First Annual Roy Hertz Memorial Research Symposium

May 17, 2013

Sponsor/Co-Sponsor(s)

Program in Reproductive and Adult Endocrinology (PRAE), Division of Intramural Research (DIR), NICHD

Location

Masur Auditorium, Clinical Research Center (Building 10), NIH Main Campus, Bethesda, Maryland

Purpose

The Roy Hertz Memorial Research Symposium commemorates the research and scientific contributions of Dr. Roy Hertz, former NICHD Scientific Director, and a pioneer in the fields of clinical research and women’s health.

The first annual Roy Hertz Memorial Lecture will feature Dr. Ferid Murad, who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1998 for his work with nitric oxide, a colorless odorless gas that signals blood vessels to relax and widen, which in turn lowers blood pressure. Dr. Murad will speak about nitric oxide and cyclic guanosine monophosphate in cell signaling and their role in drug development.

The Symposium will also include presentations about health care and a panel discussion about community-based participatory research.

Dr. Hertz accomplished a great deal during his tenure at the NICHD and the NIH. He not only established the first functioning clinical research unit at the NIH, but he also developed the first successful treatment for choriocarcinoma, a cancer of the placenta. This discovery provided the first scientific proof that chemotherapy could cure metastatic cancer, and that a typically fatal cancer in young women could be treated with a single therapeutic agent. Dr. Hertz received an Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Research for the discovery. In his later work, Dr. Hertz developed synthetic forms of the hormone progestin, which later became the basis for the development of oral contraceptives.

This symposium is free and open to the public. Individuals with disabilities who need sign language interpreters and/or reasonable accommodations to participate should contact Marilyn Minor (in Contact section). Please make your requests at least 5 days in advance of the event.

More Information

Symposium Agenda (PDF 580 KB)

Contact

Marilyn Minor, PRAE, DIR, NICHD
Phone: 301-402-2141
Email: minormar@mail.nih.gov  

Please note: Views expressed during NICHD-sponsored events do not necessarily reflect the opinions or the official positions of NICHD, NIH, or HHS.
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