Howard Temin Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00)

In September 2007, Chandravanu (CV) Dash successfully competed for a Howard Temin Pathway to Independence (PI) Award (K99/R00) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for his proposal "Role of Nucleic Acid Structure in HIV-1 Replication."  The award provides up to five years of support consisting of two phases.  The initial phase will provide one to two years of mentored support (up to $90,000) for highly promising postdoctoral research scientists.  This phase will be followed by up to three years of independent support (up to $249,000) contingent on securing an independent research position.  The primary goal of the PI Award Program is to increase and maintain a strong cohort of new and talented NIH-supported independent investigators. The long-term goal of Dr. Dash's PI award is to elucidate the mechanism of interactions between essential viral and cellular enzymes with their nucleic acid substrates during HIV replication.  New and important biochemical data obtained from this proposal are expected to facilitate our understanding of the mechanism of HIV-1 replication, which is essential to designing better and effective drugs against HIV.  Dr. Dash is mentored by Dr. Stuart Le Grice and co-mentored by Dr. Vineet KewalRamani of the HIV Drug Resistance Program at NCI-Frederick.

NCI Director's Intramural Innovation Awards

In 2006-2007, Jason Rausch and Edward C.-K. Wu were each awarded $10,000 from the NCI Director's Intramural Innovation Award Program.  This program is designed to support the development of highly innovative approaches and technology aimed at significant cancer-related problems. Dr. Rausch's innovation, "Evolving Sequence-Specific Integrases and Methyltransferases by In Vitro Compartmentalization and Selection," uses a novel methodology to simultaneously screen millions of enzyme variants, with selection based both on targeted binding/activity and the absence of nonspecific binding activity.  Directed evolution has never been applied in this manner to either of these enzymes, and some of the proposed methods for linking phenotype with genotype are unprecedented. Dr. Wu's innovation, "Recombinant Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase," makes it possible to express and purify enzymatically active recombinant human telomerase.  This advance will allow a much better understanding of the structure and function of human telomerase and has the potential to be used to develop novel anticancer therapies.

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Taichiro Takemura was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship from 2007 to 2009 by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.  The fellowship program sponsored by this society supports meritorious biomedical research projects undertaken in NIH laboratories by Japanese postdoctoral researchers. Fellowships are awarded after a competitive review of research proposals.

Scholarship Awards, Keystone Symposia on HIV Pathogenesis

Taichiro Takemura, Rebecca Russell, and Michael Moore were awarded travel scholarships to present their research findings at the 2008 Keystone Symposia on HIV Pathogenesis.

Kyeungeun Lee was awarded a travel scholarship and her abstract was selected for oral presentation at the 2006 Keystone Symposia on HIV Pathogenesis.

NCI-Frederick Spring Research Festival Poster Awards

The following DRP fellows won poster awards for their presentations at the NCI-Frederick Spring Research Festival:

Benjamin Luttge (2008)
Krista Delviks-Frankenberry (2007)
Bilguujin Dorjsuren (2007)
Leslie Gee (2007)
Michael Moore (2007)
Samuel Rulli, Jr. (2007)
Rebecca Russell (2007)
Michaela Wendeler (2007)
Patricia Henry (2006)
Olga Nikolaitchik (2006)
Galina Nikolenko (2006)
Hongzhan Xu (2006)

NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence

The NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) acknowledges outstanding scientific research performed by intramural postdoctoral fellows.  The award is sponsored by the NIH Fellows Committee, the Scientific Directors, the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health, and the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education, and is funded by the Scientific Directors and the Office of Research on Women's Health.  Awards are based on scientific merit, originality, experimental design, and overall quality/presentation of the abstracts.

The following Fellows in the HIV Drug Resistance Program (DRP) won 2008 FARE stipends of $1000 for travel to attend and present their work at a scientific meeting in the U.S.:

Krista Delviks-Frankenberry
Nancy P.Y. Chung

The following DRP Fellows were FARE awardees in 2007:

Galina Nikolenko
Yeshitila Friew
Patricia Henry
Mario P.-S. Chin
Kazushi Motomura
Chandravanu Dash
Karine Gousset

Shown from left to right: Patricia Henry, Galina Nikolenko, Joyce Rudick (Director of Programs and Management, NIH Office of Research on Women's Health), Michael Gottesman (NIH Deputy Director for Intramural Research), and Yeshitila Friew.

The following DRP Fellows were FARE awardees in 2006:

Mario P.S. Chin
Olga Nikolaitchik

Scholarship Award, International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention

Mario Chin was awarded a scholarship to present his findings at the 2007 IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Sydney, Australia.

Travel Scholarship, International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop

Mary Kearney was awarded a travel scholarship in 2007 to present her research findings at the International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop.

Scholarship Awards, 2007 American Society for Virology Meeting

Nancy Chung and Alok Mulky were awarded travel scholarships and their abstracts were selected for oral presentation at the 2007 American Society for Virology Meeting.

Young Investigator Awards, Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections

Zandrea Ambrose won Young Investigator Awards in 2006 and 2007 and Catherine Adamson won a Young Investigator Award in 2007 to present their research findings at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

Travel Fellowships Awarded by HIV & Cancer Virology Faculty, NCI

In 2006, Jean L. Mbisa and Catherine Adamson won two of the three available travel fellowships awarded by the HIV & Cancer Virology Faculty, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute.

Last modified: 22 July 2008