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The fourth annual Victoria A. Harden Lecture in NIH History, hosted by Drs. Michael Gottesman and Richard Wyatt, features a conversation with four accomplished NIH investigators: Drs. Julie Segre, John Schiller, John Tisdale, and Wei Yang. The live event was held in Masur Auditorium, Building 10, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, as part of the NIH Research Festival.

Link to videocast: https://videocast.nih.gov/watch/bbcc6e3a-7bc4-11f1-82c0-124f0a52e769

Lecture summary: This symposium was convened as context for a forthcoming volume on the history of the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) between 1983 and 2024, edited by Dr. Gottesman and Christopher Wanjek. Panelists discuss their career paths and groundbreaking research, reflecting on the unique conditions of NIH's Intramural Research Program that enabled them to pursue the questions they love.

Speaker biographies:

Michael Gottesman, MD (NCI): Dr. Gottesman served as NIH Deputy Director for Intramural Research (DDIR) from 1993 to 2002. He continues as Chief of the Laboratory of Cell Biology, studying molecular mechanisms of resistance to anti-cancer drugs. ( https://irp.nih.gov/pi/michael-gottesman )

RADM (Ret.) Richard Wyatt, MD: Dr. Wyatt conducted research on the etiology, pathogenesis, and prevention of viral diarrheas in NIAID's Laboratory of Infectious Diseases from 1971 to 1984. He then joined the Office of Intramural Research (OIR), rising to OIR's Deputy Director before retiring in 2023. He continues as a Special Volunteer in OIR and an advisor to the Office of NIH History & Stetten Museum. ( https://oir.nih.gov/about/leadership-staff/richard-wyatt )

John Schiller, PhD (NCI): In conjunction with Douglas Lowy, MD, Dr. Schiller has led an intramural laboratory in the discovery, characterization, and clinical testing of HPV virus-like particle (VLP) vaccines that have, to date, prevented an estimated one million future cancers. ( https://irp.nih.gov/pi/john-schiller )

Julie Segre, PhD (NHGRI): The intramural laboratory headed by Dr. Segre, in collaboration with Drs. Heidi Kong and Tara Palmore, launched research in the skin microbiome and microbial genomics that led to a new understanding of the beneficial and pathogenic microbes that colonize humans. ( https://irp.nih.gov/pi/julie-segre )

John Tisdale, MD (NHLBI): Dr. Tisdale's lab has initiated multiple strategies to cure sickle cell disease, including novel bone marrow transplant approaches, gene therapy, and gene editing technologies. ( https://irp.nih.gov/pi/john-tisdale )

Wei Yang, PhD (NIDDK): Dr. Yang's lab has elucidated molecular mechanisms of DNA replication, repair, and recombination, particularly the roles of ATP and Mg²⁺ ions in molecular recognition, motion, and catalysis. ( https://irp.nih.gov/pi/wei-yang )