Three Scientists Join NIGMS
NIGMS recently welcomed three new additions to its scientific
staff.
Dr. Susan Haynes, a program director in
the Division of Genetics and Developmental Biology, is managing grants
in the area of developmental genetics. She came to NIGMS from the
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, where she served
as assistant professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular
biology. Prior to that, she was a senior staff fellow in the Laboratory
of Molecular Genetics at NICHD. Haynes earned a B.S. degree in biology
from the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. in molecular cell biology
from Rockefeller University.
Dr. Matthew Portnoy, a program director
in the Division of Genetics and Developmental Biology, is responsible
for grants related to DNA repair and mutagenesis as well as SBIR/STTR
and postdoctoral fellowship grants. Before joining NIGMS, he was
a postdoctoral fellow in the NHGRI Genome Technology Branch. He earned
a B.S. degree in molecular and cell biology from Pennsylvania State
University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from
Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Meredith Temple-O'Connor, a scientific
review administrator in the Office of Scientific Review, is handling
a range of research and training grant applications, including those
focused on increasing the number of minority biomedical and behavioral
scientists. She was formerly acting director of the Division of Inter-Disciplinary
Training at NIBIB. Earlier, she was a senior advisor for scientific
programs at the institute's Division of Extramural Activities. Temple-O'Connor
began her NIH career as a program analyst in NINDS. She earned a
B.S. degree in psychology and a Ph.D. in biological psychology from
Virginia Commonwealth University.
Stanfield Appointed DEA Director
at NIDDK
 Dr.
Brent Stanfield has joined the National
Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases as director
of the Division of Extramural Activities. He comes to NIDDK from
the Center for Scientific Review, where he served as acting director
from October 2003 to June 2005. Prior to that, he served as deputy
director of CSR for 3 years, from July 2000 until October 2003.
Stanfield's NIH experience includes time spent in the OD Office
of Science Policy and over 13 years spent with the National Institute
of Mental Health, where he ran the unit on developmental neuroanatomy
in the Laboratory of Neurophysiology from 1987 to 1996.
Selmanoff Joins CSR
 Dr.
Michael Selmanoff recently joined the
Center for Scientific Review as a scientific review administrator
in the integrative, functional and cognitive neuroscience integrated
review group. He is overseeing the neuroendocrinology, neuroimmunology
and behavior, and the biological rhythms and sleep study sections.
After receiving his Ph.D. in neurobiology, he had postdoctoral
training at the University of California, San Francisco, in its
Reproductive Endocrinology Center. For the past 27 years, he
has been a faculty member in the department of physiology at
the University of Maryland School of Medicine. There, he conducted
basic research in reproductive neuroendocrinology and taught
medical and graduate students. His NIH-sponsored research investigated
the neuroendocrine regulation of prolactin and luteinizing hormone
secretion from the anterior pituitary gland. The work focused
on the physiological regulation of hypothalamic dopamine neurons
controlling prolactin secretion, and the peptid-ergic gonadotropin-releasing
hormone neurons controlling luteinizing hormone secretion.
Kerr Wins Alumna Award
 Dr.
Mary Kerr (l), who recently joined
NINR as deputy director, was presented the Frances Payne Bolton
School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University Distinguished
Alumna award at a May 14 ceremony in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Dr.
May L. Wykle, dean and Florence Cellar
professor of nursing, presented the award. Kerr received her
Ph.D. from that institution in 1991. The award, which recognized
her "outstanding scholarship, visionary leadership, and dedication
to advancing nursing and health care through extensive research
and creative educational programming" is the highest honor bestowed
by the Alumni Association. During her career, Kerr has focused
her research on preventing cerebral ischemia and maximizing cerebral
perfusion in the critically ill patient with a neurological condition.
NIDDK Program Wins Medal
The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) received the Charles
H. Best Medal for Distinguished Service in the Cause of Diabetes
from the American Diabetes Association on June 10 at the ADA's
65th annual meeting and scientific sessions in San Diego. The medal
is named for Dr. Best, the co-discoverer of insulin. The award
honors distinguished service in the field of diabetes, including
both scientific and nonscientific endeavors.
The NDEP, founded in 1997, is an initiative that involves public
and private partners to improve the treatment and outcomes of people
with diabetes, to promote early diagnosis and to prevent the onset
of diabetes. The initiative is co-sponsored by NIDDK and by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with the participation
of more than 200 partner organizations, including the ADA.
Five Join Advisory Committee on Women's
Health Research
Five new members recently joined the advisory committee on research
on women's health: Dr. Luther Clark, Dr. PonJola Coney, Dr. Andrea
Dunaif, Dr. Linda Kaste and Dr. Carmen Zorilla.
 |
| Dr. Vivian Pinn (l), director, Office of
Research on Women’s Health, welcomes new members to the
ORWH advisory committee. They include (from l) Drs. Carmen
Zorilla, Luther Clark, Linda Kaste and PonJola Coney. |
Clark is chief of the division of cardiovascular medicine, professor
of clinical medicine and director of the cardiology fellowship
training program at the State University of New York Health Science
Center (Downstate) in Brooklyn.
Coney is senior vice president for health affairs and dean of
the School of Medicine at Meharry Medical College in Nashville.
Dunaif is chief of the division of endocrinology, metabolism,
and molecular medicine at Northwestern University, Feinberg School
of Medicine, in Chicago.
Kaste is an associate professor and director of predoctoral dental
public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago College
of Dentistry.
Zorilla is professor of obstetrics/gynecology, University Hospital,
University of Puerto Rico.
NHLBI's Hegyeli Retires After 36 Years
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|
| Surgeon General Richard Carmona surprised
Dr. Ruth Hegyeli at her retirement luncheon. He thanked her
for her years of service to national and international health.
He also recognized her recent work on the draft of the Surgeon
General’s Call to Action in Global Health, one
of whose overarching themes is health diplomacy. |
|
Dr. Ruth Johnsson Hegyeli recently retired after 36 years with NIH.
She served as associate director for international programs, NHLBI
for 33 of those years.
A native of Sweden, she earned her medical degree at Toronto University.
While there, her studies in the survival of living cells in adverse
environments led to an invitation to come to the United States
to work as a research associate for Nobel laureate Prof. Albert
Szent-Gyorgi, and to establish a tissue culture laboratory at his
institute in Woods Hole, Mass. From there, Hegyeli went to Columbus,
Ohio, where she was head of the Battelle Memorial Institute's cell
biology laboratory and principal investigator on two NIH-funded
studies. Her cell biology work on the interface of living cells
with biomaterials still appears in medical texts and was key to
the development of the artificial heart.
Hegyeli joined the National Heart Institute (now NHLBI) in 1969.
In 1973, she was made director of the Office of International Programs.
She recently wrote about key NHLBI achievements in health, diplomacy,
medicine and science. During her tenure, NHLBI established a 20-year
collaboration between the U.S. and China for cardiovascular research
and a 30-year program of cooperation with Russia and the former
Soviet Union. NHLBI began its international programs in the area
of hypertension, as illustrated by joint U.S.-Egypt creation and
maintenance of the Egypt National Hypertension Program, which expanded
into the Pan Arab Hypertension League.
International partners of NHLBI are now looking more broadly at
cardiovascular disease. The historic U.S.-Pan American Health Organization
meeting was held here in 2004. That conference brought together
representatives from other institutes in addition to NHLBI as well
as ministers of health from Canada and seven Latin American countries.
The conference led to creation of working groups to establish the
Pan American Cardiovascular Initiative to address the cardiovascular
health needs of the Western Hemisphere.
"Ruth Hegyeli has helped the international community in more ways
than I can hope to enumerate," said Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, NHLBI
director. "Her compassion, perseverance, and unwavering belief
in expanded cooperation in medicine and science inspired everyone
in the institute."
Hegyeli has received more than 20 national and international awards
in medicine and science. Most recently, she was awarded the International
Peace Prize in 2004, the Fogarty Scholar gold medal in 2005 and
the Surgeon General's Exemplary Service Award in 2005. She also
has received at least 20 awards in literature, culture and poetry
over the past two decades.
Hegyeli is looking forward to an active retirement. Her foremost
longstanding commitment is to assist needy and handicapped children,
especially HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa. A distinguished poet of
the International Society of Poets (ISP) and an elected member
of the World Literary Academy, Cambridge, England, she will present
some of her poetry at the August 2005 ISP international convention
in Washington, D.C.
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