American Historical Association

NIH Conference to Honor AHA Member Victoria Harden

The Office of NIH History, a part of the National Institutes of Health, is sponsoring a major two-day conference on the theme, “Biomedicine in the Twentieth Century: Practices, Policies, and Politics,” in honor of Victoria A. Harden, the director of the Office of NIH History, on her retirement. A long-time AHA member, Victoria Harden recently served on the Association’s Council (2002–2005). Harden, who received her BA and PhD from Emory University has been at the NIH since 1984. Her publications include Inventing the NIH: Federal Biomedical Research Policy, 1887–1937.

The conference will be held December 5–6, 2005, in the Lister Hill Auditorium on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is required because space is limited. Details about the conference and how to register can be found at http://www.history.nih.gov/Conference.htm.

Evolutionary geneticist and social critic Richard C. Lewontin, Alexander Agassiz Research Professor at Harvard University, will deliver the keynote address on the topic, “The Effects of the Socialization of Biomedical Research.” Other presentations will include:

• Stuart Blume, “The Changing System of Vaccine Innovation, 1950–2000”
  
  
• David Cantor, “Radium, Cancer Research and the End of the New Deal”
  
  
• Angela Creager, “Virus Research Between Lay Health Organizations and the Government, 1935–1955"
  
  
• Carsten Timmermann, “Clinical Research in Post-War Britain: The Role of the Medical Research Council”
  
  
• Keith Wailoo, “The Cultural Politics of Pain and Pain Research in America, 1950-2000”

A conference banquet to honor Harden will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bethesda on Monday, December 5, 2005, at 6:30 p.m. The cost for the dinner is $60. For more information see: http://www.history.nih.gov/Conference.htm#Registration.

Questions about the conference may be addressed to Dr. Caroline Hannaway, conference organizer.

Posted November 29, 2005

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Last Updated: February 22, 2008 1:46 PM