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Back to: Clinical Center Home Page > About the Clinical Center > News and Events
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This file is provided for reference purposes only. It was current when it was produced, but it is no longer maintained and may now be out of date. Persons with disabilities having difficulty accessing information may contact us for assistance. For reliable, current information on this and other health topics, we recommend consulting the NIH Clinical Center at http://www.cc.nih.gov/.
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 CC News: September 1996In This IssueNew Guest House offers patient families a way to stay togetherNew deputy director namedMedicine for the Public series begins Oct. 1Training program for nurse researchersbriefs:
Harvard oncologist to direct CC bioethics departmentFoundation offers new resource for clinical researchSummer program a front-row seat to scienceRoving chaplains complement spiritual ministry teamCC nurse dies in traffic accident
New Guest House offers patient families a way to stay togetherA ribbon cutting to open the NIH Guest House, which will provide overnight accommodations for Clinical Center patients and their families, is scheduled for Sept. 27 at 1 p.m.Temporarily quartered in Building 20 (the apartment building across Center Drive from the CC), the NIH Guest House will provide short-term lodging. The facility is a pilot initiative testing the feasibility of offering such housing on campus. If the pilot is a success, a permanent site will be found. The guest house has seven rooms: six efficiencies and one one-bedroom apartment. Like the Children's Inn, the Guest House is based on the idea that clinical care is enhanced when families stay together. The purpose of the NIH Guest House is to keep families whole while adults undergo outpatient treatment. "Patient volunteers make unique sacrifices when they come here. We're hoping this facility will make it easier to participate in clinical research," said Dr. John I. Gallin, Clinical Center director. "For caregivers at the CC, the Guest House will be a more efficient way to keep their patients close by and comfortable during scheduled visits. Facilitating family support is an essential part of providing excellent clinical care." The 44-year-old apartments received a face-lift and now look like standard hotel rooms. Each room will also have a refrigerator and a microwave. In addition to outpatients and their families, the Guest House will accommodate clinical research volunteers, and occasionally guest lecturers and consultants. The CC Social Work Department will coordinate registration, booking on the basis of need using a computerized reservation system and specific admission criteria. The Clinical Center Housekeeping and Fabric Care Department will handle housekeeping duties. Guests will receive keys to their rooms, just as they would in a hotel. A booklet outlining NIH Guest House policies will be given to guests as they register.
"This is an ambitious and innovative project for the Clinical
Center,"
commented Kathryn L. Montgomery, CC associate director for nursing and director
of the project. "We will evaluate the service regularly to make sure
it meets the needs of our guests and the institutes."
New deputy director namedMichael I. Goldrich has been named deputy director of the Clinical Center. Dr. John I. Gallin, CC director, announced his appointment in a letter to employees on Aug. 12."I am very excited about this opportunity to join the Clinical Center staff and offer my skills and experiences to a great management team and an exceptional group of employees," Goldrich said. Goldrich will function as the CC's chief operating officer, Dr. Gallin said. He comes from NIAID where he had served as director for management and operations since 1984 and most recently as deputy director. Responsibilities there included operations support to an in-house research program; administrative oversight for a $1 billion grant and contract program; and supervision of more than 250 staff supporting the institute's business and research infrastructure activities. During his tenure, the NIAID was recognized as a leader at NIH for its outstanding administrative systems; planning efforts; technology transfer activities; information technology; and procurement and material acquisition programs. Goldrich holds a baccalaureate from the University of Maryland and earned a MBA summa cum laude from Loyola University. He came to NIH as a financial management trainee in 1971 and worked as a grants specialist, financial management analyst, and senior administrative officer at NCI before joining NIAID.
Goldrich will "help me coordinate the activities led by Dr. David
Henderson
and Mr. Walter Jones, our deputy directors for clinical care and management
and operations, respectively," Dr. Gallin added. "We are especially
fortunate that in this incredibly exciting period of revitalization of the
Clinical Center that we will have the talents of Mr. Goldrich on our
team."
Medicine for the Public series begins Oct. 1Drug-resistant bacteria, nicotine addiction, and aging are among topics that will be covered in the Clinical Center's Medicine for the Public lecture series, which begins Oct. 1.The lectures, which are free and open to the public, are held at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays in Masur Auditorium. The Medicine for the Public lecture series, now in its 20th year, features physician-scientists working at the forefront of medical research at NIH. This year's schedule:
496-2563.
Nurse researchersThe CC Nursing Department and NINR sponsored a training program on research that drew nurse researchers from across the nation here this summer. The program included NIH resources for nurse scientists, grant writing, ethical issues, and how to disseminate research findings. Pictured during the program are (from left) Dr. Carol Romano, chief of clinical informatics services, CC Nursing Department; Dr. Patricia Grady, NINR director; Dr. Christine Grady, assistant director for clinical science, division of intramural research, NINR; Ann Knebel, nurse consultant, CC clinical informatics services; and Dr. Cynthia Johnson, seminar participant from California State University at Dominguez Hills.
briefs:Pumpkin Chase set for OctoberThe 5th annual Great Pumpkin Chase set for Sunday, Oct. 27, will benefit the Friends of the Clinical Center (FOCC). The 5K run and one-mile walk will be sponsored by the NIH Federal Credit Union and radio station WKYS. Individuals and teams can sign up for the races.There'll be t-shirts for participants, prizes in several categories, and refreshments. For more information on the Pumpkin Chase, call Wendy Ladas at 230-4817. To sign up as an FOCC volunteer to help with the event, call Pat Turner at 496-9271.
Office movesThe Clinical Research Volunteer Program office has moved to quarters 15D2, 4 West Drive. There's parking for volunteers and transportation via the Children's Inn shuttle. The phone's the same, 496-4763.
Classes offeredThe CC's education and training section Office of Human Resources Management, offers these classes in October:
Events mark fire preventionStop by the area outside the B1 cafeteria Oct. 8 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. for a look at displays and demonstrations commemorating Fire Prevention Week, which runs Oct. 6-12.It's sponsored by the emergency management branch, Division of Public Safety, NIH Office of Research Services. Highlights will include a med-evac helicopter; a robot for handling explosives; an air boat used for water rescues; and a 28-foot, mobile fire safety house designed to teach children how to react in fire emergencies. Hot dogs, chips, and soft drinks will be on sale during the event with proceeds going to NIH charities. Sponsors also are conducting a contest for adults and children to come up with a slogan to feature on next year's Fire Prevention Week posters. Deadline to enter is Sept. 30. Call 496-0487 for contest details.
NICHD study seeks volunteersNICHD needs healthy women with normal menstrual cycles to participate in a study. Volunteers will be compensated. The studies will include an endometrial biopsy or an inpatient evaluation of an investigational drug. Call 402-1481 for details.
Seminar setNINR will sponsor the symposium "Advancing Health Through Science: The Human Dimension," Sept. 19 in Masur Auditorium. Call 907-3844 to register.
Recent gradsJuly graduates of Nutrition Department's dietetic internship program were (from left) Christine Fisher, Virginia Tech; Dale Braithwaite, University of D.C. and a CC health technician for seven years; Guilianna D'Alessandro, Pennsylvania State; and Trudy Fedora, Immaculata College.
Harvard oncologist to direct CC bioethics departmentAn oncologist who serves on the President's National Bioethics Advisory Commission is new director of the CC's Department of Clinical Bioethics.Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel comes to the CC from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard where he has served as assistant professor of medicine and associate professor of social medicine and of clinical epidemiology. "Dr. Emanuel is a medical clinician with extensive experience in medical ethics. Under his leadership, our bioethics program will expand and become a model department for the study and practice of clinical bioethics," said Dr. John I. Gallin, CC director. Dr. Emanuel was recently named to the President's advisory body on bioethics. The commission has what Dr. Emanuel describes as an open-ended mandate. "Specific items we will address include the issues of human subjects and the patenting of human genes," he explained, "but anything else relating to bioethics is fair game." Major ethical issues surrounding health care today include, he notes, the doctor-patient relationship, end-of-life care, allocation of funds for health care, and confidentiality. But ethical issues are not a new concern for the medical community. "Ethics has been a part of medicine since the beginning. The Hippocratic Oath includes a whole series of ethical issues," he says. "I hope to establish a major research and educational presence in bioethics as part of the Clinical Center's program," he continued. "I'm interested in moving forward research in ethics and in seeing how we can fruitfully address bioethical questions, how to advance the field, and find creative solutions to the continuing problems." Dr. Emanuel edits the Journal of Clinical Oncology's "Ethics Rounds," and is associate editor of the Journal of Clinical Ethics. Dr. Emanuel serves on the American Association of Bioethics board of directors and was a member of President Clinton's Health Care Task Force's ethics group. He is a diplomate in medical oncology and in internal medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine. Among his numerous publications is a book, "The Ends of Human Life: Medical Ethics in a Liberal Polity." Dr. Emanuel earned a B.A. in chemistry at Amherst and a master of science in biochemistry at Oxford University. He holds a Ph.D. in political philosophy from Harvard University and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He interned and took residency training at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital. His postdoctoral training included a fellowship in medical oncology at Dana-Farber and in medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Emanuel initially will serve part-time as a senior consultant for clinical
bioethics. He will take over the program full-time in 1997.
Foundation offers new resource for clinical researchClinical research here has a new benefactor.It's the recently incorporated National Foundation for Biomedical Research. "It's fair to say that the Clinical Center will be one of the greatest beneficiaries of the foundation," says Dr. George Galasso, former NIH associate director for extramural affairs and the foundation's executive director. "The foundation offers us an important resource to help put into place programs that will move forward clinical research programs and education," said Dr. John I. Gallin, CC director. "It's a resource we need and one that we welcome." "The foundation provides an opportunity for private citizens, private-sector institutes, and foundations to enhance the current public investment in biomedical research," said Nobel Laureate Dr. Paul Berg of Stanford University School of Medicine, acting chairman of the foundation's board. "We are very pleased that the foundation is now up and running," said Dr. Harold Varmus, NIH director. "Public support of medical research has been generous, but the foundation will allow us to undertake some important projects and activities that we are not currently funding." Those projects include research training activities, public education, and fostering collaborations with academic institutes and industry. The foundation will raise money from private sources to fund important activities that fall within the mission of NIH, which is to support and conduct medical research and medical research training and to disseminate the results of the research.
The foundation is headquartered at 1 Cloister Court in Bethesda. A search
is under way for a permanent chairman of the eight-member board.
Summer program a front-row seat to scienceArvin Yang likes to solve problems.As a summer research student, he's found plenty of opportunity for that here at the Clinical Center. Yang and more than 100 other students spent their summer vacations looking for solutions to science questions. A senior at Rutgers College, 20-year-old Yang plans a career in biomedicine and hopes someday to be a clinical researcher--maybe even here at the Clinical Center. He credits his 23-year-old sister, a molecular biology Ph.D. student at Mt. Sinai Hospital, with inspiring him to pursue research. "I came here because I knew the reputation of NIH. I knew this was the largest research hospital," Yang explained. "But I'm amazed by the amount of information here. And by the productivity." From June through August, Yang, whose home is in New Jersey, worked in Clinical Pathology's chemistry section. He devoted his summer to extracting enzymes from cells and amplifying the DNA to locate cancer. In his spare time he plays tennis, skates, and tangos. "We're trying to create a way to see a single cancer cell-long before the disease would be identified." Yang incorporates his hobby as a shutterbug into his research by photographing DNA captured in a gel. And the work is so simple. Here's what you do: take cells from tissue, extract a certain enzyme from the cells, combine the enzyme and some DNA, and let the DNA grow. Then, using a technique called PCR (polymerase chain reaction) amplify this resulting product, separate the components of the product by electrophoresis (a method for separating out subcellular-sized particles) and look for the product of a single cancer cell. Got it?
OK, let's tango. (by Laura Bradbard)
Roving chaplains complement spiritual ministry teamDebbie Fair and Grace Hollis spent their summer vacation wandering through the outpatient waiting areas looking for someone to talk to.As interns in the Clinical Center Spiritual Ministry Department, they served as roving chaplains offering smiles and support to patients waiting for treatment, waiting for results, waiting to go home. Offering spiritual guidance to strangers who aren't necessarily of the same faith, or of any faith at all, can be a challenge. "My main focus is to walk with people through their crisis," explains Hollis, a third-year seminarian in Atlanta and an ordained elder in the AME church. "I make myself available for spiritual support." Fair, a Methodist minister and master's degree student from Centreville, Va., spent most of her time in the 10 West day hospital and the 12th floor clinic where patients struggle with the ramifications of cancer and HIV. "My role is to add to the spiritual and emotional wellness of the patient," says Fair. "We meet and move together. So often, illness is a catharsis that opens people spiritually." But, Fair is quick to note, CC chaplains do not proselytize. "We offer care by listening." Hollis agrees. "First, I pray. Then I introduce myself and find out if we're in tune. You can tell if someone wants you there." And if the chaplains approach someone who clearly doesn't want to talk to them? "Maybe they don't want to share what they're going through at the moment I approach, but I'm planting a seed," explains Fair. "Someone else will come along and lead them to their spiritual wholeness. I've at least created an opening." According to Fair, many people coming here are isolated from their communities. They often have no one with them while they seek treatment. "It's important for patients to stay connected to someone who will listen. We are that connection for many people." "We can't fathom how hurt people are," Hollis adds. "A lot of tears are shed. Spirituality is part of being a human being. It's a blessing that the Clinical Center doesn't ignore it. The soul needs to be healed."
Hollis and Fair returned to their own congregations last month taking with
them what they learned from CC patients. Both women agree that in a crowded
hospital waiting room, you can make a difference in someone's life. Sometimes,
all it takes is a smile. (by Laura Bradbard)
Clinical Center nurse dies in July traffic accidentMary Anne (Berry) Hannaman, a Clinical Center nurse on the 3B North, an alcoholism research unit, was killed in an early morning traffic accident on July 21.Hannaman had worked on the unit for more than eight years. She was also a regular blood donor here during that time. "She donated platelets 21 times," recalled Sandy Bangham of the platelet center, "coming in for two and a half hours each time to give white cells." She recalls Hannaman as "very dedicated, coming in to donate after working all night. She really enjoyed her trip to England earlier this year and was talking about it while she was here last time." Hannaman had also recently received a letter of appreciation from the NIH Fire Department. While working a night shift, she'd noticed an apparent fire in another area of Building 10. "She did exactly what she was supposed to do," said one fire fighter, "and we wanted to recognize her quick action." Sadly, when the fire-safety officials went to the unit to deliver the letter, they instead received news of Hannaman's death the previous day.
A memorial service was held in the 14th floor Chapel on July 31. Her friends
and coworkers have chosen to remember her with donations to the CC patient
library. To make a contribution, contact the library or Sue Squires, 3B
North head nurse. (by Tom Lionetti, Nursing Department)
Fire
Nurses on 11 West recently ran through a fire safety drill, an exercise
mandated quarterly on all shifts in clinical areas throughout the hospital
by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals. Fire prevention
specialists from the NIH Department of Public Safety's emergency management
branch oversee the training. When thinking fire safety, think RACE, says
Dr. Michele Evans, the CC's safety officer. It stands for the critical
steps in responding to a fire: Rescue anyone in danger; Activate the fire
alarm; Confine the fire; and Extinguish or evacuate. Rescue anyone in danger (Right). That's the first step in responding to a fire. NIH
fire safety specialist Paul Davis shows 11 West nurse Anne Lewis how to
safely approach a room on fire. Stay low, feel for heat, and use
caution. |
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Gini Kwitkowski and Anne Lewis use a doll to practice how to quickly rescue
a patient in danger (Left).
