Nancy L. Haigwood, Ph.D.–director of the ONPRC and Senior Scientist–has been appointed to the National Institutes of Health Council of Councils. This body advises the director of the NIH on research opportunities, policy, public health concerns, and other strategic priorities for the NIH.  Dr. Haigwood will serve through October 2015.

Dr. Haigwood is the fifth Director of ONPRC and will contribute deep knowledge of the vital role that NIH-sponsored research resources play in creating the foundation for ground-breaking discovery in the service of human health.

Dr. Haigwood and her research team study new approaches to developing HIV vaccines that fully or partially protect from HIV disease. She led the preclinical development of a novel HIV vaccine while serving as Research Director for the Chiron Corporation in Emeryville, California, and she was the founding Director of the Viral Vaccines Program for the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute. Dr. Haigwood was also the first Scientific Ombudsperson at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center i. She is currently a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the International AIDS Vaccine Institute and has served as a regular member on NIH Advisory Panels and Study sections.

See the full press release here.

The symposium Cellular Imaging at the Nanoscale will take place at OHSU on June 27-28, 2013, in the Old Library Auditorium. This event will showcase cutting-edge microscopy technologies that can be used to image biological systems at high resolution. Presentations and discussions will focus on imaging cellular systems in 4D, novel tools and probes for imaging, super-resolution microscopy (SRM), and correlated light and electron microscopy. Imaging experts, including Eric Betzig (Janelia Farm), Alice Ting (MIT), and Alan Waggoner (CMU), will share the latest developments in high resolution imaging in biological systems. Researchers from OHSU and the local community will share how advanced imaging methods have transformed their understanding of different cellular systems, including cancer cells, neurons, and pathogenic bacteria.

Attendance is free, but registration is required.  Registered participants will receive an email invitation to participate in hands-on workshops: register here.

A poster session will feature research from our graduate students and postdocs.  Abstract deadline is June 1.  Registration instructions are below the fold.

For more information, or to submit an abstract, please email nanoscale2013@gmail.com

This event is supported by the School of Medicine Research Roadmap and fulfills a key Roadmap goal: enhance the ability of OHSU researchers to form collaborative focus groups or consortiums in pursuit of interdisciplinary research and innovative funding. Learn more at www.ohsu.edu/researchroadmap.

Read more…

New this year at OHSU Research Week, we’ve planned a series of career development panels that are designed to spark conversation between students, fellows, and faculty on topics like developing a good relationship with you mentor, finding a job, and surviving grad school. OHSU Researchers from all disciplines are welcome to attend.

How to prepare for the job search and interview process

Wednesday, May 22, 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., OHSU Auditorium

Postdoctoral fellows and graduate students are invited to attend this informal Q&A panel led by two recently hired faculty and one senior faculty member. Our new faculty panel members, Summer Gibbs, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Laura Heiser, Ph.D., research assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, will share their job search experiences as well as provide insight on how to prepare for the interview process. Senior faculty member Steven Shea, Ph.D., director of the Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology, will shed light on what employers are looking for during the job search process.

How to establish a strong mentoring relationship

Thursday, May 23, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., OHSU Auditorium

This panel discussion focuses on how to make the most out of a mentoring experience. Learn from experienced mentors and mentees about what you can and should not expect from a mentor/mentee relationship, how to clarify roles, and how to set boundaries. They’ll also provide tips on what has worked for each of them. This discussion is directed to a wide variety of participants, from students and postdocs to faculty; clinical researchers to basic scientists. Facilitated by Cynthia Morris, panelists include David Jacoby, M.D., professor of Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine; Amie Peterson, M.D., MCR, assistant professor, Neurology; Karen Eden, Ph.D., associate professor, Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology and Wilmon Grant, Ph.D., MCR, postdoctoral fellow, OHSU/PVAMC.

How to choose a postdoctoral position

Friday, May 24, 11:20 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Old Library 217

Learn from our panel of postdoc experts how they found and chose their postdoctoral fellowship. Students are encouraged to ask questions about any part of the process they are most interested in, such as how to identify and contact potential mentors, how to prepare for the postdoc interview process, and what to look for in a mentor. Panelists include: Jared Fischer, Ph.D., Molecular and Medical Genetics; Matthew Jones, Ph.D., Environmental and Biomolecular Systems; Kateri Spinelli, Ph.D., Neurology; and Damian Zuloaga, Ph.D., Behavioral Neuroscience.

How to survive graduate school

Friday, May 24, 1 to 1:55 p.m., Old Library 217

It’s one thing to get into graduate school. It’s another to survive it. Our postdoc experts will provide advice on time management, writing your first scientific manuscript, how to prepare for your thesis defense, and other topics. This discussion-oriented workshop is designed for graduate students at all stages. Panelists include Connie Nguyen-Truong, Ph.D., RN, Nursing; Julia Perederiy, Ph.D., Jungers Center for Neurosciences Research; Alain Silk, Ph.D., Dermatology; and Kristen Zuloaga, Ph.D., Anesthesiology.

Non-academic careers options for scientists

Friday, May 24, 3 to 4 p.m., Old Library 217

Professionals from various industries join us to give an insider’s look at life beyond the academic landscape. Included are a hydrologist from the U.S. Geological Survey, a member of the Environmental Services Bureau of Portland, a scientist at Invitrogen, and a patent lawyer at Klarquist Sparkman, LLP. Particular focus will be on career trajectory from graduate school onward, what each occupation entails, and other life lessons learned along the way.

For more information, visit www.ohsu.edu/researchweek or contact research@ohsu.edu.

How is the sequester affecting your lab? NIH Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., is seeking feedback via social media on how the sequester is impacting biomedical research.

Tweet to Dr. Collins using the hashtag #NIHSequesterImpact.

If you ever wonder what research we’re working on here at OHSU, now is your chance to find out. May 20-24, more than 300 students, faculty, fellows and research staff will be presenting their work at OHSU Research Week. All OHSU employees are welcome to attend. Below are some highlights from the Research Week schedule.

Over 350 scientific presentations

Listen to OHSU researchers present their research at one of 26 oral sessions, or check out one of the four poster sessions scheduled throughout the week. View the OHSU Research Week schedule, which you can search by presenter or topic.

Receptions

OHSU Research Week’s opening reception will be held Monday, May 20 at 4:30 p.m. in the Richard Jones Atrium. Later in the week, please join us for an awards reception on Thursday, May 23 at 6 p.m. in the Old Library.

Three keynote talks

• Mace Rothenberg, M.D., senior vice president of clinical development and medical affairs at Pfizer. Tuesday, May 21, 12 to 1 p.m. in the OHSU Auditorium.
• Peter Byers, M.D., professor of medicine and pathology, University of Washington. Thursday, May 23, 2013, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., OHSU Auditorium.
• David Schneider, Ph.D., assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at the Stanford School of Medicine. Friday, May, 24, 2013, 4 to 5 p.m., OHSU Auditorium.

View all keynote speaker bios.

Career Development Workshops

• How to prepare for the job search and interview process
• How to establish a strong mentoring relationship
• How to choose a postdoctoral position
• How to survive graduate school
• Nonacademic careers options for scientists

View dates and times for all Career Development Workshops.

Three Minute Thesis Competition

Think you can describe your research to tram travelers in the time it takes to reach CHH? New this year at Research Week, OHSU will hold its first Three Minute Thesis Competition for graduate students on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 5 p.m. Get more information.

Student Day Friday

• Student-only oral presentations
• An ugly data competition
• Student reception and more!

For more information, visit www.ohsu.edu/researchweek or contact research@ohsu.edu.

Updated 5/10: A shuttle will be available for transportation to and from OHSU’s West Campus. For more information, contact Cristina Butterfield.

Most of you probably know about the Integrity Office. We are the ones you have to go through if you are doing any human subjects or animal research; genetic research; or when you need to fill out a conflict of interest form. Did you know that the Integrity Office encompasses much more than that? You have probably interacted with our office and didn’t even know it.

• Find something poorly labeled and smelly in your lab? Your call comes to us.
• Lost your flash drive with all your study data on it? It’s our job to deal with it.
• Wondering how you are going to track research visits vs. general visits for a research subject? We can help!

Each spring, we celebrate Integrity Week, May 6-10.  We highlight topics that are sure to impact your work by hosting a town hall. This year’s town hall event is:

Breaches Happen: Protecting Your Patients, Your Research and You
Tuesday, May 7, 2013 from 9 to 10:30 a.m.
UHS 8B60

Kathryn Schuff, IRB Chair, and John Rasmussen, Chief Information Integrity Officer, will be speaking about the privacy and security of information at OHSU. You can find details about this presentation and more about the tables (with goodies!) we host all around campus on our website.

Could there be heavy metals in your baby food or drinking water? Get common household items tested for metal content at this year’s Metal Ion Core Open House on Friday, May 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. New this year is heavy metal testing on baby formula and food, and dog food.

The Ralle Lab will be using their Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, or ICP-MS, to test for metals such as copper, iron and zinc, and to test the hardness or softness of your water. Complimentary data analysis and experimental consultation is available to OHSU researchers interested in the core’s services. The lab is located in Room 625 on the sixth floor of the Medical Research Building  on the OHSU campus at Marquam Hill.

What you need to bring

• 1-2 ml of water ($1)
• 1 tbsp max of solid products in plastic containers ($5)

For more information, download the event flyer.

Do you have an unfortunate set of data? A photo of a lab “fail”? Or a particularly ugly graph? Turn that ugly data into a brand new iPod Nano!

During Student Day at OHSU Research Week, Friday, May 24, students will vote for the ugliest piece of data. We all have some form ugly data in our notebooks, and it’s different in every field. So submit your data, and let’s have a laugh at our own mistakes!

Here’s an example from Kelly Chacón, a graduate student in Environmental Health.

To submit, put your data onto a single PowerPoint slide. Add a caption explaining what’s so ugly about your data, and send to School of Medicine Graduate Student Organization by Friday, May 17.

We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

New scientists pursing a career in hematology may be interested in this unique year-long training opportunity from the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and the European Hematology Assocation (EHA) that is focused on helping scientists build successful careers in hematologic translational research, including pathogenesis, diagnostics, and experimental treatment of hematological disorders.

Twenty early-career scientists from the U.S. and Europe will be selected to participate in the program, which begins with an intensive week-long course held in Southern Europe from March 15-21, 2014. Two follow-up meetings, in June 2014 and December 2014, will provide additional opportunities for interaction with peers and mentors.

The program is geared toward postdoctoral medical, biomedical and pharmaceutical translational scientists who are at an early stage of their career. Applicants should have less than 12 years of post-M.D. training or less than 8 years of post-Ph.D. training. Applicants must be an active member of EHA and/or ASH. A required letter of intent is due June 29, 2013, with the full proposal due September 1, 2013. See full announcement for details.

The OHSU Research Week 2013 schedule has been posted. To find a specific presenter, enter their name into the search bar on the right side of the page.

Questions? Contact research@ohsu.edu.