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NIH has partnered with StoryCorps , a national oral history project, to capture and preserve the stories of those connected with the extensive and diverse NIH community. Through their narratives, patients, loved ones, researchers, staff, and others tell the multifaceted story of the NIH, its work, its community and its impact.
You can listen to the stories by clicking on the links below. We hope these stories help capture the emotional significance of our community’s work and the lives we touch and we encourage you to share them with your friends, colleagues, organizations, and communities.
NIH Saved My Life
In these stories, patients, family members, doctors and nurses describe their experiences saving lives and being saved with NIH research.
Alan Guttmacher and Brigid Guttmacher
“You could have died several times by now”
Buddy Creech and Cole Christopher
“I was tired of fighting a disease”
Beverly Byram and Steve Raffanti
“In the first twelve months, we lost over 300 people”
Alexis Beery and Retta Beery
“I never knew how it was to feel free”
Olivia Wein and Harrison Wein
So Much We Still Don’t Know
These powerful stories convey how painful loss is and how much more research is still needed.
Andy Gillette and Genevieve Gillette
“All the books we read…never could have prepared us for that”
Karenne Fru and Brad Reveal
“Now's your chance to run”
Kirk Leach and Danielle Leach
“Everybody wants to be optimistic”
Audie Atienza and Xochitl Atienza
“It was the scariest time in my life. Not knowing why Xavier was sick”
When Surviving the Disease Is Not the Only Challenge
NIH is a special safe place for people facing stigma as well as disease. Here, survivors and caregivers describe coping with an illness and the world’s reaction to it.
Scott Paul and Kristal Nemeroff
“The most important letter of my life”
Laura McNay and Patrick Faley
“I’m down to zero”
Lori Wiener, Jamie Gentille and Shannon Kruk
“NIH was the first place that I could actually say out loud ‘I'm HIV-positive’”
Anne Marie Matlock and Debbie Guttierez
The Care in Healthcare
These four stories reveal the strong bonds that form between research doctors, nurses and their patients.
Chrissy Bryla, Eileen Dimond and Mary Fleury
“Our patients are heroes”
EB Jackson and Reid Thompson
“It’s ok to love a patient”
Mandy Haynes and Ann Kavanaugh-McHugh
“It’s an incredible privilege”
Kristen Cole and Anita Oko-Odoi
Clinical Trials
In this group of stories, patients in clinical trials talk about their experiences, questions, hopes, and fears.
Robert Cone and William Dahut
“Four months after I pinned on 4 stars, I [had] stage 4 metastatic disease”
Bill Dorland and Christopher Heery
“How much longer do I have?”
Sheryl Zwerski and Elizabeth Flanagan
“The best place to have the worst things happen”
Reed Anderson and Caitlin Anderson
NIH Employees
NIH employees share some of their unique and rewarding experiences working at the NIH.
David Horowitz and Lisa Horowitz
“I felt like a double agent”
Katrina Gwinn and Rosa Gwinn
“I love you Daddy”
Mike Alexander and Pat Johnson
“Did you ever think we’d be at NIH this long?”
Jamie Peacock and Mary Ann Leonard
“A terrible year for three year olds”
Diane Baker and Francis Collins
The NIH You May Not Know
These stories reveal lesser known NIH-funded efforts and their profound impact.
Billy Hudson and Cody Stothers
“You aspire, you seek, you achieve, and you pay it forward”
Abby McNabb and Blythe Corbett
“I hope that I can make them see that I am not just some weirdo”
Leroy Richmond and Mary Wright
“They can’t be talking about me!” Contact Us
By email: storycorps@nih.gov
By phone: (301)594-0797