NIH's Dr. Larry Tabak to Present Two Talks Sept. 13

Lawrence A. Tabak, DDS, PhD, the principal deputy director of the National Institutes of Health, will spend Friday, September 13 at the University of Rochester where he will meet with Eastman Institute for Oral Health faculty and residents, and School of Medicine and Dentistry junior faculty, medical, PhD and graduate students. He will participate in a science symposium and present a lecture, both open to the University community. Right before his lecture, University President Sarah Mangelsdorf will present Tabak with the prestigious George Eastman Medal in recognition of his significant achievements and service.

His many years of successful leadership led to his appointment in late 2021 as acting director of the NIH for nearly two years. He was appointed as the NIH principal deputy director and the deputy ethics counselor in 2010 following his tenure as director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research from 2000-10.

Before joining NIH, Tabak was the first dentist-scientist to serve as the UR’s senior associate dean for research. He also served as a professor of dentistry, biochemistry and biophysics at the UR’s School of Medicine and Dentistry, Tabak bolstered the prominence of oral biology research programs and provided the foundation for today’s Eastman Institute for Oral Health. He was named director of the Center for Oral Biology, now the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences. Tabak recruited leading oral biologists and dental scientists, resulting in tremendous growth throughout the URMC research enterprise.

He strengthened graduate training programs and created and implemented a mandatory ethics course, emphasizing research integrity. He worked diligently to support graduate students, postdoctoral residents, and junior faculty. He has been a champion of education throughout his career, as demonstrated by his many teaching awards for his work with both graduate and medical students.

Junior faculty, PhD, medical and graduate students can attend separate, one-hour sessions where Tabak will address the importance of career preparation, discuss different career paths and answer questions from these individual groups.

“Dr. Tabak has a deep grasp of the most pressing scientific issues confronting our nation, he has earned respect across NIH as a thoughtful and strategic manager and is committed to building a healthier and more equitable America,” U.S. Department Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said previously.

Established in 1887, the NIH is considered one of the world’s leading medical research centers and is the federal government’s focal point for health research.

Tabak has focused his research on the structure, biosynthesis, and function of glycoproteins. He continues to work in that area, maintaining a research laboratory within the NIH. He is an elected member the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academies. He received his undergraduate degree from City College of New York, his dental degree from Columbia University, and a PhD from the University of Buffalo.

The entire University community is invited to the following:  

Science Symposium
Class of ’62 Auditorium

10:30 a.m. – Introduction - Catherine Ovitt
10:50 a.m. – Stefan Ruhl – Evolutionary Footprints in the Saliva Proteome
11:15 a.m. – Larry Tabak – The Beginnings of Mucin-glycoprotein Biosynthesis
11:45 a.m. – Tom Diekwisch – Chromatin, Histone Modifications and Clinical Correlations

George Eastman Medal Presentation
Lecture, Larry Tabak
Class of ’62 Auditorium

5:00 p.m. – President Sarah Mangelsdorf
                  George Eastman Medal Presentation

                – Larry Tabak
                    A View from NIH: The Many Challenges and Opportunities of Biomedical Research