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Science
Friday > Archives > 2002 > September > September 20, 2002:
Hour One: NIH Director
Elias Zerhouni / Antimatter
In this hour of Science Friday, Ira talks with Elias Zerhouni, director
of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Zerhouni's appointment to
head NIH was confirmed in May of this year. Prior to his appointment,
he held the position of executive vice dean at Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine. Now, he heads a government agency with an annual
budget of more than 25 billion dollars -- more money than NASA and
the National Science Foundation combined. We'll hear about his background,
his work, and about the challenges he faces in guiding the NIH through
the increasingly political world of biomedical research.
We'll also hear about news of a brief glimpse of anti-matter. Scientists
reported this week that in an experiment at CERN in Switzerland, they
have been able to manufacture thousands of atoms of anti-hydrogen.
In addition to fulfilling many science fiction fantasies, the ability
to produce sizable amounts of antimatter could allow researchers to
test out aspects of the theories of physics that, until now, have
been difficult to examine. We'll find out about the work, and about
other teams attempting to create antimatter of their own.
Call in with your comments and questions at 1-800-989-8255, and share
your opinions online in our Listeners'
Lounge (registration
required).
Guests:
Elias A. Zerhouni
Director
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, Maryland
David Christian
Staff Scientist and Associate Head of the Experimental Particle Physics
Department
Particle Physics Division
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Batavia, IL
Books/Articles Discussed:
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Amoretti, M. et al. "Production of cold antihydrogen atoms."
Nature advance online publication; doi:10.1038/nature01096.
(find
more SciFri books here)
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Related Links:
National
Institutes of Health (NIH)
NIH:
About NIH: Director's Page
NIH
News Release--Zerhouni Assumes Leadership of the National Institutes
of Health--05/20/2002
Hopkins
Medicine: Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.
Transcript
of Confirmation Hearing of Dr. Elias Zerhouni
White
House: President Announces Nominees for Key Health Posts
State
Department: Arab-American Doctor Named to Senior Medical Post in Bush
Administration
Wired:
AP: Smooth Sailing for NIH Nominee
CERN press release: Thousands of cold anti-atoms produced at CERN
NY Times: More Sci- Than Fi, Physicists Create Antimatter
Scientists
stock up on antihydrogen
Baltimore
Sun: Antimatter
Physics
News Update: Cold Antimatter
ATHENA Experiment
ATRAP
This segment produced by Annette
Heist and Dorothy Lam
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