David Eckstein, Ph.D.

Experience

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  American Red Cross

  Jan 1992 - Jan 1994

  Postdoctoral Fellow
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  The National Institutes of Health

  Jul 1996 - now

  Federal Employee
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  National Library of Medicine (NLM)

  Jul 1996 - Mar 2000

  Technical Information Specialist
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  National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

  Mar 2000 - Jul 2003

  Program Analyst

  I managed a small portfolio of grants in neuro-AIDS and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. I also managed two large contracts for the development of blood test for prion diseases. I organized scientific meetings for prion diseases and Multiple Sclerosis, and co-organized and served as session co-chair for an international brain banking workshop. In my traditional Program Analyst role I performed portfolio analyses, coded grants, processed Progress Reports, and attended various study sections to represent team members. Show less

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  US House of Representatives

  Jan 2003 - Jul 2003

  Congressional Fellow

  In 2003, through the Leadership Development Academy at the USDA Graduate School, I participated in the Congressional Fellows Program, spending 6 months in the personal office of the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Rep. Ralph Regula). I worked on all issues relevant to the subcommittee with particular emphasis on HHS issues. During this time I had the opportunity to create a pilot program that was funded in the FY 2005 appropriations bill. This program provided the opportunity for postdoctoral-level scientists looking for a science-related career outside of the lab to get pedagogy training so that they can enter the classroom as secondary school science, math, physics, or engineering teachers. Show less

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  National Cancer Institute

  Jul 2003 - May 2007

  Program Director

  Cancer Training Branch: Training Grants, Career Development AwardsI managed a large portfolio of T32 training grants and various career development awards, attending study sections, processing progress reports, and serving on work groups to develop new electronic forms. I led the effort to develop the K award PHS 424 electronic application, which successfully replaced the 398 paper application forms.

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  NIH Office of the Director

  May 2007 - Dec 2011

  Sr. Health Scientist Administrator, Office of Rare Diseases Research

  Senior Health Scientist Administrator in the Office of Rare Diseases Research (ORDR) in the Office of the Director, NIH. The goals of ORDR are to stimulate and coordinate research on rare diseases and to support research to respond to the needs of patients who have any one of the approximately 7,000 rare diseases known today. My current activities include participating in the oversight of the Rare Disease Clinical Research Network (including the Data Management and Coordination Center), providing input on the Social Security Compassionate Allowance program, and serving as a liaison to the rare disease patient advocacy community. In order to facilitate information retrieval and information dissemination I helped lead efforts to get rare disease terms incorporated into the MeSH vocabulary system, worked on the development of a Rare Disease reporting category in the Research, Condition, and Disease Categories (RCDC) system, and participated in the Ontologies/Disease Classification/Natural History breakout session of the inaugural IRDiRC meeting (April, 2011). I have organized several conferences and workshops and chaired or participated in several trans-NIH committees. Recently I led the development of a Rare Disease Curriculum Supplement and led the efforts to establish an annual Rare Disease Day at NIH event, held on the last day of each February. Currently I am leading an effort to establish more reliable prevalence data for rare diseases. Show less

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  National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)

  Dec 2011 - Jun 2017

  Sr. Health Scientist Administrator, Office of Rare Diseases Research

  Senior Health Scientist Administrator in the Office of Rare Diseases Research (ORDR) at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). The goals of ORDR are to stimulate and coordinate research on rare diseases and to support research to respond to the needs of patients who have any one of the approximately 7,000 rare diseases known today. My activities included participating in the oversight of the Rare Disease Clinical Research Network (including the Data Management and Coordination Center), providing input on the Social Security Compassionate Allowance program, and serving as a liaison to the rare disease patient advocacy community. I helped establish the Undiagnosed Diseases Program and worked on the expansion into the Undiagnosed Diseases Network. In order to facilitate information retrieval and information dissemination I led efforts to get rare disease terms incorporated into the MeSH vocabulary system, worked on the development of a Rare Disease reporting category in the Research, Condition, and Disease Categories (RCDC) system, and participated in the Ontologies/Disease Classification/Natural History breakout session of the inaugural IRDiRC meeting (April, 2011). I have organized several conferences and workshops and chaired or participated in several trans-NIH committees. I led the development of a Rare Disease Curriculum Supplement and led the efforts to establish an annual Rare Disease Day at NIH event, held on the last day of each February. I also led an effort to establish more reliable prevalence data for rare diseases. Show less

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  NIH Office of the Director

  Jun 2017 - now

  Program Director for Strategic Partnerships and Policy Development, Office of Clinical Research