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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 It was current when it was produced, but it is no longer maintained and may now be out of date.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/.

NIH mass transit

A fleet of 19 shuttle buses and vans crisscross the NIH campus every day covering about 300 miles of roadway in the process. This is a busy time of year for the shuttle system. Ridership always goes up during the cold, wet months. This winter there's also a dwindling supply of close-by parking spots because of renovations to the parking garage. A new parking plan is designed to help ease the crunch for patients.

CC News: February 1997

In this issue

 

Sceintific updates, workshops on tap for Clinical Research Day

Board of Governors to meet; executive committee named

Shalala names new board members

from the director

working

Audience for CC rounds grows with new outlet

1997 broadcast schedule

Doors open to students seeking the science experience

CC shows exceptional support for campaign

Workshop looks at managed care and clinical research

briefs

Vouchers offered

Donors needed

Exhibit opens

Skills covered

Seminar set

Tranquility possible

Scholarship awarded

Parking innovations

Garage repairs



Clinical Center News, Building 10, Room 1C255, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892. (301) 496-2563. Fax: 402-2984. Published monthly for CC employees by the Office of Clinical Center Communications, Colleen Henrichsen, chief. News, articles ideas, calendar events, letters, and photographs are welcome. Deadline for submission is the second Monday of each month.
Editor: Sara Byars sbyars@nih.gov . Staff Writers: Laura Bradbard, Sue Kendall
HTML Coding: Dayle Stein

Scentific updates, workshops on tap for Clinical Research Day

The first NIH Clinical Research Day is set for Feb. 10 at the Clinical Center.

"This event will celebrate the history of clinical research at NIH and, more importantly, the future of clinical research here," noted Dr. John I. Gallin, CC director. Gallin; Dr. Michael Gottesman, director of the NIH Office of Intramural Research; and Dr. H. Clifford Lane, director of the NIAID Office of Clinical Research and head of the NIH Clinical Research Special Interest Group, are program coordinators.

Dr. Harold Varmus, NIH director and a driving force in planning the event, will present the welcome at 9 a.m. in Masur Auditorium. At noon, Dr. Varmus will also talk about the future of clinical research.

Dr. Gallin will begin the program with a presentation on the Clinical Center's revitalization. The design of the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center will be covered by Robert J. Frasca of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, the architectural firm designing the new building.

Dr. Alan Rabson, NCI deputy director, will offer a look back at NIH clinical research in his presentation on moments of discovery.

Scientific presentations planned for the morning include: Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Dr. Robert Balaban; Childhood Onset Disorder: A Novel Approach to the Study of Schizophrenia, Dr. Judith Rapoport; Molecular Genetic Approach to Sickle Cell Anemia: Modulation of Endogenous Globin Gene Expression, Dr. Griffin Rodgers; Osteogenesis Imperfecta: Managing Brittle Bones and Approaches to the Gene Therapy of a Dominant Genetic Disorder, Dr. Joan Marini; Experimental Approaches to the Treatment of HIV Infection Through Manipulation of the Immune System, Dr. H. Clifford Lane; Renal Cell Carcinoma Genes: Implications for Clinical Management and Fundamental Cancer Biology, Dr. Marston Linehan; and The Declining Risk of Transfusion-Associated Hepatitis: New Viruses but Less Disease, Dr. Harvey Alter.

Dr. Lance Liotta and Dr. Stephen Epstein will chair a workshop on the future of diagnostics at 2 p.m. in Masur Auditorium that will include: Microdissecting the Molecular Stages of Human Disease: New Approaches, Dr. Liotta;

  • The Potential Role of Cytomegalovirus in Atherosclerosis and Restenosis, Dr. Epstein;
  • Clinical Cytogenetics: Insights into Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Pathogenesis, Dr. Diane Arthur; and
  • Neuroimaging and the Schizophrenic Brain, Dr. Daniel Weinberger.

A workshop on the immune system chaired by Dr. Thomas Waldmann and Dr. Steven Holland is set 2 p.m. for Lipsett Amphitheater:

  • The Cytokine Superfamily of Receptors and Their Signaling Pathways: Targets for Therapy of Leukemia and Autoimmune Diseases and for the Prevention of Allograft Rejection, Dr. Waldmann;
  • Interferon Gamma and Its Receptor: A Good Defense and a Good Offense, Dr. Holland;
  • Development of a Quadrivalent Rotavirus Vaccine for the Prevention of Severe Diarrhea of Infants and Young Children, Dr. Albert Kapikian;
  • Immunotoxin Treatment of Human Cancer: An Update, Dr. Ira Pastan; and
  • Assembly of Hepatitis C Virus-like Particles in Insect Cells: Implications for Vaccine Development, Dr. Jake Liang,

At 3:30 p.m., a workshop on gene transfer chaired by Dr. Cynthia Dunbar and Dr. Steven Rosenberg will cover:

  • Gene Therapy Directed at Hematopoietic Stem Cells: Progress and Problems, Dr. Dunbar;
  • Development of Cancer Vaccines Based on Genes Encoding Cancer Antigens, Dr. Rosenberg;
  • Gene Therapy for Adenosine Deaminase Deficiency (ADA), Dr. R. Michael Blaese
  • Gene Therapy to Treat and Prevent Atherosclerosis: Exploiting the Multifactorial Nature of a Complex Disease, Dr. Jeffrey Hoeg; and
  • Clinical and Animal Studies Toward Development of Gene Therapy for Chronic Granulomatous Disease, Dr. Harry Malech.

Dr. Henry McFarland and Dr. Christy Ludlow will chair a workshop on the nervous system at 3:30 p.m. in Lipsett Amphitheater. Topics include:

Increased Understanding of the Multiple Sclerosis Lesion: Immunological and MRI Studies, Dr. McFarland

  • Spasmodic Dysphonia: A Motor or Sensory Control Disorder?, Dr. Ludlow;
  • Imaging the Pathology of Addiction, Dr. Edythe D. London;
  • Imaging Structural Brain Changes in Alcoholism, Dr. Daniel Hommer; and
  • New Immunoregulatory Approaches for Ocular Inflammatory Disease, Dr. Scott Whitcup.

Poster sessions will be presented during the program's lunch break, which starts at 12:20 p.m.


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Board of Governors to meet; executive committee named

An executive committee for the CC Board of Governors has been named and the group will meet for the first time on Feb. 9.

Board of Governors chairman John J. Finan, Jr., will chair the executive committee. Finan is president and chief executive officer of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System in Baton Rouge, La. Serving on the committee are Dr. Stephen Schimpff, executive vice president of the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore; Ellen M. Zane, network president of Partners in HealthCare System, Inc., Boston; Dr. Allen M. Spiegel, NIDDK scientific director; and Dr. Robert E. Wittes, director of NCI's Division of Cancer Treatment, Diagnosis, and Centers.

The Board's charter, signed by HHS Secretary Shalala last April, authorizes an executive committee to help provide more in-depth advice to the CC staff on a more frequent basis. The full board will meet quarterly and the executive committee will convene more often.

The next full Board of Governors meeting, which is open to the public, is set for 2-3:30 p.m. on Feb. 10 in the Medical Board Room.

At the open session, Finan is expected to review the CC's strategic plan, including relations with third-party payers and strategies for cost savings. The board's first meeting was in November. Their major action was endorsement of a budget assessment plan designed to give the Clinical Center a stable, three-year foundation of funding based on how much clinical research each institute conducts.


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Shalala names new board members

HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala has named two new members to the CC Board of Governors.

They are Dr. Charles K. Francis and Dr. Mary Sue Coleman.

Dr. Francis is professor of clinical medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University and director of the Department of Medicine at the Harlem Hospital Center in New York City. Dr. Coleman is president of the University of Iowa. She also serves as professor of biochemistry in the College of Medicine and of biological sciences in the College of Liberal Arts.

Establishing a Board of Governors to oversee management of the hospital topped a list of recommendations for the Clinical Center following a top-to-bottom review by an Options Team appointed by Shalala in 1995. They met for the first time in November.


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from the director

by Dr. John I. Gallin, CC director

The Clinical Center will host an important and exciting event on Feb. 10. It is the first NIH Clinical Research Day. The program will feature scientific presentations and workshops that cover today's astonishing array of cutting-edge clinical research at NIH.

Dr. Alan Rabson, deputy director of NCI, will offer a look back on the history of clinical research here. Dr. Harold Varmus, NIH director, will talk about the future. Poster sessions-many presented by CC staff-will offer capsule looks at specific projects.

There'll also be presentations on revitalization efforts within the Clinical Center and on the design of the new Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center.

A hospital first appeared on NIH drawing boards in 1944. The building that evolved over the next few years reflected a unique idea-a hospital embedded in a research facility. Laboratories literally wrapped around patient-care units. The result was a physical environment designed to jump-start interaction between the basic scientist and clinician.

The Clinical Center has always been a place where scientists are not isolated from the patients who will ultimately benefit from their work. Patients are the reason for clinical research, and their participation in clinical research is the ultimate contribution. The first medical board stipulated that patients must be considered members of the research team. That is a promise and a philosophy that continues to this day.

The moments of discovery that Dr. Rabson will discuss are our links to a past that makes NIH an important part of history. Our bridges to the future, which Dr. Varmus will address, are the therapies, technologies, and techniques that hold so much promise.

All of you-Clinical Center employees and staff-are part of this adventure. The work that you do as a member of the NIH research team makes clinical research possible. And that is why I hope that you will take time to participate in Feb. 10's celebration.


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working

Editor's note: This is part of a series of articles on personnel issues from the CC Office of Human Resources Management.

The Family Friendly Leave Act is good news for families. It allows full-time employees to use up to 40 hours of their sick leave each year to care for a family member, to make arrangements following the death of a family member, or to attend a family member's funeral.

Full-time employees who maintain a balance of at least 80 hours of sick leave may use an additional 64 hours of sick leave under the Act, for a yearly total of 104 sick-leave hours.

Part-time employees are also covered. The number of sick-leave hours depends on the number of hours worked.

Be sure to write "Family Friendly Leave" under section six on your application for leave (SF71). That helps you and your time-keeper keep the record straight.

The Employee Express computer kiosk located near the 2nd floor cafeteria is designed make it easy to take certain personnel actions. Use it to change federal and state tax withholdings, direct deposits, financial allotments, or home addresses. Other options are planned.

You can also access this system with a touch-tone phone. Call 1-800-573-0940 or FTS 8-912-757-3088. If you want to protect your privacy and your PIN number, don't use a cellular phone.

The PIN is your personal identification number. One was mailed to each employee last May. If you need another one, call (912) 757-3030.


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Audience for CC rounds grows with new outlet

CC Grand Rounds have another new audience.

It's the more than 1,000 hospital subscribers to TIP-TV, a training and education network provided by GE Medical Systems. They join the more than 50 major academic health centers across the country already receiving the broadcasts offered through a cooperative effort by the Clinical Center, Healthcare Management Television's CenterNet, and the Association of Academic Health Centers. The first broadcast to include the new audience was on Jan. 15.

Five Grand Rounds presentations were offered during the program's pilot in 1996. Ten are planned for 1997.

"Based on TIP-TV's expected growth, we anticipate broadcasting to 1,600 hospitals by the end of the year and to reach 2,300 in 1998," said Thomas Shaw, president of CenterNet and Healthcare Management TV.

Rounds are broadcast live by satellite from Lipsett Amphitheater. "Viewers can call a toll-free number to question presenters," Shaw noted. "The program carries Category 1 Continuing Medical Education credit."

The CC's collaboration with CenterNet supports a shared commitment to providing information and education for health-care practitioners. In announcing the pilot last year, Dr. Gallin said: "The Clinical Center is the nation's model for clinical research. Televising our grand rounds offers us another opportunity to interact with colleagues and to help medical students learn more about the conduct and importance of clinical research."

The University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson is one CenterNet subscriber. "What we expect from these broadcasts are cutting-edge breakthroughs in research and a distillation of clinical applications of that research," explained Dr. Roland Robertson, associate vice chancellor for health affairs at the university. "And to a great extent that is what we are getting. A busy clinician won't always stop to watch, so we tape the presentations and have them available."

Pilots for other Clinical Center and CenterNet joint projects are being developed, including a studio-based roundtable targeting the practicing clinician.


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1997 broadcast schedule

Feb. 12: How Drugs Change Your Mind: A Molecular Approach to Psychotropic Drug Action, Dr. Steven E. Hyman, NIMH director and director of NINDS's section on molecular plasticity; Oral Tolerance: The NEI Diet for Better Vision, Dr. Robert Nussenblatt, NEI scientific director.

March 12: Looking into the Future: The Role of Neural Prediction in Maintaining Upright Posture, Dr. Steven J. Stanhope, director of the biomechanics lab, CC Rehabilitation Medicine Department; Regulation and Telomere Length and Telomerase Expression in Human T Cell Development and Activation, Dr. Richard J. Hodes, NIA director.

April 9: Gene Transfer to Hematopoietic Stem Cells: Progress and Problems? Dr. Cynthia E. Dunbar, NHLBI senior investigator; Virtual Endoscopy Update, Dr. Ronald M. Summers, CC Diagnostic Radiology Department.

May 14: The Role of Il-15: A Pleiotropic Cytokine in the Pathogenesis of Inflammatory Diseases, Dr. Thomas A. Waldmann, metabolism branch chief, Division of Clinical Services, NCI; Anatomy of Hepatitis C and G Virus Infections, Dr. Harvey J. Alter, M.D., chief of the infectious diseases section and associate director for research, CC Department of Transfusion Medicine.

June 11: Modulation of Endogenous Gene Expression: Application of the Severe Beta-Globin Disorders, Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers, chief of NIDDK's molecular hematology section; Genetic Basis of Kidney Cancer: Clinical and Biological Implications, Dr. W. Marston Linehan, head of NCI's urologic oncology section.

Lectures also will be presented Sept. 10, Oct. 8, Nov. 12, and Dec. 10.


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Doors open to students seeking the science experience

Smart people? We got 'em. A whole building full. So every summer the Clinical Center opens its doors for smart students who want to be part of the NIH science experience.

The CC EEO office brings those young minds to science by offering summer employment. Some students come here with a desire to pursue research. Others haven't had the opportunity to learn about the research world and would like to know more. A third group works in offices around the CC to gain marketable skills to take with them to their next job.

There are two main components to the NIH Summer Student Program. The first, begun in 1986 and coordinated by Ellen Williams in the CC EEO office, is designed as an outreach program for young people. Williams contacts school guidance counselors, attends job fairs, and makes visits to local schools to recruit potential participants.

Based on the requests for students by CC Departments, Williams screens all students for interest and ability by March of each year and places the students in jobs by June.

The second component of the program attracts students for research training specifically and often appeals to college students who are already involved in scientific research. These students will be paired with a CC staff mentor and expected to produce a presentation of their summer's work. A separate group within this component will have less research experience, but high interest in learning about science. They will also prepare a final product illustrating what they learned and accomplished over the summer.

Carl Lucas, EEO office chief and coordinator of the summer students program, wants the CC to "lend a hand and sell science to get more youth involved. With more exposure to NIH for students, we'll have more students to recruit for research positions in the future."

Many of the students will come from areas that offer limited opportunities to learn about research and science. According to Lucas, all applicants have to fill out an application, verify outstanding academic grades, and give quality answers to questions during the selection process. "It won't be easy to get a position here, only the best students will be accepted."

A reception is planned and a series of lectures and seminars that are otherwise unavailable to students will be offered. The talks, coordinated with the NIH Office of Education, are expected to include ethics of human research, an introduction to the research process, and pitfalls of clinical research.

This summer, look around for new faces-you just may meet the next generation's NIH director. (by Laura Bradbard)


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CC shows exceptional support for campaign

Clinical Center employees met the challenge of this year's Combined Federal Campaign contributing nearly $90,000 to the NIH effort.

"I am very proud of how the CC family has supported this year's campaign," said Walter L. Jones, CC deputy director of management and operations and CFC coordinator for the hospital.

"The excellent and heart-warming response to our campaign reflects the generosity of our staff and the hard work of the CC keyworkers."

The Clinical Center will coordinate NIH efforts for the CFC Campaign next year, Jones noted. "I am confident that the Clinical Center's enthusiasm for this important work will carry over then and in years to come."

A cadre of keyworkers coordinated campaign details at the department levels. This year's team included:

Warren Moyer, OD; Amy Collins, HES; Nancy Peterson, dental clinic; Stephanie Turner, building services; Denise Ford, Judy Bowman, Mary Buzzanell, Annie Stevens, Kristin Stafford, Sherry Parker, Renee Walker, Mary Bland, Susie Perkins, Nancy Sebring, Mattie Hill, Debbie Shipp, and Sonja Jones, Nutrition Department.

Also, Mary Broadway and Libby Byrd-Nelson, Medical Record Department; Stacy Bauman, Human Resources Management; Mary Glenshaw, Social Work; Ruth Ware and Koung Lee, Pharmacy; Al Rexroad, CCC special events; Dr. Lynn Gerber and Jessica Lipman, Rehabilitation Medicine Department; Roger Mack and Ed Davis, Materials Management Department.

Also, Edna Lowe, Helen Burton, Lillian Seegars, George Jackson, George Moss, Sarah Isom, Juanita Coleman, Lionel Wiggins, Johnny Jones, John Hinson, Carolyn Coates, William White, Walter Thompson, and James Jackson, Housekeeping and Fabric Care Department; Winnie To, Cheryl Starkes, Mary Vailati, and Richard Gordin, Clinical Pathology; Janine Hagner Nuclear Medicine; Diane Jenifer and Senora Mitchell, Outpatient Department; Elaine Jagoda, PET; Karen Julian, Critical Care Medicine; Ray Fitzgerald and Dorene Hicks, Spiritual Ministry; Carolyn Bell and Michelle Boylan, ISD; Betty West and Sandy Mckee, Diagnostic Radiology; Marcella Canada, Transfusion Medicine Depatment.

From Nursing Department: Lorrie Maciag, Patsy McCabe, Brenda Fitzsimmons, Mary Rossi-Coajou, Donna Bernstein, Karen Young, Hilda Cardona, Ellen Hamilton, Dorett Sutherland, Young Kim, Laura Musse, Susan Fitzgerald, Barbara Penn, Kreiks Van Koppen, Monica Restrepo, Grant Walker, Gene Reid, Sandy MacDonald, Joan Kyhos, Denise McLaughlin, LaRue Rooths, Lakeasha Mingo, June Lewis, Susan Steele, Barbara Jackson, Colleen Carey, Keysha Ross, Tanya Truesdale, Lou Gaeta, Tammy Daley, Javii Pittman, Bene Svitavsky, Jacqueline Gordon, and Arlene Brooks.

Other key campaign supporters included Sue LaRoche, special events; Harry Canton, Red Cross volunteer; and Dee Andrews, OD.

While the campaign period has officially ended, contributions are still welcome and can be in the form of payroll deductions, check, or cash. Contact Warren Moyer at 496-5176 for details.


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Workshop looks at managed care and clinical research

NINR and the CC Nursing Department will sponsor a workshop on managed care on Feb. 13 in Masur Auditorium.

"Managed Care: Crisis and Opportunity for Clinical Research" is designed to bring together experts in managed care to explore how clinical research can continue to thrive in the world of managed care.

Sessions will run 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Presentations include:

  • Integrating Scientific Advances in Managed Care Settings (Survey Results), Dr. Neil R. Powe, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine;
  • The Tennessee Approach-Is Research Flourishing? Dr. Colleen Conway-Welch, Vanderbilt University;
  • Nursing Research in a Managed Care Environment, Dr. Dorothy Brooten, Case Western Reserve University;
  • NIH Panel (NCI, NIAID, NIAMS, NIDDK, and NINDS);
  • Private Sector Incentives, Dr. Jeffrey Harris, Massachusetts General Hospital;
  • Panel on corporate support for integrating ongoing biomedical innovation into health care;
  • Ethical Issues and Cost Containment, Dr. Madison Powers, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University; and
  • The Next 10 Years-Response of the Academic Health Centers to the Crucible of the Marketplace, Dr. David Blumenthal, Massachusetts General Hospital.

Admission is first come, first served. Call NINR's Office of Science Policy and Information at 496-0207 for more information.


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briefs

Vouchers offered

The education and training section, Office of Human Resources Management, has purchased vouchers from CompUSA for CC employees to use for computer training at no cost to their department's training budget. CompUSA offers a variety of Macintosh, PC, and internet courses at training sites in Maryland and Virginia. Call 496-1618 for details. Vouchers must be used by June 26.


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Donors needed

Severe weather and a bad flu season have cut the number of recent blood donations and the supply is unusually low in some areas of the country, including the Baltimore-Washington area.

As a result the NIH Blood Bank must rely on the commitment and kindness of the NIH employees to support the patients in the Clinical Center. If you are eligible to give blood, please call 496-1048 to schedule an appointment.

The Blood Bank (1C416) is open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Tuesdays from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; and Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.


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Exhibit opens

An exhibit exploring the evolution of historical theories, beliefs, and concepts concerning the relationship of emotions to disease runs through Feb. 28 at the National Library of Medicine. The library is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, 8:30 a.m.- 5 p.m.; Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m.; and Saturday, 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m.


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Skills covered

What they never taught you in graduate and medical school-the series of survival-skills workshops for NIH fellows continues Feb. 24 with a session on grantspersonship. The workshop will cover developing ideas, finding funding, preparation of applications and budgets, and strategies for dealing with rejections and approvals. It's offered 8-11:30 a.m. in Lipsett Amphitheater and is sponsored by the NIH Fellows committee, the Office of Research on Women's Health, the Office of Education, and the scientific directors. Call 402-1914 for more information.


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Seminar set

A "Science Working for Us" seminar in honor of Black History Month is set for Feb. 20 at 11:30 a.m. in Lipsett Amphitheater. Dr. Wayne D. Bowen, NIDDK, will present. His topic is "Sigma Receptors: Can a Novel Receptor System Provide New Insights into the Actions of Antipsychotic Drugs and Other Psychoactive Agents?" Sponsors are the speakers bureau of the NIH Black Scientists Association, NIDDK, and NINDS.


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Tranquility possible

Need some tranquility in your life? Stop by the 14th floor assembly hall Mondays and Wednesdays at noon for a Chi Gung class. It's a gentle form of exercise that combines meditative movements with deep breathing. Classes are $5 each or $25 monthly. The first one's free. Call 540-5877 for information.


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Scholarship awarded

Lisa Pinkney (center) has received the Mary C. Hoffman memorial student scholarship awarded by Gamma Biologics, Inc. The fund provides continuing education money for students in blood banking. Pinkney, Janet Smith, and Laura Barreda graduated from the Department of Transfusion Medicine's Specialist in Blood Bank Technology Program in January. During the one-year course of study, each student completed an in-depth project for presentation or publication. Having completed this course, the students are now eligible to take the Board of Registry Specialist in Blood Banking Examination. With Pinkney is Dr. Harvey Klein, chief of the Department of Transfusion Medicine, and Karen Cipolone, education coordinator for the department.


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Parking innovations

It's a new day for underground parking thanks to an attendant-assisted plan now in effect for P3. Everyone entering that level gets a two-part ticket. One part stays with the parked car. Patients and visitors to patients must have the other portion validated at the admissions desk before leaving. Other authorized users of P3 have to show their dash-board permit to the attendant when leaving the garage between 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Any driver leaving the garage without a validated ticket or a current permit to park may be assessed a parking fee.



Drivers pulling up to the P3 parking level have to stop and take a ticket now that a new monitored parking plan is in effect.


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Garage repairs

A jungle of steel supports is in place as extensive repairs continue on the west end of the parking garage. According to Athanasia Mantzouranis, project officer in the NIH Division of Engineering Services, about 200,000 square feet of shoring is being used-enough to cover four football fields. The support is necessary during removal of damaged concrete and steel reinforcements that form the upper two levels of the existing structure. Repairs to the three-story, 1,550-space garage began in November. The work, which will be performed in phases, is expected to take about three years.

Water under extreme pressure is being used to remove large sections of damaged and dangerous concrete. More detailed work is performed by hand. Water used in the process is filtered before being drained away.
A new slab of concrete is poured once the new steel reinforcements are put into place. Specifically, that's 2,222 cubic yards of concrete (300 truck loads) and 200 tons of reinforcement bars. Set end-on-end, the half-inch bars would run 75 miles.
Photos by Bill Branson


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