On Nov. 16-17, the NHLBI held a symposium to mark the 100th anniversary of the first published scientific paper on sickle cell disease. The James B. Herrick Symposium – Sickle Cell Disease Care and Research: Past, Present and Future commemorated the history of sickle cell research, highlighted current efforts in basic and translational research in the U.S. and globally, and discussed continuing challenges and future opportunities.
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NHLBI Acting Deputy Director Dr. Carl Roth joined NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins and other IC representatives for a rousing Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) IC Directors Jeopardy Challenge on Oct. 28. Team members competed to answer questions about NIH history, anatomy, and former NIH Acting Director Ruth Kirschstein, while spectators contributed to six CFC charities.
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The NHLBI will use a special funding strategy for three Program Announcements (PAs) recently published in the NIH Guide.
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From Oct. 14 to 17, on behalf of the NHLBI, I visited Beijing, China to attend meetings with our partners in the Global Alliance For Chronic Disease (GACD). Joining me from the NHLBI were Dr. Arun Chockalingam, Dr. Cristina Rabadan-Diehl, and FIC director Dr. Roger Glass.
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From Oct. 11 to 13, on behalf of the NIH and Dr. Francis Collins, I attended the 57th meeting of the European Medical Research Council (EMRC) and European Science Foundation (ESF) in Strasbourg, France.
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The Heart Truth® campaign took the spotlight yesterday at The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas, where campaign founding ambassador Laura Bush unveiled the latest installment of the First Ladies Red Dress Collection. The exhibit features red dresses and suits on loan from the presidential libraries and personal collections of 14 of America's first ladies, from Lou Hoover to Michelle Obama, as well as 12 celebrity red dresses from the annual Red Dress Collection Fashion Show in New York City.
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Future epidemiologists and public health professionals from Tougaloo College recently toured the NIH campus as part of an education and training program sponsored by the NHLBI’s Jackson Heart Study (JHS). The decade-long population study, based in Jackson, Miss., is the largest single-site effort ever undertaken to examine cardiovascular disease among African-Americans.
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On October 23-24, the NIH will join more than 500 of the nation's leading science and engineering organizations in a two-day celebration of science on the National Mall and Freedom Plaza in downtown Washington, DC. The USA Science and Engineering Festival Expo is free, open to the public, and includes 1,500 interactive exhibits and 75 stage shows, including a performance by Dr. Collins at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 24.
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On Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010, six investigators supported by funds allocated to the NHLBI under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were invited to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds to hear Vice President Joseph Biden extol their role in fostering the innovation that will contribute to the long-term economic health of the United States—one of the primary goals of the Recovery Act.
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Each September is recognized as Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month. September of 2010 takes on special significance because this year marks the 100th anniversary of the first published report of sickle cell disease in Western medical literature. In honor of James B. Herrick, M.D., the Chicago physician who made this discovery, the NHLBI is hosting a symposium in November to reflect upon a century of sickle cell disease research and to look ahead to improved treatment options.
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Congratulations to the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR), one of six winners of the inaugural cycle of the HHSinnovates awards – and one of three top choices personally selected by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who announced the winners on August 4.
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Today's edition of the NIH Record features a full-page article about the "COPD Shuttle" event, which the NHLBI hosted on campus on May 27. This 20-seat motion simulator entertained and educated more than 500 NIH staff and guests as they took a microscopic "journey to the center of the lung" to learn about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
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The NHLBI's annual Public Interest Organization Meeting has always been an excellent opportunity for patient advocacy group leaders and NHLBI staff to interact with one another and with representatives of major professional societies while hearing about the Institute's current and future research plans. This year's meeting—the 11th annual, held on May 24-25 in Bethesda, Md.—surprised attendees with a special treat.
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In the June 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the NHLBI's Michael Lauer, M.D., and NIH Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., eloquently describe the NIH's commitment to conducting and supporting comparative effectiveness research (CER). They note that although CER has been drawn into the health policy spotlight recently, this important research is hardly new to the NIH and the NHLBI.
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It is with great pleasure that I introduce L. Michelle Bennett, Ph.D., as the deputy scientific director for the NHLBI in the Division of Intramural Research (DIR). Dr. Bennett’s experience in improving communications, developing best scientific practices, and coordinating team-based initiatives, as well as her outstanding scientific vision, will make her an invaluable asset.
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The return of spring brings many pleasures, but allergies are not among them. Rising temperatures combine with budding trees and blooming flowers to send pollen counts sky-high. For many people, this means running noses, watering eyes, and difficulty breathing. Given these seasonal hallmarks, May has been named National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month.
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I am in Dhaka, Bangladesh, getting ready to leave for Vancouver, and wanted to give you a sense of what Cristina Rabadan-Diehl and I have seen as we have visited some of the NHLBI Centers of Excellence in global health. We are here with two of our UnitedHealthcare (UHC) partners: Richard Smith, who is the director of the Centre program for UHC, and Simon Stevens, who is president of the Global Health Division of UHC.
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On March 26, 2010, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recognized employees and contractors for their exceptional service to the institute. In a ceremony in Natcher Auditorium, NHLBI Acting Director Dr. Susan Shurin bestowed 196 Merit Awards and 17 PAROS Awards (Partnership Award in Recognition of Outstanding Support).
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I am delighted to inform you that Dr. Arun Chockalingam joined the Institute as the Director of our new Office of Global Health (OGH) on April 11, 2010. Arun brings to the Institute a unique combination of experience in global health research, policy, training, and administration in addition to international leadership within the global health community.
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In 2008, Congress declared April as National Sarcoidosis Awareness Month to bring more attention to this rare, multisystem disease. Two years later, we are slowly but surely making progress, both in public awareness and in research.
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NHLBI-sponsored researchers recently announced the results of two major clinical trials that looked for new ways to help adults with type 2 diabetes reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease. Both trials were part of the landmark Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) study of over 10,000 North American adults with type 2 diabetes who had or were at especially high risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
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On Sunday, March 14, Americans will turn their clocks ahead and lose an hour of sleep. This annual "spring forward" may not seem like much, but it comes in an age where many people are already cutting back on sleep to squeeze in more activities and more time with loved ones. Now is a good time to remember that no matter how much we want to pack into our waking hours or how sincerely we believe we can get by on five or six hours of sleep a night, we need plenty of quality sleep to help keep us healthy.
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Congratulations to NHLBI grantee and University of Pittsburgh epidemiologist Rachel Mackey, Ph.D., M.P.H., F.A.H.A., who received a Trudy Bush Fellowship for Cardiovascular Research in Women's Health from the American Heart Association (AHA). These fellowships honor faculty for outstanding leadership in women's health and cardiovascular science, and are given to the first authors of the three highest-scored women's health-related abstracts submitted to the AHA's annual Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention Conference.
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Rick Childs, M.D. recently hosted a pair of celebrity visitors. As part of their reality TV series The Giuliana and Bill Show, E! News anchor Giuliana Rancic and her husband, Bill, the first winner of The Apprentice, came to Childs' lab to talk about his current research on kidney cancer.
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The NIH is seeking exceptional candidates for the position of Director, NHLBI, to provide global leadership for research, training, and education programs that promote the prevention and treatment of heart, lung, and blood diseases so that individuals can live longer and more fulfilling lives. This position offers a unique opportunity for the right individual to provide strong and visionary leadership to an organization dedicated to uncovering new basic and clinical knowledge and technologies, and to ensuring that rigorous science guides the appropriate use of existing treatments.
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For the eighth year in a row, The Heart Truth® Red Dress Collection Fashion Show brought heart health and glamour together at New York's Bryant Park. Seventeen celebrities walked the runway on Feb. 11, 2010 wearing designer red dresses to celebrate women's heart disease awareness and inspire women to take control of their risk factors.
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On Feb. 10, 2010, Woman's Day magazine recognized The Heart Truth® partner Suzanne Haynes, Ph.D. at its annual Red Dress Awards ceremony at Lincoln Center in New York City. Since 2003, the Red Dress Awards have honored people who lead the fight against heart disease, the number one killer of women. Dr. Haynes was one of five distinguished recipients this year.
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Despite an impending snow storm, NHLBI staff donned red shirts and ties, fastened their Red Dress pins, and gathered on the NIH campus to celebrate National Wear Red Day® on Friday, Feb. 5, 2010. NHLBI Acting Director Susan B. Shurin, M.D. (seventh from right, standing) joined staff as they helped raise awareness of women's heart disease as part of American Heart Month.
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It is my pleasure to announce that Dr. Arun Chockalingam has accepted the position of Director, Office of Global Health (OGH), NHLBI. We anticipate that he will assume his new duties in April 2010, after the completion of administrative clearances.
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Presidential Proclamation: Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Its victims are women and men, and people of all backgrounds and ethnicities, in all regions of our country.
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NHLBI grantees at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center have published a “proof of principle” study demonstrating that the Notch ligand is able to expand the umbilical cord blood (UCB) stem cells and improve hematopoietic engraftment. Untreated UCB does not begin making new blood cells in a patient's bone marrow for about three weeks.
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On Jan. 19, 2010, former NHLBI director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D. participated in the Olympic Torch Relay in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, leading up to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. Dr. Nabel was nominated by The Heart Truth® campaign partner Diet Coke and served as one of 20 U.S. torchbearers with Olympics sponsor Coca-Cola.
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February is American Heart Month — a nationwide health observance to raise awareness of heart disease and stroke and encourage community involvement in adopting heart-healthy lifestyles. This year, the NHLBI's The Heart Truth® campaign once again encourages the nation to combat women's heart disease by celebrating National Wear Red Day® on Friday, February 5.
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Message From the Acting Director: Our longtime colleague, Dr. Marshall Nirenberg, passed away this afternoon after a long battle with cancer. We are all saddened by the news, and our deepest sympathies are with his wife and family.
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It is my pleasure to welcome Donna DiMichele, M.D. as the new Deputy Director of our Division of Blood Diseases and Resources (DBDR). Dr. DiMichele is an internationally respected clinician-researcher with exceptional credentials in management, team-building, mentorship, and bioethics.
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Two reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published online this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association provide an update to obesity prevalence in the United States. Based on data from 2007-2008, researchers report that 68 percent of U.S. adults and 32 percent of school-aged U.S. children and adolescents are overweight or obese.
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I am proud to announce that the HHS has selected NHLBI biomedical engineer Tim Baldwin, Ph.D., E.I.T. as the Agency's nominee for the 2010 Federal Engineer of the Year Award. This prestigious award recognizes federal engineers across the agencies for their outstanding professional achievements, civic and humanitarian activities, continuing education, and substantial contributions to the successful operations of the federal government.
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