Division Notes

Thursday, October 18, 2001 • Vol 7, Issue 20

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Helen Riaboff Whitely Fellowship goes to Chris Meiering of Basic

Chris Meiering, graduate student in Dr. Maxine Linial's Basic Sciences Division laboratory, is the recipient of the 2001 Helen Riaboff Whiteley Fellowship.

Awarded by the University of Washington Department of Microbiology, the fellowship is given each year to an outstanding doctoral student who has made a significant research contribution.

The fellowship provides a personal stipend for living expenses and tuition, as well as an additional $1,000 for research expenses, including travel to meetings.

Meiering, who expects to finish his degree early next year, studies the properties of the human foamy virus, which infects a number of primates but does not cause disease.

Although foamy viruses do not naturally infect humans, transmission from animals to man does occur, particularly in persons with occupational exposure to the virus, such as primate caretakers. While these infections appear benign, many viruses exhibit only pathogenic behavior after crossing species barriers, prompting scientists to uncover the mechanisms by which these and other viruses maintain a dormant state.

Meiering's work aims to understand how the virus infects many cells in the body with virtually no effect on the organism's health. He postulates that the virus is maintained in a dormant state in most cells but is in an active state in the body's sites of viral transmission, such as the cells that line the oral cavity.

Epidemiology for Molecular Biologists class begins Oct. 22

Epidemiology for Molecular Biologists, a six-week introductory course focusing on questions about the causes of disease and the science of epidemiology, will be offered beginning Monday, Oct. 22, on the Day Campus.

The course will meet from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Mondays in Weintraub B1-074/76. While all scientists are welcome to attend, the class is designed as an introduction to epidemiology for graduate students considering application to the Molecular and Cellular Biology Ph.D./Epidemiology M.S. dual-degree program. The last class will be an informal lunch for prospective students.

The first 20 scientists who sign up to attend all five classes will receive a copy of the book "Medical Epidemiology" by Raymond Greenberg. Scientists interested in attending all classes and receiving a book may contact Dr. Karen Peterson at 206-667-5319 or kpeterso@fhcrc.org. Here is the course syllabus:

• Oct. 22, "Overview of Epidemiology," Dr. Mary Anne Rossing.
• Oct. 29, "Validity and Bias in Studies," Drs. Steve Schwartz and Jeannette Bigler.
• Nov. 5, "HPV & Cervical Cancer," Dr. Steve Schwartz.
• Nov. 19, "Epidemiology of Barrett's and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma," Dr. Tom Vaughan.
• Nov. 26, "Epidemiology of Colon Cancer," Dr. John Potter.
• Dec. 3, Informal lunch for prospective MCB Ph.D/Epidemiology M.S. dual-degree students.

Human-subjects class set Nov. 5

If you have not completed Internet-based or in-person training on human subjects, come to a training from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5, in Pelton Auditorium by Deborah Dickstein, Institutional Review manager.

The session is in response to an NIH rule that key personnel on grant applications for research involving humans complete such training. Center policy extends this requirement to research funded from other sources.

RSVP to Monina Almeda at malmeda@fhcrc. org or Ext. 1807. Institutional Review also offers web-based training, accessed via http://www.fhcrc.org/admin/iro/iro_home.htm (click "Human Subjects Training").

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