Priscilla Chen 1944–2013

Field: Arts and Humanities (Social Sciences)

Priscilla Chen 1944–2013 Dr. Priscilla Chen, PhD, passed away October 11, 2013, after a very brief illness. Priscilla was dedicated to the mission of the NIH and will be missed by the many people she touched in her two and half decades of service to the scientific community. Dr. Chen was born in Baltimore, MD, but spent time in Ethiopia, receiving her BSc in 1964 from Haile Selassie I University. She earned her PhD in parasitology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972, and then returned to Maryland as a postdoctoral fellow at the Naval Medical Research Institute in Bethesda from 1972 to 1974. Priscilla joined the School of Dental Medicine at the then SUNY at Buffalo, NY (now the University of Buffalo). For many years she conducted NIH-supported research on the immune response to oral microflora and played an active role in the Oral Biology PhD training program. In March 1991, Dr. Chen joined the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) (when it was still known as the Division of Research Grants) as a Scientific Review Administrator (the former title for a Scientific Review Officer [SRO]), managing the Oral Biology and Medicine 1 and 2 (OBM-1, OBM-2) study sections before the reorganization of CSR study sections in 2004. At that time, and until her death, she was the SRO of the Skeletal Biology Development and Disease (SBDD) study section in the Musculoskeletal, Oral and Skin Sciences (MOSS) Integrated Review Group. Priscilla also routinely managed one or more individual MOSS member conflict Special Emphasis Panels each review round. Priscilla was an amazing and exceptionally professional individual. She undertook her job with passion, dedication, and the highest level of integrity. What stood out to her study section followers was her unbound fairness, kindness, and tireless work ethic. Many of us cut our teeth as reviewers learning from Priscilla at OBM-2 and later at SBDD. She inspired us to be equal partners in the grant review process, to collaborate in order to build consensus, and most importantly to provide a framework from which the applicant could not only learn but also return with a scientifically stronger application. Many of us will remember how Priscilla organized the group dinners, changed review sites to keep us happy, organized "graduation" plaques, and provided a glue for the bonding that made all of us feel special. Indeed many of us thought it was an honor to be part of her review panels and several of us wanted to "re-up" when our term expired, a testament to Priscilla's integrity and staying power. Most importantly, her caring personality, her distinctive pony tail, and her gentle, small but twinkling smile when asked a particularly difficult question will always be remembered. Priscilla will also be remembered for her old, blue pickup truck and her many horses, some of which came down with diseases that were relevant to the study section. She devoted her spare time, which was a second full-time occupation, to caring for her 12 horses and her cat. She could easily have been an outstanding veterinarian but chose to pursue science first and animal care second. This turned out to be fortuitous for all who worked with her! But, it's also easy to picture Priscilla hauling horses from rural Virginia to the New York State Exhibition in Syracuse, every fall and enjoying every minute of it! Priscilla is survived by her nephew and his family. A memorial service was held in Virginia on November 9, 2013. In lieu of flowers Priscilla requested that donations be made to: The Equine Rescue League P.O. Box 4366 Leesburg, VA 20177 Clifford Rosen Center for Clinical & Translational Research, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, Scarborough, ME, USA Sundeep Khosla Departments of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism and Nutrition, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA