What a pleasure it was to hold a roundtable discussion with the 2022-2023 class of White House Fellows during their recent visit to NIH. They asked some very good questions. Afterwards, we gathered for this photo. It shows me and Tara Schwetz, NIH’s Acting Principal Deputy Director (r, standing next to me) with all the fellows. The fellows also visited the NIH Clinical Center and toured two labs in the National Cancer Institute’s Pediatric Oncology Branch. The NIH visit took place on April 20. Credit: NIH
It was my pleasure to interact with several members of the White House COVID-19 Response Team during their recent visit to NIH. While on our Bethesda campus, team members met with select researchers and leadership from the NIH Vaccine Research Center and the NIH Clinical Center. This photo shows Ashish Jha (r), the White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator, while addressing staff during a meeting in the NIH Clinical Center. Tara Schwetz (l), NIH’s acting principal deputy director, is seated next to me. The visit took place on the afternoon of March 23. Credit: NIH
I took part in the July 15 meeting of the NIH Clinical Center’s Research Hospital Board (CCRHRB). The board helps to ensure that the Clinical Center meets or exceeds its standards of excellence. The meeting was also a real special one, bringing the departures of two outstanding board members: Ruth Williams-Brinkley, president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, Inc.; and Laura Forese, executive vice president and COO of New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
Laura will be especially missed. She has presided over the CCRHRB with distinction from its first inception in July 2016. Afterwards, photos were taken to mark the occasion. That includes this one showing (l-r) Tara Schwetz, NIH’s Acting Principal Deputy Director; James Gilman, CEO of the Clinical Center; Laura Forese; and me. Credit: NIH
It was great to take part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony and officially open the NIH Clinical Center Pharmacy. The fully renovated, 10,000-square-foot facility, located on the first floor of the building’s southeast wing, consists of three parts: the outpatient pharmacy, which dispenses medications to patients who visit the clinical center for periodic checkups or treatment as part of a clinical study; the unit-dose pharmacy, which prepares medications in small doses for patients while staying at the Clinical Center; and the intravenous admixture unit (IVAU), which formulates sterile products, as needed, for patients at the Clinical Center. The Clinical Center Pharmacy will perform all of the above with the help of state-of-the-art automation, including a robotic medication management system.
I’m third from the left in the ribbon-cutting line. To my right, scissors in hand, (l-r) are Richard DeCederfelt, the Clinical Center’s Acting Pharmacy Chief, and James Gilman, CEO of the Clinical Center. Cutting the ribbon to my left (l-r) are Alfred Johnson, NIH’s Deputy Director for Management, and Marilyn Farinre, the Clinical Center’s Pharmacy Operations Chief. Looking on just behind them (l-r) are Tara Schwetz, NIH’s Acting Principal Deputy Director, and Michael Gottesman, NIH’s Deputy Director for Intramural Research. The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on May 18 in the Outpatient Pharmacy Waiting Room. Credit: NIH
