Publications and Public Liaison Office

The Publications and Public Liaison Office (PPL) facilitates external communication with various professional, advocacy, news, and public audiences. PPL manages a wide range of communications products and programs for NIAID, including production of various publications, news and informational products, the public liaison program, the educational lecture series, the exhibits program, and NIAID visual products.

Publications

PPL develops, writes, designs, and updates health and science information for various audiences, including the general public, health care providers, and educators.

Two examples of the types of materials PPL produces are the popular booklets Food Allergy:, an Overview and Understanding the Immune System: How It Works. NIAID’s health information booklet on food allergy describes allergic reactions to foods and their possible causes as well as the best ways to diagnose and treat allergic reactions to food. It also describes other reactions to foods, known as food intolerances, which can be confused with food allergy, and describes some unproven and controversial food allergy theories. The science education booklet, Understanding the Immune System: How It Works, presents a clear, easy-to-read overview of the human immune system.

You can get more information about these publications, as well as other public-friendly materials, clicking on a publication’s PDF link or ordering on the publications order form. Information on a broader range of infectious, immunologic, and allergic disease topics is located on the NIAID health and science topics page.

Public Liaison

The NIAID Public Liaison Officer is responsible for establishing and maintaining communication with professional and advocacy groups. Constituent announcements are distributed to professional and advocacy groups and provide information on current NIAID-funded research results as well as other items of value. If you are interested in receiving NIAID constituent announcements, please send a request through our public liaison form.

Laboratory Tours

Laboratory tours are provided for groups of eight or less as part of our educational outreach program. The tours are conducted weekdays during normal business hours (8:30 am to 5:00 pm) and last 1 to 3 hours. The goal is to facilitate interactions between NIAID researchers and students interested in possible careers in biomedical science. High school seniors and college and graduate students can see first-hand how the laboratories operate and learn about the types of careers available in the biomedical sciences.

Tours are scheduled based on the availability of our scientists. If you are interested in a tour, please send a request through our public liaison form.

NIAID Named Lectures

On behalf of NIAID Director Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, PPL manages all aspects of the Institute’s prestigious named lectures. Included in the series are the Kinyoun Lecture, the James C. Hill Memorial Lecture, and the John Ring LaMontagne Memorial Lecture. These hour-long scientific talks—at which Dr. Fauci gives opening and closing remarks—are held on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The talks are free and open to the public and feature world-renowned speakers that are experts in their fields. You can find upcoming lecture information at the Calendar of Events.

The Kinyoun Lecture

The Kinyoun Lecture was initiated in 1979 and occurs annually in the fall. The series honors Dr. Joseph J. Kinyoun, who in 1887 founded the Laboratory of Hygiene from which NIH evolved.

In the early 1880s, cholera was for the fifth time pandemic throughout much of the world. Hoping to forestall importation of the disease to America, Congress authorized the Marine Hospital Service (MHS) to examine passengers arriving on ships for signs of sickness. At that time, European researchers were rapidly beginning to shape bacteriology into a powerful tool to assist public health work. MHS asked Joseph James Kinyoun, a 28-year-old Assistant Surgeon who had studied bacteriology in New York, to set up a bacteriological laboratory on New York’s Staten Island to help his physician colleagues.

Kinyoun’s microscopic diagnosis of cholera proved so effective in guiding clinical decisions that his one-room Laboratory of Hygiene became the first national laboratory in the United States dedicated to improving public health. His pioneering efforts prompted MHS, predecessor of the U.S. Public Health Service, to add medical research to its integral functions. Today, NIH has grown from its modest origins to 27 research Institutes and Centers spread over 300 acres.

The Kinyoun lecture highlights research advances in the understanding of infection and immunity. The most recent Kinyoun lecturers and topics are.

2008  Ralph Steinman, Rockefeller University
“Dendritic Cells: A Key Target for Vaccine Science”

2007  Bruce Beutler, Scripps Research Institute
“How We Sense Microbes”

2006 Jeffery K. Taubenberger, NIAID
“Influenza Viruses: Past and Future Threats”
 
2005 David Relman, Stanford University/VA Palo Alto Health Care System
“Human Endogenous Microbial Ecosystems: The Next Frontier”

The James C. Hill Memorial Lecture

Established in 1999, the James C. Hill Memorial Lecture occurs every other spring. It alternates with the John Ring LaMontagne Lecture.

The James C. Hill Lecture series was initiated in 1999 to honor Dr. Hill, who was NIAID Deputy Director from 1987 to 1995. He played an important role in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, working closely and tirelessly with Institute staff. He was a cohesive force in NIAID’s relations with other government agencies, Congress, activists, and community and political leaders.

The Hill Lecture highlights a topic related to HIV and AIDS. The most recent Hill lecturers and topics were

2009 Robert C. Gallo, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine
“A Journey with T Cells and Retroviruses”

2007 Paul Farmer, Partners in Health and Harvard Medical School
"Community-based Care for Chronic Infectious Disease: The Partners in Health Experience from Haiti to Rwanda"

2005 Ashley T. Haase, Department of Microbiology/ University of Minnesota
"The Critically Important Fast Phase of the Slow Infections Caused by Immunodeficiency Viruses"

The John Ring LaMontagne Memorial Lecture

Established in 2006, the John Ring LaMontagne Memorial Lecture honors Dr. LaMontagne, who was NIAID Deputy Director from 1998 to 2004. tHis leadership and accomplishments in fighting emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases earned him international recognition, numerous accolades, and the widespread admiration of his colleagues.

The LaMontagne Lecture highlights infectious disease-related topics. The first two speakers and topics were

2008 Rino Rappuoli, Novartis Vaccine and Diagnostics, Sienna, Italy
 “Vaccines: The Health Insurance of the 21st Century”

2006 Michael T. Osterholm, University of Minnesota
 "Pandemic Influenza: Lessons Learned and Revisited"

Exhibits Program

NIAID sponsors exhibits at various scientific, biomedical, and public health-related conferences and meetings. PPL manages exhibit outreach to highlight NIAID programs, funding opportunities, educational and research-related resources, and scientific advances to members of the biomedical research community, health care providers as well as the general public. For more information on the exhibit program or if you are interesting in having NIAID exhibit at your conference or meeting please send your request through our online public liaison form.

Visual Communication and Image Services

PPL develops and designs NIAID-associated images and illustrations, posters, and other visual materials to advertise and/or highlight events, programs, and research and maintains an image library for the Institute.

For information on use of NIAID text and graphic images, go to Copyright and Reuse of Graphics and Text.

You can send questions or requests concerning use of logos, photos, and illustrations found on the NIAID Web site through our online public liaison form.

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