For Immediate Release
Monday, July 7, 2003
Contact: Dianne Needham, Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center Communications Office, (301) 496-2563

NIH Clinical Center Marks 50 Years of Clinical Research

BETHESDA, Md. – The Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health marks its fiftieth year of clinical research in 2003-04. The first patient admission to the NIH Clinical Center in July 1953 heralded the start of intramural clinical research, a program that balances basic and clinical research, at NIH in Bethesda, Maryland.

Since that first patient admission, NIH investigators have seen more than a quarter million patients. Today, patients continue to come to NIH from every corner of the Nation seeking answers to their scientific and medical questions. The NIH-Bethesda campus contains the most powerful concentration of biomedical scientists in the world with twenty of NIH's research institutes and centers seeing patients at the Clinical Center and with 6,000 scientists on campus. The Clinical Center represents the nucleus of their efforts—both for conducting clinical research and studying and training in clinical research./p>

A year-long series of special events is planned for the Clinical Center fiftieth anniversary celebration beginning with "Celebrating 50 Years of Clinical Research," a salute to patients and staff, on July 9, 1-2 p.m., Masur Auditorium, Building 10, NIH Bethesda campus. Patients will speak on being partners in the biomedical enterprise and staff members will share their past experiences. The ceremony will include remarks by U. S. Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Claude Allen; NIH Director Dr. Elias Zerhouni; NIH Deputy Director for Intramural Research Dr. Michael Gottesman; and Former Staff Director Terry Lierman, U. S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. Dr. Harvey Alter, Department of Transfusion Medicine, will provide reflections on his years at the Clinical Center, and Clinical Center Director Dr. John Gallin will discuss the research advances of the past 50 years. "Bench to Bedside and Back," a fiftieth anniversary video presentation will conclude the program.

"The Clinical Center is a place of compassionate care and extraordinary scientific achievement. Throughout the years, dedicated scientists partnering with remarkable patients and devoted staff have created the perfect environment for long-term clinical research studies. As we pause to look at the past, our many accomplishments remind us of the potential for the future," said Clinical Center Director Dr. John Gallin.

For more details on the NIH Clinical Center's 50th Anniversary Celebration, visit: Celebrating 50 Years of Clinical Research.