Biomedical Research History Interest Group
BRHIG is open to everyone interested in the history of biomedical research at NIH or elsewhere. In addition to the presentation and discussion of work-in-progress, the group will serve as a forum for discussion of issues of common interest, such as the identification and development of source materials; the uses and pitfalls of oral histories in research; and collaborations between historians and the biomedical community.
The interest group's moderators are Barbara Harkins and Eric Boyle.
Recent Events
June 16, 2009:
History in the NIH
This symposium was a "progress report" by the four Stetten fellows in the Office of History. Their presentations explore NCI's cancer virus program in the 1970s; NIH research on cholesterol; complementary and alternative medicine at the NIH; and the role of the NIH in the development of research ethics. For further details, please download the conference program.
March 26-27, 2009:
Role of the Research Physician: From Golden Past to Threatened Future?
http://history.nih.gov/documents/Program_TheRoleoftheResearchPhysician.pdf
(see also a feature article in the March-April 2009 issue of The NIH Catalyst)
Physicians who devote themselves to biomedical research have played crucial roles in the development of scientific medicine for more than 100 years. A variety of institutions—hospitals, medical foundations, the Public Health Service, most notably the NIH, universities, and pharmaceutical companies—have supported their research. Since the ‘Golden Era’ of physician-scientists, roughly 1950 to the mid-1970s, leaders in each research context have expressed increasing concern about the ability of physician-scientists to sustain themselves and their research tradition. This conference brought together for the first time leading physician researchers, organizational leaders, historians, and social scientists for a multi-disciplinary exploration of the physician-scientist research tradition, its changing contours, and the challenges and opportunities it faces going forward. It sought to elucidate the many different meanings of the term ‘research physician,’ whether there ever was a ‘golden past,’ and if the future is really so bleak as the title of this meeting suggests.
---
If you encounter problems on this site or have questions, send email to the NIH SIGS Administrator. This front page was last update on June 3, 2009.