Employer Profiles

Some Employer Profiles

The National Academies

The National Academies is a private, nonprofit institution created in 1863 by Congress. The institution has evolved into four distinguished organizations working together - the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council. These organizations bring together leaders from academe, industry, government, and other sectors to provide cogent, unbiased advice to the government and citizens of the United States.

For more than a century, the National Academies have provided independent, objective scientific advice to the nation as leaders grapple with issues involving science, technology, and medicine. More than 4,800 of the nation's most distinguished leaders in science, engineering, medicine and related fields have been selected by their peers to be members of the Academies.

In addition, approximately 5,700 individuals seek solutions to a profusion of problems embracing virtually every aspect of society. All of these experts volunteer their time to serve on study committees, plan and participate in seminars, review documents, and assist the work of the Academies in other ways. Members, volunteers and staff members help to address a variety of the nation's issues.

Most National Academies' activities are undertaken at the request of federal agencies and funded by them, or mandated by Congress. But the Academies' scope of work goes well beyond fulfilling governmental requests. Private industry, foundations, and state and local governments also sponsor activities.

Every project is given scrupulous attention. Study and oversight committees deliberate in an environment independent of government, sponsors, and special interest groups to ensure independence, which under girds the Academies' credibility and reflect its important role in forming public-policy decision-making on scientific and technologic issues.

National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the Federal government's primary agency for the support and conduct of biomedical research. The intramural research program is housed primarily on a 318-acre campus in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC, and at other research centers located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; Baltimore and Frederick, Maryland; Phoenix, Arizona; and Hamilton, Montana.

Approximately 14,800 employees work on the NIH campus in Bethesda, including 4,000 with doctoral degrees and 3,000 technical support staff. The NIH is also home to the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, a 250 bed facility that provides outstanding clinical training and a research experience that includes exposure to the design and analysis of clinical trials, as well as cutting-edge basic science investigation. The Clinical Center contains more than 1,600 research laboratories, fostering a close relationship between patient care areas and research laboratories.

The NIH provides many opportunities for the professional development of physicians and scientists who intend to pursue careers in biomedical research or academic medicine. Over the years thousands of physicians and scientists have completed postdoctoral training at the NIH and are now providing leadership in the biomedical research community not only in the United States but also throughout the world.

National Cancer Institute

Mission

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NCI was established under the National Cancer Act of 1937 and is the Federal Government's principal agency for cancer research and training. The NCI's primary mission is to sponsor and conduct cancer research in order to achieve a future when all cancers are uncommon and easily treated. NCI pursues this goal in two major ways. First, the NCI provides vision to the Nation and leadership for NCI funded researchers across the United States and around the world. Second, NCI works to ensure that the results of research are used in public health programs and clinical practice to reduce the burden of cancer for all people. The NCI budget supports a broad range of research that helps to expand the understanding of cancer and to develop improvements in cancer prevention and patient care.

Extramural Research Program

The largest portion of the NCI's budget goes to support scientists conducting research at universities, hospitals and other organizations outside the NIH. Proposals submitted by extramural investigators are selected for funding by peer review. Cancer experts from around the country identify the best science and most needed areas of research by evaluating approximately 5,000 new research proposals received by NCI each year. With guidance and oversight from from experts in NCI's Divisions (Cancer Biology, Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, Cancer Prevention, and Cancer Control and Population Sciences), cancer research is funded and conducted through out the United States and in 20 foreign countries.

Intramural Research Program

Another large portion of the NCI budget is utilized to support over 400 principal investigators conducting research in NCI intramural divisions (Center for Cancer Research and Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics). The intramural research program is focused on the rapid translation of basic laboratory research to clinical testing, and to long-term epidemiological and genetics studies. Over 1,000 postdoctoral fellows and student interns participate in the intramural program's specialized research training each year in order to become part of the next generation of cancer scientists and research leaders.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

We've built America's 4th-largest nonprofit healthcare organization - and the growth continues! We keep the costs down and the research funds flowing. The availability of sophisticated centralized resources offers St. Jude staff and faculty an exceptional advantage, in an environment where the science never stops.

By combining the resources of our basic research, our Hartwell Center for Bioinformatics and Biotechnology and our new cGMP facility, we are translating knowledge from the research laboratories into novel approaches for clinical diagnostics and treatments.

Basic Research

Research on a wide spectrum of basic science topics is currently under way at St. Jude. One current area of focus, as part of our pharmacogenomics program, is investigating the genetic determinants of drug effects in individual patients, with the long term goal of optimizing drug therapy for each patient based on those determinants. Other research areas include: developmental neurobiology, structural biology, hematology/oncology, genetics, pharmaceutical sciences, biochemistry, immunology, and infectious diseases.

Hartwell Center for Bioinformatics and Biotechnology

As one of the leading facilities of its kind, the Hartwell Center is a unique integration of High Throughput (HTP) biotechnology resources, bioinformatics resources and academic programs that provide state of the art tools for discovery. These resources have contributed to numerous discoveries impacting the diagnosis, classification and treatment of pediatric diseases. The Biotechnology Division provides methodologies that include High-Throughput (HTP) DNA sequencing, genotyping, macromolecular synthesis, functional genomics, proteomics, mass spectrometry and molecular interaction analyses in support of St. Jude research programs. The Bioinformatics/Research Computing Division provides high-performance computing, bioinformatics support, software/database development, and desktop support for St Jude research programs.

cGMP Facility

As part of our mission at St. Jude, researchers strive to transfer innovative research breakthroughs from the laboratory to the patient as rapidly as possible. Helping us to fulfill that commitment to our mission, the 64,000 square-foot current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) facility was completed in 2003. The cGMP is a unique new production facility which functions as a core, shared resource facility at St. Jude, providing production expertise, as well as the highest-quality manufacturing environment for the production of drugs, vaccines, proteins, gene-based molecules and other biological products developed by St. Jude researchers and collaborating institutions. All biological products produced in the GMP facility are developed and produced in accordance with the federal government's current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) regulations.

Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research

The Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research is Novartis' global research organization, committed to discovering innovative medicines that cure disease and improve human health. By conducting more relevant and predictable drug discovery that can yield new and better medicines for patients, the Novartis Institutes redefine drug discovery in the post-genomic era.

Over the past four years, Novartis Pharmaceuticals has had the greatest number of new molecular entities approved by the US FDA. With its broad focus on diseases for which there is a need for better medical therapies, and with 3,000 talented, dedicated research scientists worldwide, the Novartis Institutes will ensure Novartis maintains its strong pipeline and highly successful track record in new drug discovery.

Novartis Institutes sites include Cambridge, Massachusetts (the new headquarters); Basel, Switzerland; Horsham, UK; East Hanover, NJ; Vienna, Austria; and Tsukuba, Japan. Novartis Institutes' Cambridge facilities encompass 750,000 square feet of laboratory and office space. Research in cardiovascular disease, oncology, infectious disease, and diabetes is headquartered in Cambridge. In addition, Cambridge is home to the following platform technologies: Global Discovery Chemistry, Genomic Technologies and Informatics, Developmental & Molecular Pathways, and Models of Disease Center.

In order to attract and develop an exceptionally talented and committed staff, the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research offers an innovative and comprehensive benefits package, including healthcare, insurance, savings, retirement, and work/life benefits.