Detailed Schedule
updated 7 February 2000
12:30 pm
Richard Klausner, director, National Cancer Institute
Lister Hill Auditorium, NIH
Have lunch on your own, then take the red line (same metro line that runs by the convention hotel) to the NIH stop (called "Medical Center" stop). It's a short walk to the auditorium. Don't even think about driving. Well-placed sources say parking is virtually impossible, and even if you were lucky enough to find a spot you'd only be able to park for a short time at exhorbitant rates. The metro ride is easy, clean, and safe. After the reception, buses will take you from HHMI to the NIH Medical Center metro stop and then continue on to the Marriott downtown.
1:30 pm
Workshops
At about 1:30, you'll be escorted to our respective workshops (with transportation provided for the ones that are off campus), where we'll be for about three hours
1. Genetic Testing Role-Playing - CANCELLED
2. Hands-On Lab at the Human Genome Project - FULL/CLOSED
Get your fingers wet at the NIH Intramural Sequencing Center. You'll try your hand at the steps in DNA sequencing, with lab modules that include picking clones, extracting and precipitating DNA, sonication, sequencing reaction, watching gels being poured, loading sequencing gels, seeing new capillary machines, and doing a computer analysis of sequences.
3. Malaria and Tuberculosis - FULL/CLOSED
Find out more about the two most deadly infectious diseases in the world, which together claim the lives of nearly 5 million people every year. Malaria and TB will be discussed in two one-hour lecture/demonstrations.
Group A: Mosquitoes and Malaria.
Hear from Dr. Robert W. Gwadz, assistant chief of NIAID's Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, who will discuss the life cycle of the mosquito, and a new vaccine that would prevent mosquitoes that had just bitten a malaria-infected person from transmitting the malaria parasite to other individuals.Group B: TB and Telemedicine.
Watch Dr. Steven Holland of NIAID consult with a doctor and patients 1500 miles away, in a remote region of South Texas, who are engaged in a clinical trial of experimental drugs for TB. He will not only talk to the doctor, but examine their patients, including checking heartbeat, lungs, eyes, and ears - all through a computer.4. Imaging Tour - FULL/CLOSED
Have a tour of the NIH Clinical Center's (CC) Radiology Dept. See the latest types of scanners, including MRI, PET and a multi-array CT scanner. Then hear radiologists describe their cutting edge research using these scanners. CC's Dr. Choyke and other radiologists.
5. Virtual Bronchoscopy - CANCELLED
6. MRI of the Heart
Watch a normal volunteer have an MRI scan of the heart using one of NIH's newest types of scanners, which can be used to evaluate chest pain and stroke right in the emergency room. You will be taught how to operate the scanner, create specific images of the heart, and direct the normal volunteer in different movements or activities during the scan.
7. Computers in Medicine - CANCELLED
8. A Lecture on Drug Addiction and a Tour of the National Library of Medicine - CANCELLED.
9. In-the-Lab Demonstrations of Molecular Biology - FULL/CLOSED
Watch what goes on in two labs from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). They are involved in the techniques you have read so much about but have probably never seen: transgenic and knockout mice in one lab, microarray technology in the other. These are not hands-on labs, but they get you as close to the action as possible - while keeping your fingernails clean.
Group A: Transgenic and Knockout Mice.
Meet a few transgenic mice - mice carrying a "foreign" gene whose activity can be studied during development - in the labs of Drs. Ashok Kulkarni and Glenn Longnecker. These mice have been used to study the role of specific proteins in the formation of cartilage and bone and to study genetic disorders, such as dentinogenesis imperfecta. Then spend some time with knockout mice, in which a gene has been deliberately disrupted to see what happens when its protein product is absent. These particular knockout mice have been used to study osteoporosis and the role of the TGF-beta growth factor during early development. You will watch the techniques used in creating these animals, including microinjection and embryo transfer procedures.Group B: Microarray Technology.
Learn about the technology that allows scientists to visualize the gene activity for up to 2,000 DNA samples at once. Watch a brief slide presentation by Dr. Hao-Chaun Li of what is possible with this powerful technique, and then handle slides spotted with up to hundreds of DNA samples and view the computer displays and analyses of results. See how scientists use this technology to compare gene expression in different tissues, in normal vs. malignant tissue, or in embryonic tissue at different stages of development.10. More Molecular Biology
Another set of in-the-lab demonstrations (not hands-on, but almost) that will allow you to see the work being done at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Group A: Genetic engineering.
Meet the transgenic mice and knockout mice in the lab facilities of NICHD. You will spend time with Dr. Heiner Westphal, one of the world's leading experts on transgenic animals, who will describe how such animals are created and how they are used in research, and you will have a chance to see how DNA from one animal is injected into another.Group B: Zebrafish.
Meet the zebrafish in NICHD's facility, with Dr. Brant Weinstein and others doing the introductions. Find out how these small fish are being used to study development of the vascular system and the central nervous system, as well as the functional genomics of the zebrafish. These animals are the fruit flies of the 21st century: they have become a mainstay of developmental biologists because they are easy to maintain, rapidly produce large numbers of offspring, and have easily studied genetics.11. Hands-on Interactive Technology - CANCELLED
12. Aiming at the Tiniest Targets - FULL/CLOSED
Watch the action of two new technologies developed at NIH - a unique form of electron microscopy, and laser capture microdissection. These joint lecture/demonstrations will show you how it's done.
Group A: Detecting Elements Within a Cell.
Watch Dr. Richard Leapman generate quantitative maps of specific elements within a cell with such sensitivity that they can almost pick up a single atom in a sample. Learn how he and Dr. S. Brian Andrews have applied this imaging technique to the problem of how changes in the distribution of calcium ions regulate the function of neurons.Group B: Laser Capture Microdissection.
Watch Drs. Seth Goldstein, Robert Bonner, and Lance Liotta use this new technology to capture and remove specific cells - such as clusters of cancer cells - from a standard slide, without damaging either the captured cells or the rest of the tissue. Learn how laser capture microdissection, recently invented and developed at NIH, has been commercialized and is being widely used to analyze specific DNA alterations or patterns of gene expression in cancer and other diseases.13. Clone Your Lunch
Create transgenic food through a freestanding learning module now being used by high school biology teachers nationwide. You'll get a chance to isolate DNA from bean sprouts, corn, peas, and bananas, and to separate the DNA out by size using gel electrophoresis - all under the watchful eye of Judy Brown, a former high school biology teacher who, after 25 years in the classroom, is now a consultant on the development of innovative programs and materials in molecular biology. Brown will be assisted by Rhonda Dillard, a biology teacher who developed the "clone your lunch" module and teaches a biotechnology summer program in the public schools.
14. Murder Investigations, Then and Now - FULL/CLOSED
Travel (by bus from NIH) to the fascinating National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM), housed on the campus of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. The museum is an undiscovered gem not usually on the itinerary of tourists who focus on the Smithsonian offerings alone.
Group A: Forensic Anthropology.
In this hands-on lab, you will use scientific techniques to identify human skeletal remains from such suspicious settings as car crashes and murders. Learn how scientists help figure out whodunit, or whatdunit, when most other clues are missing.Group B: Cabinets Of Curiosity.
Tour the museum's sometimes-gruesome anatomical collections, comprising 5,000 skeletal specimens and 10,000 preserved organs. View the historical collections, such as old x-ray equipment, microscopes, surgical instruments, and the museum's famous collection of preserved fetal monstrosities.15. Brain Imaging - FULL/CLOSED
Explore what parts of the brain are activated during visual and mental tasks in a volunteer. Learn how such information provides new insights into how the brain recognizes different objects. This demonstration workshop involves the use of functional MRI (fMRI), now used to map the organization of the human brain by measuring changes in neural activity as indicated by changes in blood flow.
4:30 pm
Anthony Fauci, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
NIH Building 1, Wilson Hall
After your workshop (above), NIH shuttle buses will transport you to Wilson Hall for a talk about global health challenges.
5:30 pm
Reception
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
You'll be bused about to the HHMI, just a mile down the road from NIH, for a reception, which is expected to last until about 7 pm or so. Then, buses will take you from HHMI to the Medical Center metro stop and then continue on to the Marriott downtown.
Questions or comments about the NIH workshops? Contact: Robin Henig. Updates or corrections for this web site? Contact Carol Cruzan Morton.
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