Environmental Factor, February 2010, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Pritchard Announces 2010 Intramural Research Awards

By By Eddy Ball
February 2010

"Should our current tight budget be relieved as the final budget numbers become available," Prichard continued, "it is my hope that DIR will be able to fund an additional proposal with our own funds." (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw)

Fessler, above, received an Early Career Award at NIEHS Science Day 2008(http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2008/december/sixth-annual.cfm). He is also involved in research at the NIEHS Clinical Research Unit. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw)

Garantziotis also conducts research at the NIEHS Clinical Research Unit(http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/clinical/join/durham/ocr/index.cfm), where he serves as staff clinician. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw)

In 2008, NIEHS honored Resnick as Scientist of the Year and as an author of the Paper of the Year. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw)

On Jan. 19, NIEHS Acting Scientific Director John Pritchard, Ph.D., announced Intramural Research Awards (IRA) for two new collaborative initiatives by NIEHS principal investigators. Supported by Office of Director funds in fiscal year 2010, the awards go to teams of scientists in the Division of Intramural Research (DIR).

• Coupling of the innate immunity response, DNA damage, and p53 networks - Michael Fessler, M.D.(http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/labs/lrb/host-def/index.cfm), of the Laboratory of Respiratory Biology (LRB) Host Defense Group; Stavros Garantziotis, M.D.(http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/labs/lrb/matrix-bio/index.cfm), of the LRB Matrix Biology Group; and Michael Resnick, Ph.D.(http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/labs/lmg/cs/index.cfm), of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics Chromosome Stability Group

• SIRT1 dysfunction exaggerates neuroinflammation and accelerates microglia aging, causing progressive neurodegeneration - Jau-Shyong Hong, Ph.D.(http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/labs/ltp/neuropharm/index.cfm), of the Laboratory of Toxicology and Pharmacology Neuropharmacology Group; and Xiaoling Li, Ph.D.(http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/labs/lst/mammalian/index.cfm), of the Laboratory of Signal Transduction Mammalian Aging Group

When he announced the awards, Pritchard said of the awardees, "I think that the two proposals selected are truly outstanding examples of the kind of work we wish to stimulate with this program." Pritchard also congratulated all the applicants on the quality of their proposals and looked forward to supporting even more such efforts in coming years.

NIEHS solicited applications for these awards last October for peer review by DIR scientists Diane Forsythe, D.V.M., Traci M. T. Hall, Ph.D., Ken Korach, Ph.D., Thomas Kunkel, Ph.D., David Miller, Ph.D., and Darryl Zeldin, M.D. The IRA program recognizes the importance of facilitating the development of new collaborative and cross-disciplinary, cross-specialty initiatives by DIR investigators.

NIEHS trainees chose Hong Mentor of the Year in 2003. His research focuses on neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw)

Li's January lecture (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2010/february/science-longevity.cfm) at NIEHS is featured in this issue of the Environmental Factor. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw)

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