The NIH Record

The NIH Record

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

October 15 1980 Vol. XXXII No. 21

National Institutes of Health

Dr. D. Dwyer Receives NICHD Develops New Fertilization Procedure;

Henry Baldwin Medal

Dr. Dwyer has publis he d e xte nsively on le is hm.iniasis and trypa nosomiasis, and serves on th e e dito rial bo ard o f the Jou rnal of Protozoology.

Dr. Dennis M. Dwyer of the Labo ratory o f Parasitic D iseases, Nati onal Institut e of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was recently awarded the He nry Baldwin Medal from the American Society of Parasito logists.

Th e medal is presented annually to a member who, "by sel f-direc ted research has achieved a position of l eadership in some phase of parasitological research prior to reaching the age of 40."

D r. Dwyer applied his knowledge of immunological techniques " to the study of the antigenic relationships between Dien/amoeba and trichomonads, and this work-which has aided in clarifying the systematics of these organisms-is now considered a classic." It was for thi s research that he was honored. Current Research Describe d

Since the n, Dr. Dwyer has been working at the molecular level in parasitology, directing his research to answering many basic questions relating to intracellular parasiti sm, cell surface membrane ch emistry, and host immune responses.

H e joined N IAID in 1976 after having served as assistant professor of parasitology at Rockefeller University. He is curren tl y an adjunct associate professor al Rockefeller as well as at the Unive rsity of Massachuse ttsAmherst. D

Circumvents Tubal Blockages in Monkeys

By Sus an lohns on Scientists at the National Institute of

' ~ ~

Child Health and Human Development have

devised a procedu re for achieving preg-

nancy in monkeys who are infertile because

their fal lo pian tubes are b locked. They ex-

pect this procedure to also work in humans,

because of the similarity between the mon-

key and human reproductive systems.

In women and mon k eys, pregnancy normally occurs when an ,egg released b y th e ovary ente rs the fallopfan t ube and is fertilized by a sperm. In f emales whose tubes are block ed, the egg and sperm cannot mee t.

Blocked fal lopian tubes, which usually results from tubal infection, endome tri osis (growth of uterine lining outsid e the womb) , o r ectopic (tubal) pregnancy, are the most comm o n causes of infertility in women. Su rgery to repa ir the tubes is successfu l about half the time.

Currently, the only hope for pregnancy in women w ith i rreparabl e tubal damage is in vitro (test tube) fertilization, in w hich an egg taken from the ova ry is fertilized in a

(See FERT/LIZA TION, Page 10)

This 3-d ay-o ld cyno mo lg us mo nkey was the firs t infant bo rn as a res ult o f lo w tubal ovum tran sl e r.

Nobel Prize Winners Announced

One former and two p resent NIH grantees will share the '1980 Nobel Prize for Ph ysiology or Medicine for thei r work "on genetically determined structures on the cell su rface that regulate immuno logical reaclions."

Dr. Baruj Benacerraf o f Harvard Medical School-who was ch ie f of lhe laboratory of Immunology, NIA ID, from 1968 to 1970and Or. Jean Dausset of Paris, France, have been long-time NIA ID grantees.

The third recipient, Dr. George Snell, was a long-time NCI grantee until his retirement in ?1968 from th e Jack son laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Complete details will be given in the next issu e of The NIH Record.

Re aching p eople who need yo u : that's what the CFC is all abo ut. (See Page 12.)

RAC Recommends Changes In Recombinant DNA Guidelines

Furthe r delegation of responsib ilily for oversight of gene-splicing experiments to local Institutional Biosafety Committees was recommended by the NIH Recombinant DNA Advi sory Committee (RAC) at its quarterly meel ing on Sept. 2S-26.

The committee also proposed the eslablishment of a subcommittee to provide advice on procedures and facilities u sed in large-scale recombinant DNA experiments or processes.

Und er the currenl NIH Guidelines for Recombinant DNA Research , investi gators must secure prio r approval from their local IBC before ini1ia1ing seve ral classes of experimenl s invo lving recombinant DNA and th ese must be repo rted lo and rev iewed b y NIH.

Some 20 p ercen t of cu rrent research (See RAC RECOMMENDS, Page 8)

Health Benefits 'Open Season'

TheNIH Record Starts Nov. 10

Thank-You Party Given For NIH Blood Donors

Publ ished biweekly at Bethesda, Md., by the Editorial .Operations Branc h, D ivision of Public Info rmation, for the informaIion of employees of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, and circulated by reque~t to w riters and to researchers in biomedical and related fields. The content is reprintable without permi ssion. Pictures may be available on request.

The NIH Record reserves the right to make corrections, changes, or dclccions i n submiHed copy in conformity with the po licies of the paper and HHS.

NIH Record Office Uldg. 31, Room 2B-03, Phone 496-2125

Editor fr,rnce s '"1l. Davis

Staff Writers \V ill i ;,m R. Rei nckens l oyce F. McCarthy

Staff Correspondents CC, A~gela Ducker; DCRT, M ary Hodges; DPM , Judy rouche; D RG, Sue Meadows; ORR, B,1rbara Mc nick ; DRS, Arl hu r F.

Moore; FIC. Toby r. Levin: N CI, P,:itrid a A . Newman ,

N[I, Marsh? C(),bcH : NHI RI, Bill Sanrlcrs: NIA , Ann Dieffenbach; N IAID, l e~nne Winnick; N l ,\ MDD, Lind, Cross; N ICHD , Pamela D, iscoll; NI DR. Sally W ilberdini ; Nl[ltS,

llll gh J. Lee: NIGV\S. Wand.1 Warddcll; NIMH , Belly

Zubovic; NlNCOS, Doris Parker; NLM, Ro~er l Gilkf'-.on.

An "Open Season" under the Federal Employees H ealth Benefits Program will be held Nov. 10 through Dec. 5.

During this period, eligible employees may enroll in a plan. Those al ready enrolled may change their plan, option, type of enrollment, or any combination of these.

Before Nov. 10, a packet entitled " Federal Employees Health Benefits Program" will be distributed to all employees. Registration procedures wi ll be included.

During the "Open Season," reg ist rati o n assistants will be available to help employees compl ete form s and answer questions. Names and locations of these assistants will be posted on official bulletin boards and lists will also be available in personnel offices. D

Volunteer Blood Donors Needed For Histocompatibility Testing At Bureau of Biologics

Ms. Nez, a former CC pa tie nt, joins blood donor Dennis Wise, ODA, at the CC Blood Bank thank-you party.

Nominations for NIH Director's Award Must Be in ERRB Office Today

Nominations for the 1980 NI H Di rectors Award must be in the Employee Relations and Recognition Branch, DPM, Bldg. 31, Rm. B3C-03, by today (Wednesday, Oct. 15).

Al l em ployees are eligibl e to receive the awards, and anyone may nominate another employee.

For more detai ls, see the Sept. 30 issue of The NIH Record or ca ll ERRB, 496-4975. D

Annual Leave: Use It or Lose It

Annual leave in excess of the maximum carryover balance is normally forfeited if not used by the end of the current leave year.

If you have not already p lanned to take those excess hours of annual leave, you should discuss you r leave w ith your supervisor now, while there is still time to schedule it.

Your biweekly Earnings and Leave Statement tells you how much annual leave you must use to avoid losing it when the leave year ends on Saturday, Jan. 10, 1981.

In spite of planning, circumstances sometimes arise which prevent you from taking leave that has been schedu led and approved earlier during the leave year.

In such cases, you and your supervisor are jointly responsible for ensuring that any "use or lose" leave is rescheduled in writing no late r than Saturday, Nov. 29. D

Employee Hockey Club Opens Season

The N IH Hockey Club will begin its season on Oct. 30. The club plays Thursdays, 10:30 p.m. to midnight, at the Wheaton Ice Rink and welcomes new members.

Previous hockey experience and or reasonable skating ability are required. For further information, call Pierre Henkart, 496-1554. D

The Bureau of Biologics, Food and Drug Administration, is requesting volunteers for their Histocompatibi lity (HLA) Testing Laboratory at NIH, Bldg. 29, Rm. 232.

Results of histocompatibility testing are clinically u seful if an individual needs a tissue transplant, a white cel l transfusion, or is susceptible to developing spondylitic (arthritic) disease.

Persons from India o r those of Chinese origin also are needed to evaluate the inheritance of HLA blood types.

Each individual will be requested to donate 40 to 60 ml (8 to 12 teaspoonfuls) of whole blood. The blood will be used for tissue typing and serum testing.

HLA typing results will be provided to each volunteer on request, free of charge.

To participate in ei ther program, call Dr. Kamal K. Mittal or Dr. Dennis Wong, 4964038.

'Bell, Book, and Candle'

To Be Staged

The NIH Theatre Group, The Hamsters, will present a three-act comedy, "Bell , Book and Candle," on: Friday, Oct. 31; Saturday, Nov. ?1; Friday, Nov. 7; and Saturday, Nov. 8, in the Masur Auditorium. Curtain time is 8 p.m.

Ti ckets are $4 for adults and $2 for children aged 12 years and under. They are available at all R&W Gift Shops; at the R&W Activities Desk in Bldg. 31, Rm. 1A-18; from Arnold Sperling, chief, CC Patient Activities Department, Bldg. 10, 14th floor; o r from Rosalyn Archer, chief, Shipping and Receiving, Bldg. 13, Rm. 13001. Phone reser? vations wil l not be accepted.

All profits will be donated to the CC Patient Welfare Fund. D

Did you know that a bi weekly deduction gift of $9.50 wilt provide 2 months of care for an Infant awaiting adoption? Reaching people who need you: that's what the CFC is all about.

Blood donors were praised at a thank-you party give n for t hem at the Clinical Center Blood Bank rece ntly by CC Director Dr. Mortimer P. Lipsett and Blood Bank chief Dr. Paul Holland.

Donors were told that not o nly did their blood help in t he immediate savi ng of patient lives, but also contributed to research.

Fo r the last 17 years, th e CC Blood Bank has supported studies in such areas as viral hepatitis. Dr. Harvey J. Alter and other CC researchers , using NIH donor blood and blood products, demonstrated that by testing for hepatitis B antigen in donors, they were able to learn how to reduce the frequency of hepatiti s B after transfusion. Through this research a vaccine was developed.

Because of the blood donors, plasmapheresis has made it p ossible to separate and transfuse different types of blood cells. These components are used to treat immune system distu rbances, clotting disorders, and anemias in patients.

Research conducted on protein disorders made it possible for an unexpected guest, Alice Nez, to come to the thank-you party. She came to the CC 18 years ago as a child with a rare inherited protein disorder. She was diagnosed as having a factor VI I d eficiency, a substance needed for blood clotting. The blood component she needed was d iscovered at the CC.

The R&W Association donated door prizes, and the grand prize, a trip to Atlantic City, was won by Virginia Zaratzian, a former N IH employee, who has been donating blood si nee 1941.

As a special thank you, t h e f irst 200 donors lo arrive at the party received STOP-GIVE BLOOD T-shi rts.

Hiiiiil

Page 2

The NIH Record

October 15, 1980

High Altitude Tests During Expedition to Andes Aid Studies on Red Cell Adaptation

A 5-week expedition to the Peruvian Andes by NIH and other scientists this past summer to study people with chronic mountain sickness has led to preliminary observations that cou ld reveal how oxygen in the body is tran sferred, and how the heart's control mechanism works at high altitudes.

The international expedition, composed o f U.S. and Peruvian scientists and funded by the National Science Foundation, studied the role o f red cell adaptations in oxygen del ivery.

The scienti sts investigated volunteers from the native popu lation of Cerro de Pasco, Peru, a mineral-rich mining community of 40,000 located o n a plateau 15,000 feet above sea level.

This high al titude popu lation has for generations lived in perpetual hypoxia (lack of oxygen). The condition forces some of them to seek relief and treatment for their illness at sea level.

Unlike previous expeditions attempting to study h igh altitude affects, this expedition had the advantage of having a variety of sophisticated biomedical instruments to measure exercise performance and to record information from surgically inserted arterial ca theters.

The children of Cerro d e Pasco we re inte rested in what the resea rch team was doing in their town.

Dr. M o nge (r, foreground) explains the expe rime nt l o a volunteer while m edical techno logist Rosen (I) begins the re placeme nt procedure and Dr. Klein supe rvises.

uration, which are responsibl e for physical or mental fatigue associated with the illness.

The expedition was assisted by Dr. Carlos Monge, professor of medicine, Cayetano Heredia University, Lima, one of the world's Iead ing authorities on high altitude physiology and currently a FIC Scholar-inResidence.

He has made significant contributions to understanding the high altitude d isease named after his father-Monge's disease.

Principal i nvestigator on the expedi tion was Dr. Robert M. Winslow, chief of the Red Cell D isease Labora tory, Cen ter for Disease Control, Atlanta, who unti l last year was at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. He i nterpreted the expedition's test results and planned its experiments.

disease. Throughout the testing, Or. Monge explained t he experiment to each volunteer.

The volunteers, selected from different agt;' groups and occupations, were tested to see if their hematocrit (or percentage of their red blood cells) was over 70 percent compared to that of normal subjects at sea level, which usually measures betwePn 39 lo 45 percent.

"The high altitude faci lity offers i ncred ible potential to st udy physiology and oxygen delivery," Dr. Klein said, noting thal very little high altitude cli nical research has been done even though the mi litary has done extensive simulated studies in barometric pressure chambers.

New Procedu res Used

The Haemonetics' Corporation lent a Discontinuous Flow Blood Cell separa tor, a recently developed tool used by the CC Blood Bank to perform therapeutic p lasmapheresis. It was borrowed for speedy, accurate blood removal and volume replacement.

Using preliminary research findings compiled over the last 2 years by two previous NIH expeditions to Peru, researchers hoped to learn more about the body's mechanism to transfer oxygen at high altitudes.

Specifically, they were interes ted in the performance of those subjects who have "too many" red cells and the physiology resu lting from the removal of large amounts of red cells from a person i ll with chronic mountain sickness.

Scientists were also interested in objective measurements, such as changes in organ b lood flow and arterial oxygen sat-

NIH was represented by Dr. Harvey Klein, assistant chief of the CC Blood Bank , and Sandra Rosen, a research medical tech nologist. For the first time at this altitude, they used a blood cell separator to perform hemodilution, a procedure where blood is removed from a person and its volume immediately replaced in the body.

Normally at high altitudes, a person's blood thickens, blood flow is sluggish, and clots form in the needle when the bleeding procedure is attempted; however, the CC equipment permitt_ed rapid bleeding.

All equipment on the trip was kept in working order by C. Carter Gibson, an engineer with the DRS Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation Branch .

A complete physical examination determined whether the health of the 39 Peru vian volunteers was good other than the fact that they were suffering from Mange's

D r. M o nge ( I) and his assistant Oscar M oran worked with volunteers during the 5-week exp edition.

High altitude research could prove to be beneficial to patients with chronic lung dis-

(See ANDES, Page 6)

October 15, 1980

The NIH Record

Page 3

NLM Exhibit Features

May Lesser's Art

Arti st May H . Lesser, the dau gh ter, sister, wife, and mother of physicians, is currently exhibiting h er paintings and drawings abou t medical care for the poor at the National Library of Medicine.

The e xhibit, " The Los Ange les County Hospital - Through the Eyes of th e Arti st ," will be shown i n th e Lib rary's mai n lobby through Jan. 23, 1981. The Library's hours are Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p .m.

"Th ese are stori es and painti ngs about medical care for the poor at a large, metro po litan, publ icly supported hospital and the impact it produced upon t he patients,

the medical and nursing staff, and upo n myself."

The present exhibit of some 35 selected paintings and drawings from a forthcoming book reflects the artist's sensitivity toward the effect of the overwhel ming number of patients o n the young, ideal istic doc tors at a crucial state of their development.

Thei r professio nal skills are i ncreased but, i n Mrs . Lesser's words, " their growth is slowed by frustratio n in dealing with so much social pathology and the community's attitude towa rd the poor and t heir physicians. "

H er etchi ngs and drawings are in the permanent coll ection of a numbe r of institutions including the Cleveland Museum of Art and NLM. Several o f her color etchings have appeared on the Journal of the American Medical Association cover.

Rosalie Strauss Retires; Ends NIAID Computer Career

\

.,~--CJ

----,F'-:__

~ I

I \'1 I -

In her retirement , Mrs . Strauss and her husband have many trave l plans , and she hope s lo brush up on h er golf game.

~.:_-::---:=-- .. -~

I I

Rosalie Strauss rece nt ly ended a 20-year Government career at NI H , the last 17 of which were spent with the Natio nal Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Mrs. St rauss was chief of the Data Cont ro l Sec-

tion of the l nstitute's Program Analysi s and

Evaluation Branch sinee 1966.

She joi ned NIAID in 1963 as a coding

cl erk, very i nteres ted in compute rs. At th at

time, N IAID was using the o ld EAM System.

So i n 1970, when th e Extram ura l Programs

t

~ ~1ii-i?fllf,,.::,=,'-. =}---

,'~ Branch changed to the new, more sophisticated com puter system, Mrs. Strauss played a major role in the successful co nversio n. Recogn izing the need for all NIH employees in the computer field to be kept abreast of rapid changes in this field, she though t

of forming an Automatic Data Processi ng

Artist May H. Lesser has joined he r ski ll as an artist lo her understanding of physicians. Thirty-five of he r drawings and paintings about medical care for the poor are be ing exhibited al NLM. Thi s drawing is entitled " How could he gel liquor at the nursing home?"

Committee, to p rovide informati on about system changes and improvements. She served as its fi rs t chairman i n 1975.

The committee , which still ho lds mo nthly

meetings, is composed of representatives

from all sections of N IH i nvolved with com-

Wider Use of THC Capsules Approved by FDA puters, as well as, with representatives of

the Division of Computer Research and

Wider use of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) capsules for experimental t reatme nt of nause a and vomiting i n cancer patients undergoi ng drug therapy was recently approved b y the Food and Drug Adm inistrat ion. These capsu les con tain a synthetic

NCI estimates that of 200,000 pe rsons undergoing chemotherapy each year, 50,000 have nausea and vomiting problems tha t are not helped by conventional drugs.

NCI w ill be the supplier and controller of all government-distributed THC capsules to

Technology and the Division of Research Grants.

Mrs. Strau ss served a 2-year term on the N IAID-EEO Advisory Comm ittee and in 1974 received an award for sus tai ned superior work performance. D

form of THC fo und naturally in mari juana. be used in cance r patients.

NCI Will Distribute Chemical Although THC will remain an investiga-

Investigators with studies al ready under way will continue to receive supplies at their current level , and any requ e sts for an

'Buy Smart-Eat Smart' Alerts Shoppers to Good Nutrition

t io nal or experi men tal drug, th e FDA has

increase will be reviewed by th e In stitute.

au tho rized the National Cancer Insti tute to distribute the ch emical under an investiga- NCI To Approve Requests

Ma rilyn Farrand, a n u t rit ion ist i n N HLBl' s Division of Heart and Vascular Diseases,

tional category which permits broad but

Investigators holding an l nvestigational

cochaired a group that shared first p lace in

cont rolled d ist ributi on of a drug sh own

New Drug Appl icati o n approved by the FDA the 1980 N utrition Action Awards.

u seful in research studi es but not yet ap- for the research and w h o have not yet

The Metropolitan D.C. chapter of the So-

proved for marketing.

begun th eir clinical studi es can exp ect to

ciety fo r Nutri tion Education, in conjunc-

No firm has yet appl ied to FDA for ap-

receive adequate amounts of TH C cap su les tion with the D.C. Dietetic Association, ini-

proval to market THC.

soon after their requests are approved by

tiated a project called "Buy Smart-Eat

THC, one of more than 400 chemicals

NCI.

Smart."

found in marijuana, has been studied ex-

All applications for THC capsul es will be

Two of the local supermarket chains-

perimentally for nearly 6 years to assess t h e reviewed fo r reasonabl eness and scienti f ic Safeway and G ian t - coop erat ed in the

level of efficacy in rel ieving the nausea an d merit.

project , which provid ed food and nutrition

vomiting in cancer patients undergoing

For furt he r informat ion, call t he Office of information to sh oppers in t he stores, and

drug therapy, and has been shown to be

Cance r Communications, NCI, (301 ) 496-

increased the public's awareness of reliable

sufficiently eff ective to justify broader u se. 6641. D

sources of nutrition i nformation. D

Page 4

The NIH Record

October 15, 1980

Cesarean Delivery Rate

May Be Lowered

Without Endangering

Mother or Infant

An NIH consensus development panel recently concluded that the Nation's high cesarean section delivery rate may be low-

ered without impeding progress toward reducing maternal and infant mo rtality and morbidity, and suggested steps to achieve that objective.

The U.S. ces arean rate tripled from 5.5 percent in 1970 to 15.2 in 1978, making cesarean section the ten th most commo n surgical procedure.

The consensus statement reflects the j udgment that t h is trend of ri sing cesa rean rates may be stopp ed or perhaps reve rsed, while continuing to make improvements in maternal and fetal outcomes.

Rep eat cesarean deliveries are re sponsible for 30 percent of the o verall rise in cesarean rates. More than 98 pe rcent of th e women in the U.S. undergo repeat cesareans for subsequent pregnancies.

If adopted by American doctors, the task force guidelines wou ld allow most women who have had a previous low segme nt transverse cesarean section to attempt labor and vaginal d elivery in a subsequent pregnancy.

Thi s finding may be controversial because it challenges the concept of "once a cesarean, always a cesarean. "

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, in conjunction with t he National Center for Health Care Tech nology, assisted by the N IH Office for Medical Applications of Research, sponsored the conference.

Specialists? in the fields of pediatrics, o bstetrics, anesthesio logy, family practice, epidem iology, psychology, childbirth education, l aw, and economics comprised the task force whi ch add ressed th e medical and

related concerns about cesarea n childbirth. The 19-member task force cautioned that

appropriate facilities, servi ces, and staff shou ld b e available before attempting labor and vagi nal delivery for women who have had a previous cesarean.

Hospital s shou ld obtain informed consent before a trial of labo r and develop guidelines for management of those labors.

No changes in present practices w ere recommended by the panel for el ective repeat cesarean delivery by patients who have had previous classical, inverted T-sh aped, or low vertical incisions, or for whom there is no docum entation of the site and/or type of previous incision.

The panel noted that the diagnostic

categories of dystocia, breech presentation, and fetal distress have also contributed to t he inc reasi ng cesarean birthrate, and that altern ative management may reduce the need for cesarea n.

Dystocia, a prolonged labor due to problems associated with fetal positi on, size, or inadequate uterine contract ions, accounted for 30 p ercent o f the overall ri se in th e cesarean delivery rate between 1970 and 1978.

Th e task fo rce recommends that physi-

New Extramural Training Designed To Focus On Problem Areas, Unique Experiences

A new continuing education program will soon be available to both health scientist administ rators and grants management professionals at NIH.

As desc ribed by Dr. William F. Raub, NIH Associate Director for Extramural Research and Training, this program will focus o n d iscussions by participants of selected "case inci dents." These incidents have been identified by the NIH Training Design Team during i ts revi ew of problems encounte red in extramural programs.

"More and more frequently," Dr. Raub commented, "the kinds o f problems which confront senio r p rogram, review, and g rants management staff have no cl early and readily apparent solutions.

"Although est ablished pol icies, procedu res, and regulations usual ly provide some general guidance for us in addressing these problems, equitable resolution of difficu lt cases o ften relies heavi ly on both the individual experiences and judgments of the professional staff.

"The new TDT program will provide an opportun ity for both B/ 1/D and OD staff to focus o n common probl em areas and to share their unique experiences and perspec tives. I t wil l also help us to identify alternative approaches to probl em solving and to explore the short- and lo ng-term consequences of these alterna tives w i th respec t to their impact on t he ex tramural community as a whole."

The NIH Training Design Team, chaired

by Dr. James F. O'Donnell, DRR deputy director , wa s established by Dr. Raub in December 1978 to examine the NI H grants review , award, and administration process, and to develop a case study approach to solvi ng common problems.

The first phase of th e new TOT program , which will begin in mid-November, will consist of a series of 1-day workshops, designed to facilitate small group discussions and analysis of sel ected "case incidents. "

Each of these incidents illustrates problems actually encounte red in the extramural

programs. They w e re selected for review and analysis at the w orksh ops on t h e basis of both their potential significance and their

frequency of occurrence . Although attendance at each workshop

w ill be strictl y limited to facilitate interacti1on between p articip ants, Dr. O'Donn ell n oted that efforts will be made to sch edule a large number of sessions"and accommodate as many extramu ral staff as possible.

Appl icatio ns for the first phase of the TDT workshops are now being distributed through the offices of t h e fol lowing B/ 1/D representatives to the NIH Extramural Program Management Commi ttee:

DRC - Or S1eve n Schiaffino ORR- Or. James O 'Donnell FIC- Robc rt Slevin NCl- lJr. w ,lliam Walter NEI- Dr. Ronald Geller NHLBI- Dr. Jerome Green NIA-Dr. Don Gibson NIAIU- Or William Gay

NIA.MOD - Or. George Brooks NICH D-Or. Setty Pic kett NIOR- Or. Clair Gardner NIEHS - O r. W ilford Nusser N ICMS- Or , Arthur H eming NINCDS-Dr. John Dalton NLM-Dr Ernest All~n OD- He len Schroeder 0

cia ns try alte rnatives before considering cesareans du rin g dysfunction and labor, in the absence of fetal d ist re ss.

These alternatives include patient rest, ambulation, sedation, or stimu lation of labor by using oxytocin.

Breech presentation is responsibl e for about 15 percent of the rise in cesarean rate. Vaginal delivery of the term breech is acceptable, concluded the panel, when the an ticipated fetal weight is l ess than 8 pounds; pelvic dimensions and architectu re are normal ; hyperextension of the head is not present; and when del ivery is conducted by a physician experienced in vaginal breech delivery.

Alth ough fetal d istress is diagnosed more frequ ently since the use of electronic fetal mon i toring h as b ecome more common it on ly occurs in about 1 percent of all births, and accounts for 15 pe rcent of the inc rease in cesarean birth rates.

The task force also urged liberal izing

hospital pol icies to allow fathers or surrogates to attend cesarean births at the reques t o f the mother , and encouraged hospitals to permit healthy, cesarean-delivered babies, to be with their parents immediately after birth.

For more information on cesarean childbirth and a summary o f the con ference .findings, contact N ICH D, O ffice of Research Reporting, 9000 Rockville Pike, Rm. 2A-32, Bldg. 31, Bethesda, Md . 20205, o r call (301) 496-5133. D

Dr. G. O'Conor Returns To Former NCI Position

Dr. Gregory T. O 'Conor recently returned to h is former p osition as associate director for International Affairs, Natio nal Cancer Institut e, after serving as director of t he NCI D ivision of Cancer Cause and Preven-

tion for the past 3 yea rs. H e said he wants to devote more time to developing internal ional cooperation in cancer research.

Dr. O'Conor has had considerable expe ri ence in international matters. He worked

with the World

Dr. O'Cono r

Healt h Organiza-

t ion for 2 years in th e 1960's, and he lped

d evelop the W H O Internati onal Agency for

Cancer Research.

In the early days of the National Cancer

Program , he organized NCl 's Office of In-

t ernation al Affairs and brought consider-

able recognition to research programs in-

vo lving international cooperat ion .

Dr. Richard Adamson w ill serve as acting

director of DCCP while continuing hi s

duties as chief of th e Laboratory o f C hemi-

cal Pharm acology, NCI.

October 15, 1980

The NIH Record

Page 5

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download