Genetically Modified Insects Could Help Curb Infections
By Brandon Levy
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
“Scientists create genetically modified mosquitos” sounds like the plot of a bad sci-fi movie, but it’s actually the reality in labs all around the world. Researchers are producing these ‘transgenic’ mosquitos in the hopes that the bugs could help combat the scourge of malaria, and in a recent study, IRP scientists demonstrated that their unique strategy in this realm has strong potential to accomplish that goal.
IRP Study Could Help Explain Racial Disparities in Disease Outcomes
By Brandon Levy
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Even as advances in therapy are extending the lives of many cancer patients, there are still stark differences in how likely patients of different races and ethnicities are to die from the disease. A recent IRP study suggests that a weaker immune response against cancer could explain the worse clinical outcomes for Black men with prostate cancer, pointing to potential strategies that could help close this gap.
IRP Researchers Engage and Educate at Competition Finals
By Brandon Levy
Wednesday, July 13, 2022
English is generally considered the ‘international language of science,’ since nearly all scientific papers are published in English. Yet, even to a native English speaker, scientists seem to be using another language entirely to talk about their research. Most Americans, after all, don’t know an ‘autophagosome’ from a ‘lysosome’ and would be hard-pressed to explain the difference between an ‘oocyst’ and a ’sporozoite.’
Fortunately, efforts like NIH’s annual Three-Minute Talks (TmT) competition are helping scientists learn how to communicate about their research in a manner that is much easier to understand. On June 30, after months spent whittling down dozens of competitors from across the IRP, 10 finalists raced against the clock to explain their work and its importance in a clear and compelling way.
Study Reveals Medications Associated With Lower Odds of Severe Infection
By Brandon Levy
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
Many researchers studying COVID-19 have spent the past two years poring over test tubes and isolated cells. However, large troves of data about people’s interactions with the healthcare system can also be a rich source of useful insights. Using one such database, IRP researchers found that older adults taking certain medications were less likely to catch COVID or experience severe repercussions from the virus.
Mouse Study Points to Approach for Preventing Diabetes-Related Heart Failure
By Brandon Levy
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Our cells love to lap up sugar from our blood, but as is often the case, too much of a good thing can cause problems. In people with diabetes, chronically high blood sugar can harm organs, including the heart. In an effort to combat this life-threatening problem, IRP researchers demonstrated in mice that activating a specific biological pathway in heart cells can reduce diabetes’ damaging effects on the vital organ.
Budding Scientists Showcase Research at Annual Event
By Brandon Levy
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
Any scientist who wants to make game-changing discoveries has to start somewhere — even Albert Einstein worked in a patent office before landing his first job in academia. Through its Postbaccalaureate IRTA program, NIH hopes to give aspiring scientists more of a leg up than Einstein had by bringing them into IRP labs after they complete their undergraduate studies.
On April 26, 27, and 28, more than 900 recent college graduates participating in the program presented at this year’s virtual Postbac Poster Days. Read on to learn about a few of these young researchers and their contributions to the groundbreaking work being done at NIH.
Women Scientists Advisors Select Three Young Researchers for Recognition
By Brandon Levy
Thursday, May 19, 2022
While women have now overtaken men in terms of admission and enrollment in undergraduate education, they remain underrepresented in the sciences. This includes at NIH, where 74 percent of senior investigators and 54 percent of tenure-track investigators are male, according to the most recent statistics available. Consequently, NIH is putting considerable effort into supporting women scientists at all stages of their careers.
One NIH entity dedicated to this important work is the NIH Women Scientists Advisors (WSA), a group of women elected to represent the interests of women scientists in the IRP. Among its many initiatives, each year the WSA chooses several female postdoctoral fellows or graduate students in the IRP to receive the WSA Scholar Award in recognition of their outstanding scientific achievements. The awardees present their research at the annual WSA Scholars Symposium, which this year was held on April 25 and recognized young women leading efforts to better understand how disease-related genes evolved, an investigation of how a fatty liver can give rise to liver cancer, and the evaluation of a way to deliver gene therapy for a rare genetic disease. Read on to learn more about this year’s WSA Scholars and the impressive discoveries they have made during their time in the IRP.
Study Identifies Compounds That Could Aid Body’s Removal of Toxic Cancer Drugs
By Brandon Levy
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
When it comes to cancer, the treatment can sometimes feel worse than the disease. Not only do chemotherapy drugs cause grueling side effects, but certain products made by otherwise benign bacteria living in our digestive system can interfere with the body’s ability to get rid of those toxic chemicals. A new IRP study used a cutting-edge computational approach to help identify compounds that inhibit one of those meddling bacterial molecules, which could eventually lead to the creation of medications that reduce some of chemotherapy’s side effects.
Dedicated Staff and Cutting-Edge Technology Helps Solve Pain’s Many Mysteries
By Brandon Levy
Thursday, May 5, 2022
For such a common ailment, pain remains a significant mystery. Part of the challenge of studying it is that it occurs in so many conditions and can vary from a mild ache to life-altering misery. Fortunately for both pain patients and IRP researchers studying pain, the NIH Pain Research Center has the technology and expertise to power new discoveries about pain in its many, complex forms.
On March 31 and April 1, NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) hosted a two-day virtual symposium titled “Tackling Pain at the National Institutes of Health: Updates From the Bench, the Clinic, and the New NIH Pain Research Center,” which featured presentations from a number of IRP scientists exploring important questions related to pain. Read on to learn more about some of the research discussed during that event, including efforts examining pain in patients with rare diseases, early-phase clinical trials of a new pain treatment, and investigations of how psychological factors can affect the way people experience pain.
NIH Pain Research Center Shines Light on a Common and Complex Ailment
By Brandon Levy
Monday, April 25, 2022
At one time or another, practically everyone has had a headache, stubbed their toe, or scorched their mouth on a hot slice of pizza, making pain one of the few experiences that essentially all people share. Despite its everyday nature, however, pain remains extremely mysterious. Even more enigmatic is chronic pain, which may not even stem from a clearly defined source yet affects more than a fifth of American adults.
Given the near-universality of pain and its huge social and economic burden, it’s no surprise that many researchers at NIH study it. Yet, prior to 2019, there was no central, shared entity in the NIH’s Intramural Research Program that united the many scientists performing this important work. That was the year NIH’s Pain Research Center was established, with the help of funding from the NIH Director’s Challenge Innovation Awards.
