The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulates radioactive material for the Federal Government. The NRC is led by five politically appointed Commissioners. On April 17, NRC Commissioner David Wright visited the NIH as part of his “get out and meet the licensees” initiative.
As a cancer survivor, Commissioner Wright was interested in learning how the NIH uses radiation and radioactive material to support its efforts in cancer research.
NIH Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) and Director of Division of Radiation Safety (DRS), Cathy Ribaudo accompanied Commissioner Wright to the NIH Visitor Center at Natcher, where he was briefly introduced to the NIH history and mission. Commissioner Wright then visited the Clinical Center for a meet and greet with CEO, Dr. James Gilman. Following the meet and greet, Commissioner Wright toured various Clinical Center departments and research labs. The Commissioner’s visit was not an inspection of the NIH, but rather an opportunity to showcase some of NIH’s cutting-edge research to an interested neighbor at NRC Headquarters.
With support from Dr. Mark Ahlman, Commissioner Wright was first provided a tour of Nuclear Medicine in the Radiology and Imaging Sciences Department. In his tour of Nuclear Medicine, Dr. Ron Neumann of Nuclear Medicine and Dr. Peter Herscovitch of the PET Department gave a brief explanation of their programs and first-hand demonstration of a PET/CT scanner.
In his tour of the Clinical Center Department of Transfusion Medicine with Dr. Bill Ward and Dr. Willy Flegel, Commissioner Wright got a glimpse of a cesium irradiator. In NCI’s Ex-Vivo laboratory, Dr. Jonathan Hernandez and Dr. Julius Strauss explained their research in liver cancer clinical trials and novel therapeutics.
Commissioner Wright also took a tour of the Molecular Imaging Clinic with Program Director, Dr. Peter Choyke. During his visit, Dr. Liza Lindenberg, Freddy Escorcia and Frank Lin presented accomplishments in their research of innovative cancer therapies using radioactive tracers and radiolabeled ligand targets. Throughout the visit to laboratories, Commissioner Wright expressed interest and curiosity, and often detailed his own cancer journey to an audience who understood his story.
Commissioner Wright’s tour of NIH concluded at Building 1 for a sit-down meeting with NIH Deputy Director for Management, Dr. Alfred Johnson, Deputy Director for Intramural Research, Dr. Michael Gottesman and Assistant Deputy Director for Intramural Research, Dr. Richard Wyatt. Commissioner Wright shared his gratitude and favorable impressions of his visit to NIH and committed to continuing his advocacy work on cancer awareness and education. The Commissioner wanted to know how his agency can help us at NIH. The NIH, and the RSO who strives for a risk-based approach to radiation regulation, values this kind of collaborative relationship.
All present agreed the morning was a resounding success. The DRS would like to thank everyone who was involved in making the tour run smoothly, from the shuttle driver, to the photographer, to the NIH Visitors Center and the administrative staff in between.
