Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! At NIH, Hispanics and Latinos have been at the forefront of some of the most important moments in recent history, including COVID-19. Our Behind the Mask project, which collected COVID-19 stories from the NIH community, has received personal reflections from Hispanic and Latino employees during the pandemic. Included was this submission from Omar Echegoyen, a recruitment specialist at the Clinical Center who connects patients with clinical studies. Studies with more diverse participants tend to have more accurate results because they better reflect the actual makeup of the US population, so Echegoyen made flyers and posters like this one, in both English and Spanish, to recruit Hispanic and Latino participants. The pandemic was a difficult time, but Echegoyen said “Esto va abrir nuevas puertas de oportunidades a ser mas creatives y como trabajas en unidad en momentos de crisis.” ("This will open new doors of opportunity to be more creative and show how you work in unity in moments of crisis.”)
To learn more about the Behind the Mask project, look for the banner right above this post.
This Native American History Month, we want to recognize the history of cooperation and collaboration between NIH and Tribal Nations. On his final day as NIH director – October 31, 2008 – Dr. Elias Zerhouni attended a meeting of the Director’s Council of Public Representatives (COPR). Formed in 1998 by former NIH Director Harold Varmus, COPR was composed of members of the public who gave insight on opportunities for public participation and outreach at NIH. During this meeting, committee member Dr. Cynthia Lindquist, Spirit Lake Dakota Nation member and president of Cankdeska Cikana Community College, gifted a star quilt to Dr. Zerhouni. She invited Lora M. Church, a Navajo committee member from the Bitterwater and Black Streak Wood Clan, to sing a song of blessing as Zerhouni stepped down.
Dive
class
grid-col-4
Image RemovedImage Added
Span
class
caption
Recruitment poster made by Omar Echegoyen during the COVID-19 pandemic, submitted to Behind the MaskFrom left to right: Lora M. Church, Dr. Cynthia Lindquist, Dr. Elias Zerhouni, and Dr. Raynard Kington, acting director following Zerhouni.