NIH Health Disparities Seminar Series – February 2013

In commemoration of Black History Month and American Heart Month, the National Institutes of Health welcomes the new NHLBI Director, Dr. Gary H. Gibbons as the featured speaker for the NIH Health Disparities Seminar Series on February 14, 2013. Cardiovascular disease is a serious challenge in the African American community. CDC statistics show that African Americans are 30% more likely to die from heart disease and 40% more likely to have high blood pressure than white Americans. Emerging data suggests that genomic variation and other factors influencing genetic behavior can enhance individual susceptibility to heart disease, especially in minority populations. As director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), Dr. Gibbons oversees a variety of programs aimed at discovering and disseminating new information related to treatment and prevention of heart disease. He will discuss the importance of diversity and scientific excellence in NHLBI’s efforts to improve public health.

Dr. Gibbons became the director of NHLBI during the summer of 2012. He is responsible for promoting the prevention and treatment of heart, lung, and blood diseases as well as setting the vision for the third largest institute at the National Institutes of Health.

Prior to joining NHLBI, Dr. Gibbons was the founding director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, where he also chaired the department of physiology and served as professor of physiology and medicine. His laboratory focused on discovering novel disease mediators, and he received 17 NHLBI-funded grants to support research in vascular biology and genomic medicine. Dr. Gibbons, who has received several patents for innovations derived from his research, has also held faculty positions at Stanford University and Harvard Medical School.

A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Gibbons completed his residency and cardiology fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. In addition to becoming an elected member of the Institute of Medicine, he has been named a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Minority Faculty Development Fellow, a Pew Biomedical Scholar by the Pew Charitable Trusts, and an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association.

Presentation Title:

Imagining the NHLBI at 75: Achieving Public Health Impact by Diversity and Scientific Excellence

Guest Speaker:

Dr. Gary H. Gibbons (Click here for bio)

Professor

Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

National Institutes of Health

Bethesda, Maryland

Date/Time:

Thursday, February 14, 2013

2:00 - 3:30 P.M.

Seminar Video Recording:

Click here to view February's video recorded seminar.

Location:

NIH Campus

Natcher Conference Center, Balcony A

45 Center Drive

Bethesda, MD

Additional Information:

There is limited parking on the NIH campus. The closest Metro is Medical Center. Please allow adequate time for security check. The seminar will be video cast and made available in the NIH Video archives and on the NIMHD website after the seminar. Sign language interpreters will be provided. Individuals with disabilities who need reasonable accommodations to participate should contact Edgar Dews at 301-402-1366 or the Federal Relay at 1-800-877-8339.