April 2004, Volume 2, Issue 3

Meeting the Mandates

The President's Management Agenda and Secretary Thompson's One HHS Agenda mandate that all federal agencies improve efficiencies in their provision of administrative services. To that end, FDA has implemented several change agendas simultaneously:

As a result of these changes, 30 NCTR administrative staff have been reassigned to the FDA Office of Shared Services, 13 NCTR staff now report to FDA MEOs (Most Effective Organizations) who won the competitive outsourcing, and 4 NCTR staff report to the FDA CIO. These 47 NCTR government Full Time Employees (FTEs) will remain at NCTR to provide these services.

Government Communicators Meet at NCTR

Sixteen members of the Arkansas Chapter of NAGC (National Association of Government Communicators) held their monthly meeting on March 11 at NCTR. The NAGC is a professional network of federal, state and local government employees who disseminate information within and outside government.

After learning about the FDA, its mission to protect our nation’s health, and how NCTR supports that mission, the group was given a guided tour of some of the NCTR and Arkansas Regional Laboratory (ARL) research facilities. In the Center for Phototoxicology, the studies on dietary supplements and the interaction of sunlight with cosmetics were demonstrated. Dr. Merle Paule, Division of Neurotoxicology, described the neurobehavioral studies using non-human primates and the operant test battery developed by Center scientists. Dr. James Fuscoe and William Branham provided a demonstration of the robotic equipment used in the Center for Functional Genomics to produce microarrays that aid in the study of gene changes due to adverse health events resulting from chemical exposure, toxicity and disease. ARL’s Khalil Kerdahi (Director, Microbiology) and Himansu Vyas (Director, Chemistry) completed the tour with a walk-through of the ARL microbiological and chemistry mass spectrometry operations.

Barbara Miller discusses the Phototoxicology Laboratory’s research. Photo/ Virginia Taylor

Center for Hepatotoxicology

The Center for Hepatotoxicology at NCTR provides expertise in liver toxicology to the FDA. The focus of this group is two-fold and reflects the expertise of its members in the mechanistic analysis of toxic responses of the liver and in liver carcinogenesis. The Center will:  

• Develop methods to understand the cause of acute and chronic liver disease resulting from products used by the public;
• Expand preclinical drug testing strategy to better predict a drug's toxicity; and
• Identify genes and proteins that indicate damaged liver cells.

2004 International Laboratory Animal Technician Week

Laboratory Animal Technician Week sponsored by the Arkansas AALAS (American Association for Laboratory Animal Science) was celebrated at NCTR February 1-7, 2004Animal Care Technicians from each area of the Center were honored for their vital role in FDA/NCTR research with a catered luncheon, special gifts and certificates of appreciation.

One of the posters recognizing NCTR Animal Care Technicians. Photo/ Roni Adams

NCTR conducts research designed to protect the public’s health. Results from some of these research projects have recently been accepted for publication in nationally recognized scientific journals.

• Chen, H., Molecular Cloning, Overexpression, Purification, and Characterization of an Aerobic FMN-Dependent Azoreductase from Enterococcus Faecalis, Protein Expression and Purification
  
• Chen, J.J., Analysis of Variance Components in Microarray Experiments, Bioinformatics
  
• Cisneros, F.J.,DNA Methylation and Male Infertility (Review Paper), Frontiers in Bioscience
  
• Ferguson, S.A., Spatial Learning/Memory and Social and Nonsocial Behavioral Reactivity in the Spontaneously Hypertensive, Wistar-Kyoto and Sprague-Dawley Rat Strains, Neurotoxicology and Teratology
  
• Lang, Q., Sample Preparations and LC-ELSD Determination of Ginkgo Terpene Trilactones in Dietary Supplements and Functional Foods, Journal of AOAC International
  
• Morel, F., The Human Glutathione Transferase KAPPA: Gene and Protein Characterization and Evidence for a Peroxisomal Localization, Journal of Biological Chemistry
  
• Piegorsch, W.W., Low-dose Risk Estimation via Simultaneous Statistical Inferences, Applied Statistics
  
• Poirier, L.A., On the Chemical Causation of Methyl Deficiency and its Attendant Pathologies, Regulatory Research Perspectives
  
• Ratnasinghe, L., Polymorphisms of DNA Repair Genes XRCC1, XPD23, and APE5 and Risk of Stroke in Linxian, China Stroke
  
• Ratnasinghe, L., Polymorphisms of XRCC1 and Risk of Esophageal and Gastric Cardia Cancer, Cancer Letters
  
• Tsai, C., A Generalized Additive Model for Microarray Gene Expression Data Analysis, Journal of Biopharmaceutical Statistics
  
• Xu, L., Separation and Characterization of Fluoro-Jade B, A Selective Histochemical Stain for Neuronal Degeneration, Journal of Liquid Chromatography & Related Technologies
  

On-Line Research Information

Regulatory Research Perspectives: Impact on Public Health, an on-line journal that provides a vehicle for FDA scientists to communicate important scientific information, and NCTR's FY 2002-2003 Research Accomplishments and Plans are available from NCTR's web site at http://www.fda.gov/nctr/science/science.htm.

Contact Information

The NCTR Quarter Page is published four times a year by the Division of Planning and Resource Management at the National Center for Toxicological Research. For more information about NCTR contact Dr. Dan Casciano, NCTR Director, at dcasciano@nctr.fda.gov or [870] 543-7517.