Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series Nominations

Please note: Only NIH staff can submit nominations.

The Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series (WALS), the highest-profile lecture series at the NIH, was established in the 1994 by then–NIH Director Dr. Harold Varmus, the WALS was created as a way to bring together researchers from across the NIH every week and remains the premier event for hosting world-class scientists to speak on the broad array of scientific topics vital to the NIH mission.

Please help keep this series relevant with your careful selection of speakers that reflects the range of NIH’s scientific research and the community’s desire for constant learning and discovery. We are accepting nominations through January 9, 2026.

If desired, you can indicate in the field "Why is the speaker important…" whether the nominees is a good fit for one of these five named lectures: Rolla E. Dyer Lecture, G. Burroughs Mider Lecture, Marshall W. Nirenberg Lecture, Margaret Pittman Lecture, or the J. Edward Rall Cultural Lecture.