Kiara Palmer

Kiara Palmer is a healthcare communications professional working with the Intramural Research Program to share stories on the innovative work done at NIH. Kiara previously served as a communications and social media specialist at NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute, where she led communications campaigns that raised awareness of the importance of genomic and genetic research. Kiara is excited to continue sharing the cutting-edge research done within the walls of NIH and explaining how that work is helping to improve patient health. After a long productive week, you can find Kiara brunching with friends, participating in local sports leagues like dodgeball, kickball, and volleyball, or watching reruns of her old favorite TV shows.

Posts By This Author

Teaching an Old Vaccine New Tricks to Thwart Tuberculosis

The IRP’s Mario Roederer and Robert Seder Discuss the Science Behind the Headlines

By Brooke Worthing, Kiara Palmer

Monday, March 23, 2020

Some say that if something’s not broken, then don’t fix it, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for improvement. At least, those were the thoughts of IRP senior investigators Mario Roederer, Ph.D., and Robert Alan Seder, M.D., who recently found that the century-old tuberculosis (TB) vaccine is far more effective when administered via injection into a vein (IV) rather than into the skin, which has long been the standard way it is given. This major breakthrough received extensive media coverage, including a story in the New York Times. We went Behind the Headlines to get the inside scoop on this potentially life-saving discovery.

Mouth Microbes Turn Treasonous in Gum Disease

Four Questions with Dr. Niki Moutsopoulos

By Kiara Palmer

Friday, March 20, 2020

Our mouths are teeming with bacteria, a microbial ecosystem known as the oral microbiome. While these microbes are typically benign, under certain circumstances they can turn harmful and contribute to oral diseases such as periodontitis, a form of chronic gum disease characterized by microbe-driven inflammation of the soft tissues and bone that support our teeth. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), roughly 65 million Americans aged 30 or older have some degree of periodontitis. In its early stage, known as gingivitis, the gums become swollen and red due to inflammation, which is the body’s natural response to the presence of bacteria. If the condition worsens, it can lead to loose teeth and, eventually, bone or tooth loss.

NIH senior investigator Niki Moutsopoulos, Ph.D., head of the Oral Immunity and Inflammation Section at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), studies periodontitis and aims to understand the immune system’s role in driving this destruction. In a 2018 study, she and her team of IRP researchers and outside collaborators discovered that an abnormal and unhealthy population of microbes in the mouth causes specialized immune cells, known as T helper 17 (Th17) cells, to trigger inflammation and destroy tissue, leading to periodontitis.