By now, many of you have heard that Francis Collins, MD, PhD, is stepping down as the director of NIH. If you haven’t, check out the News Release from last month.
On behalf of the NICHD fellows community, thank you to Dr. Collins for his stalwart leadership for more than a decade. Tasked with difficult obstacles, including a worldwide pandemic, Dr. Collins inspired progress through the most challenging of circumstances. And he did it with a calm demeanor, a smile, and a guitar in hand. His band, the Affordable Rock’n’Roll Act, graced many stages during his tenure at the NIH helm.
In honor of Dr. Collins’ 12 years of service as NIH Director, our feature article this month highlights the commonalities between music and science. Postbaccalaureate fellow Paul Elizalde compares playing the trumpet for an orchestra to doing scientific research in a lab. If you’ve never picked up an instrument, this might get you to try—or at least put on your favorite song.
Moving from music into visuals, you’ll find an infographic introducing the Fellows Safety Committee. They are recruiting new members, so if you have an interest in keeping scientists safe, consider this opportunity to join! And don’t miss this month’s Rep Report, Deconstructing Bias column, and November announcements, including contact information for making your own SciBites video for the Intramural Research Program website.
Enjoy this November art-themed issue, and we’ll see you next month to wrap up the year!
Your Editor in Chief,
Shana R. Spindler, PhD
Please send questions, comments, and ideas to our editor at shana.spindler@nih.gov.