Media Advisory

Friday, October 17, 2008

Author Lee Woodruff, Nobel Laureate Richard Axel to Speak at NIDCD’s 20th Anniversary

What: Author Lee Woodruff and 2004 Nobel Prize winner Richard Axel will be among the presenters at the 20th anniversary symposium of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), one of the National Institutes of Health. Ms. Woodruff will share her family’s story about the life-altering changes they experienced when her husband, ABC news anchor and reporter Bob Woodruff, suffered a traumatic brain injury after his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Dr. Axel will join a slate of stellar scientists as he discusses his research on the science of smell. To see the full agenda, go to www.nidcd.nih.gov/about/20th_symposium_schedule.htm.

When: Thursday, Oct. 23, 8 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Where: Natcher Conference Center 45 Center Drive National Institutes of Health (NIH) Bethesda, Maryland

Media availability: Ms. Woodruff will be available for interviews briefly following her presentation. Other speakers will be available throughout the day.

NIDCD, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2008, supports and conducts research and research training on the normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech and language and provides health information, based upon scientific discovery, to the public. For more information about NIDCD programs, see the Web site at www.nidcd.nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health®

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