detailed implementation of the Plan will be developed by the Institute over the life of the Strategic Plan in consultation with our Advisory Council and in partnership with our research community and constituency groups in the public and private sector.

I encourage you to visit our Strategic Plan website, where you can access and copy of the plan and obtain information about the strategic planning process and subsequent updates.

April 2 - May 12, 2007

NHLBI Recruiting for Director, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI:

The Institute is seeking a dynamic physician-scientist to provide strategic leadership for its newly organized Division of Cardiovascular Diseases (DCVD). Applications should be received by May 12, 2007.

• The DCVD Director will assume responsibility for creating and nurturing internationally-renowned programs which will participate actively in international research in cardiovascular diseases across the spectrum of basic science and clinical research including translatioal research and the conduct of a wide variety of clinical trials. The Director will recruit scientists and scientific administrators, develop and nurture a strong workforce, and build depth in disease-specific branches. Key challenges include establishment of priorities, integration of basic and clinical science, building teams, and interaction with scientific colleagues in many settings. Functioning as a key member of the senior leadership team of the Institute, the incumbent will collaborate with closely aligned programs in the Institute. The DCVD Director will have a profound impact upon the national investment in research, and the quality of service to the international research community. The Director of DCVD will have the opportunity to advocate for areas of critical importance to the national and global populace, to establish and implement programs congruent with NHLBI's strategic plan, and to improve the health of the public. Applicants must possess an MD or equivalent degree as well as senior level research experience, interpersonal and communications expertise and ability. The successful candidate will be a respected, accomplished researcher with maturity, integrity and outstanding communication skills.
• Application Process: Please submit your CV, bibliography, and two letters of recommendation to: Dale Colbert, Program Manager, STG International, Inc, 4900 Seminary Rd., Suite 1100, Alexandria, VA 22311. For further information, please call 877-784-6452 or email dcolbert@stginternational.com. Your application package should be received by May 12, 2007. All information provided by candidates will remain strictly confidential and will not be released outside the NHLBI search process without a signed release from candidates. Candidates who had previously submitted an application need not reapply.

Salary is commensurate with experience and a full package of Civil Service benefits is available including retirement, health and life insurance, leave and savings plan (401K equivalent).

The NHLBI provides leadership for a national program in diseases of the heart, blood vessels, lung, and blood; blood resources; and sleep disorders. With nationwide responsibility for improving the health and well-being of all Americans, the Department of Health and Human Services oversees the biomedical research programs of the NIH. The NIH encourages the application and nomination of qualified women, minorities and individuals with disabilities. HHS and NIH are Equal Opportunity Employers.

March 27, 2007

Keystone Speaker: Keystone Symposia Conference, Nuclear Receptor Pathways to Metabolic Regulation, Steamboat Springs, CO

"Obesity, Risk Factors and CV Disease: NHLBI Perspectives"

The most exciting current research on nuclear receptors and metabolism takes a systems approach, utilizing functional genomics, molecular biology, and bioinformatics to understand the role of nuclear receptors in physiology and in the pathophysiology of metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, presents to investigators "Obesity, Risk Factors and CV Disease: NHLBI Perspectives" contributing to the meetings goal to present the latest and most exciting paradigmatic and technical breakthroughs.

View or download Dr. Nabel’s presentation on Obesity, Risk Factors and CV Disease: NHLBI Perspectives

February 27, 2007

Michael S. Lauer, M.D. to Join NHLBI as Director, Division of Prevention and Population Sciences

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

Dear Colleagues:

I am delighted to announce that Dr. Michael S. Lauer has been tentatively selected for the position of Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's (NHLBI) extramural Division of Prevention and Population Sciences to provide leadership for the Institute's national program for population- and clinic-based research on the causes, prevention, and clinical care of cardiovascular, lung, and blood diseases. We anticipate that Dr. Lauer will be joining us on July 1 pending the appropriate approvals.

Dr. Lauer is currently Director of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation Exercise Laboratory, Vice Chair of the Clinic's Institutional Review Board, and a Contributing Editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association; he has served as Co-Director of the Coronary Intensive Care Unit and Director of Clinical Research in the Clinic's Department of Cardiology. Mike has an exceptionally strong background in cardiovascular epidemiology and medical research and in leadership of the cardiovascular community. He earned his B.S. degree summa cum laude from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Biology in 1983 and his M.D. magna cum laude from Albany Medical College in 1985. Following internal medical training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, he completed a clinical fellowship in cardiology at the Boston Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School. His further training in epidemiology included a research fellowship at the Framingham Heart Study, Boston University; the Program in Clinical Effectiveness, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University; and a Josiah Macy Scholar in Physician Education in the Program for Physician Educators, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Lauer is an Elected Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association, and has been elected to membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He has served as Chairman of the Exercise, Cardiac Rehabilitation, and Prevention Committee of the American Heart Association's Council of Clinical Cardiology, and has received numerous awards in recognition of his scientific and teaching accomplishments.

Dr. Lauer's knowledge, experience, and leadership skills will be a tremendous asset to the Institute and the constituencies we serve, and he is looking forward to working with our many partners.

October 30, 2006

Distinguished Lecturer: The Robert G. Petersdorf Lecture at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges, Seattle, WA

"Frontiers in Personalized Medicine"

The AAMC seeks to improve the nation's health by enhancing the effectiveness of academic medicine. Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel lectures at the Monday, October 30 AAMC Plenary Session.

View or download Dr. Nabel’s presentation on Frontiers in Personalized Medicine

October 13, 2006

Keynote Speaker: Weill Medical College of Cornell University Medical College 25th Anniversary Reunion, New York, NY

"Personalized Medicine: Are We Ready?"

Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D. ’81, Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health Member of the Medical College 25th Anniversary Reunion Classes of 1980-1981.

View or download Dr. Nabel’s presentation on Personalized Medicine: Are We Ready?

August 2, 2006 to October 15, 2006

NHLBI Recruiting for Two Senior Positions

Message from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce that the NHLBI is seeking exceptional candidates with an M.D., Ph. D., or M.D./Ph.D. to provide strategic leadership in two senior positions and would appreciate your help in informing your friends and colleagues:

• The Director of our newly reorganized Division of Cardiovascular Diseases will provide strategic leadership for creating and nurturing internationally renowned programs of research in cardiovascular disease, from basic science to translational research and clinical trials.
• The Director of our newly reorganized Division of Prevention and Population Sciences will assume primary responsibility for internationally renowned programs in population sciences and prevention in the areas of cardiovascular diseases and collaborating closely with aligned programs in the Institute's cardiovascular, lung, and blood divisions.

Applications should be received by October 15, 2006; the positions will be filled in early 2007. For your reference, the announcements have been posted on the NHLBI Web site with the same text that will appear in major journals.

We are committed to fostering an exceptional cardiovascular research program that funds innovative, creative, cutting edge research and is viewed as an international leader. I foresee an array of opportunities to build and diversify the strengths of the NHLBI and encourage all interested individuals to apply.

August 8, 2006

NHLBI Offers Complete Guide to Physical Activity for a Healthy Heart

"Your Guide to Physical Activity and Your Heart" presents comprehensive and easy-to-understand information on the impact of physical activity on your heart, as well as the power of physical activity to keep you healthy overall. Since physical inactivity is one of several major heart disease risk factors that you can do something about, the 44-page guide is full of practical tips, including sample walking and jogging programs, instructions for finding your target heart rate zone, ideas for making fitness a family affair, and an overview of the best physical activities for a healthy heart.

For more information please visit NIH/NHLBI News Release.

July 24, 2006

Marcia L. Stefanick, Ph.D. (left); AAMC President Darrell G. Kirch, M.D.; Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., at the July 24 Fulfilling The Promise briefing.

Featured Speaker: Association of American of Medical Colleges, The Fifth Fulfilling the Promise: Celebrating the Academic Medicine and NIH Collaboration, Advancing Women's Heart Health — NIH-Funded Research in Cardiovascular Disease, Washington, DC

"Women and Heart Disease, NHLBI Research"

At the AAMC's fifth Fulfilling the Promise briefing, speakers Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, and Marcia L. Stefanick, Ph.D., Stanford University School of Medicine, addressed research into women's cardiovascular health.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.aamc.org/research/ftp/start.htm

July 12, 2006

Study Shows Heart Failure in Parents is Associated with Increased Risk for Offspring

New results from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's (NHLBI) Framingham Heart Study demonstrate that having a parent who has had heart failure confers a 70 percent greater risk of developing the disease, even when accounting for common heart failure risk factors. Study participants with a parental occurrence of heart failure were about twice as likely to have a poorly functioning left ventricle, a heart abnormality which can lead to the development of heart failure.

For more information please visit NIH/NHLBI Media Availability.

June 28, 2006

NHLBI Offers Updated Guide with Practical Information for Lowering High Blood Pressure through Diet

"NHLBI studies have shown that the DASH eating plan can significantly lower high blood pressure, even within the first few weeks," said NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D. "They demonstrate that by making healthy choices in diet and physical activity, you can get on track to a healthier life."

For more information please visit NIH/NHLBI News Release.

June 16, 2006

Special Article, "Washingtonian Magazine" - the title "Most Powerful Woman in Washington, Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel Honored" Four institute directors were among a list of 100 women named "most powerful in Washington" by Washingtonian magazine in its June issue: Dr. Patricia Grady of NINR; Dr. Story Landis of NINDS; Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel of NHLBI; and Dr. Nora Volkow of NIDA. They joined a list that includes then First Lady Laura Bush, Second Lady Lynne Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and former Secretary of State Madeline Albright. For more information, please visit: http://www.nih.gov/nihrecord/06_16_2006/story05.htm

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, Washingtonian Magazine

May 31, 2006

Study Finds Ways to Improve Detection of Blood Clots in the Lung

"There are many effective ways to prevent and treat blood-clotting diseases," noted NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD. "Pulmonary embolism is under diagnosed and therefore often untreated. If detected early, however, blood clots can often be prevented from causing permanent damage or death."

For more information please visit NIH/NHLBI News Release.

May 21, 2006

Study Answers Long-Debated Questions on Fluid Management in Critical Care of Patients with Severe Lung Injury

"A key focus of caring for these critically ill patients is management of fluids," said NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD. "Fluid management in patients with ALI/ARDS has been the subject of intense debate for decades. We now have answers to two important questions to help guide critical care specialists on the best ways to support patients with severe lung injury."

For more information please visite NIH/NHLBI News Release.

May 10, 2006

Inhaled Corticosteroids Benefit Young Children with Frequent Wheezing but Do Not Prevent Development of Chronic Asthma

"Asthma is an enormous public health problem, and this study was designed to see if we could stop the development of asthma in its tracks - while the lungs are still developing - in young children known to be at high risk," said NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD. "Although this study shows that inhaled corticosteroids do not prevent chronic asthma, it provides clear evidence that inhaled corticosteroids benefit even some of our youngest patients."

For more information please visite NIH/NHLBI News Release.

April 18, 2006

The Heart Truth Road Show Travels to Three Cities and Features Free Screenings and Counseling, Health Information, and Designer Red Dresses on Display

Only 13 percent of women consider heart disease to be their own greatest health risk. Yet, an astonishing 80 percent of midlife women have one or more risk factors for heart disease such as high blood pressure or high blood cholesterol.

"We know that there is a disconnect among women as it relates to heart disease and their own personal risk," said NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D. "Therefore, it is critical for NHLBI and our partners to be in communities that are at high risk of heart disease to help women better understand their own personal risk and empower them to take action for heart health."

For more information please visite NIH/NHLBI News Release.

April 11, 2006

NHLBI Offers New Resources on Heart Health

A recent national survey shows that only 3 percent of U.S. adults practice all of the "big four" habits to help prevent heart disease: eating a healthy diet, getting regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, and not smoking. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health has combined the latest information and guidance on all of the factors that increase risk for heart disease-or may contribute to worsening heart disease-into two new heart health guidebooks for men and women.

For more information please visite NIH/NHLBI News Release.

April 11, 2006

Women's Health Initiative Updated Analysis Shows No Increased Risk of Breast Cancer with Estrogen-Alone

"Longer follow-up is needed to fully explain the reduced number of breast cancers in women taking estrogen. However, this new analysis does not alter the overall conclusion from the WHI that hormones, including estrogen-alone and estrogen plus progestin, should not be used for the prevention of chronic disease," said NHLBI Director and WHI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D. "The findings still support current recommendations that hormone therapy should only be used to treat menopausal symptoms and should be used at the smallest effective dose for the shortest possible time."

For more information please visite NIH/NHLBI News Release.

April 4, 2006

IOM Report Released on Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation

Statement from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

Today, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies released a report on the status of academic sleep research and sleep medicine in the United States. The report includes recommendations to improve public awareness and strengthen the field of sleep medicine. The project was initiated and funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Sleep Research Society, and the National Sleep Foundation.

For more information please visite NIH/NHLBI News Release.

April 3, 2006

Making Multiple Lifestyle Changes is Beneficial in Lowering High Blood Pressure

"This study underscores the value of lifestyle changes-namely improving diet and increasing physical activity-in reducing high blood pressure, an important public health problem," said NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D. "For the millions of Americans with prehypertension and hypertension, this shows that individuals can make healthy lifestyle changes to keep blood pressure under control without the use of medications."

For more information please visite NIH/NHLBI News Release.

March 27 - April 2, 2006

NIH Offers New Comprehensive Guide to Healthy Sleep as a part of National Sleep Awareness Week

In today's "24/7" society, many people cut back on sleep to squeeze in more time for work, family obligations, and other activities. But skimping on sleep can be harmful. A comprehensive new handbook from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) explains that sleep is not merely "down time" when the brain shuts off and the body rests.

For more information please visite NIH/NHLBI News Release.

March 24, 2006

Interview of the then First Lady by Larry King Live Mrs. Bush's East Wing Office

Interview of the then First Lady by Larry King Live at Mrs. Bush's East Wing Office

Tonight, here in Washington, at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, the Larry King Cardiac Foundation will celebrate another one of its dinners with gala entertainment in which the funds go to help people who can't afford it to get various types of heart treatment. And in that connection, we have invited, and she has accepted, the then First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush, to kick off the show tonight, which later will deal in depth with heart disease with a panel to talk about. What got you interested in it?

For more information, please view:
Interview of the then First Lady by Larry King Live

March 11, 2006

Distinguished Lecturer: The Simon Dack Lecture American College of Cardiology, 55th Annual Scientific Session Atlanta, GA

New NHLBI Director Sees Future of CV Medicine
"Genomic Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease"

"Virtually all diseases, except maybe trauma, have a genetic component," Dr. Nabel said." "The discovery of hereditary factors in cardiovascular diseases will allow a future in which medicine is predictive, preemptive and personalized."

For more information please view:
American College of Cardiology, 55th Annual Scientific Session and the inaugural Innovation in Intervention: i2 Summit 2006, Atlanta, Georgia

Please click The Simon Dack Lecture to view or download Dr. Nabel's presentation

March 2, 2006

Distinguished Lecturer: The Duke University Distinguished Lecturer Series: Duke Institute for Genome Science and Policy, Durham, NC

"Genomic Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease"

The Duke University Distinguished Lecturer Series was instituted to bring inspiring, accomplished, distinguished lecturers to campus to illuminate progress and future areas of excitement in genetic and genomics. Dr. Nabel shares her insight with students.

View or download Dr. Nabel's presentation on Genomic Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease

March 1, 2006

Radio Interview, NPR Diane Rheme Show, WAMU.88.5FM - the title "Women's Health Initiative"

Conclusions from 15 year $735 million Womens Health Initiative sponsored by the National Institute of Health challenge conventional thinking on how older women can reduce risks for heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. We'll discuss results of the study and implications for women's health.

For more information please view:
From NPR's The Diane Rehm Show, WAMU.org 88.5FM

February 22, 2006

Conference to be Held on Study Results, Ongoing Extension Study, and Future Research of the Women's Health Initiative - The Largest Study of Older Women's Health

Many of the nation's leading scientists and experts on women's health will join Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study participants February 28 -- March 1, 2006 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda, MD to celebrate the legacy and probe the findings and future directions of the WHI. The WHI is the largest and most comprehensive study of postmenopausal women's health ever conducted in the United States. From revealing the effects of a low-fat diet and calcium/vitamin D supplements to the dangers of hormone replacement therapy, the study has helped to shape and advance the health care of women for more than a decade.

For more information please visit NIH/NHLBI News Release.

February 6, 2006

NHLBI to Launch Framingham Genetic Research Study

A comprehensive genetic research study to identify genes underlying cardiovascular and other chronic diseases will be launched by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in collaboration with the Boston University (BU) School of Medicine.

For more information please visite NIH/NHLBI News Release.

January 31, 2006

NHLBI Highlights National Wear Red Day with the Red Dress Collection 2006 - Female Musical Artists Rock the Runway to Remind Women of Their No. 1 Killer

New York, NY-The Heart Truth, NHLBI's national awareness campaign for women about heart disease, celebrates National Wear Red Day with the debut of its annual Red Dress Collection Fashion Show. Reminding women that "Heart Disease Doesn't Care What You Wear-It's the No. 1 Killer of Women," The Heart Truth will bring to life the Red Dress, the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness. A star-studded cadre of female musical artists, including Sheryl Crow, LeAnn Rimes, Amerie, Lindsay Lohan, and Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas, will model designer Red Dresses by 21 of America's most influential designers, including Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, and Calvin Klein.

For more information please visit NIH/NHLBI News Release.

January, 2006

Letter from Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel to Recipients of NHLBI Support

I am writing to provide information about policies and activities that may be of interest to you as a recipient of support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

For more information, please visite Dear Colleague

October 4, 2005

Notes from the NHLBI Director
Fostering the Independence of New Investigators

As mentioned in my inaugural column, I am strongly committed to ensuring the continuing vigor of the research enterprise through training and career development of new investigators. The nurturing of young talent was a high priority during my tenure in academic medicine, in particular because it coincided with a time of constrained budgets that resulted in the virtual loss of a generation of promising young investigators.

For more information, please view:
Circulation. 2005;112:145–146

September 13, 2005

Message from the Director, NHLBI, to Investigators Affected by Hurricane Katrina

I recognize that this is a time of unprecedented disruption and hardship for those of you affected by Hurricane Katrina and that rebuilding will be a long process. My colleagues at the Institute and I want you to know that we will work with you to help resolve whatever problems may arise during this difficult time.

For more information, please view:
Message from the Director

August 1, 2005

Notes from the NHLBI Director
A Vision for the Future: Opportunities and Challenges

It is a pleasure and a privilege to address the readership of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine in my new capacity as Director of the NHLBI. Our Institute has a long and distinguished record of scientific progress in cardiovascular, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders, and the present transition affords an opportunity for reflection and critical assessment of our future directions.

For more information, please view:
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.2005;172:266-267

July 15, 2005

"A vision for the future: notes from the NHLBI director"

It is a pleasure and a privilege to address the readership of Blood in my new capacity as director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Our institute has a long and distinguished record of scientific progress in cardiovascular, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders, and the present transition affords an opportunity for reflection and critical assessment of our future directions.

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Blood, 15 July 2005, Vol. 106, No. 2, pp. 399-400Jump to Director's Corner navigation