April 14, 2006

National Institutes of Health regional seminar

The MGH and Harvard University co-hosted the bi-annual National Institutes of Health (NIH) Regional Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration March 29 through 31 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. Peter L. Slavin, MD, president of the MGH, (at right) and Steven Hyman, MD, provost of Harvard University, gave the seminar's opening remarks, welcoming the more than 800 people in attendance at the sold-out event.

The meeting covered the NIH funding and grants application review process, clarification of federal regulations and policies, and highlighted current areas of special interest and concern. Gary Smith, administrative director of research for MGH Surgery, and Vivian Holmes, director of finance and administration for the Division of Medical Sciences at Harvard University, served as co-chairs of the event. Other MGHers involved in organizing the seminar were Debra Armstrong, Jennifer Chappelle, Jane Deitrich, Tewfik Ghattas, Patricia Kiszkiss, Karen Osborne, Nicholas Repucci, Kay Ryan, Adrienne Sisco, Kara Sickmier, Vonda Shannon and Lesley Watts.

The NIH — a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — is one of the world's leading medical research centers and the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research. For the past 10 years, the MGH has been top-ranked in NIH research funding for independent hospitals.