Events

Twitter Chat Shines Spotlight on Rare Diseases

Between 25 and 30 million Americans have a rare disease, defined as a condition affecting fewer than 200,000 people. On March 1, the NIH will host its annual Rare Disease Day to increase awareness of these under-recognized and often undiagnosed illnesses and highlight the efforts of scientists, patients, and advocates to produce treatments.

In anticipation of the occasion, on February 23, NIH organized a Twitter chat with NIH Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., and Sharon Terry, President and CEO of Genetic Alliance and a member of the Research Program Advisory Panel for NIH’s All of US project. Check out some of the more noteworthy exchanges below or look at the full Twitter chat by searching for #NIHchat on Twitter.

NIH Rare Disease Day logo

Labradors, Terriers, and Boxers — Oh My! IRP Researchers Delve Into Doggy DNA

two breeds of dog that have massively differing physical traits

For over a decade, my family shared our home with a short, fat beagle named Kayla Sue. She had big floppy ears, a tail as straight as an exclamation point, and a coat of fur that was a patchwork of white, brown, and black splotches. Her love of chasing small animals was matched only by her enthusiasm for eating, napping, and belly rubs. One of my best friends growing up, on the other hand, had a mean-spirited Dachshund named Rocky who would not let anyone outside his family touch his long, brown, sausage-shaped body. Meanwhile, one of my brother’s close childhood friends had two humongous, overly-friendly, black-and-brown German shepherds that would immediately bowl you over when you walked through the front door.

It doesn’t take a particularly sharp observer to notice that, despite being the same species, the more than 300 breeds of dog have remarkably different physical and behavioral traits. But what remains less clear even today are the specific biological roots that produce these widely varying attributes. And, perhaps more importantly, scientists seek to understand how learning about that immense diversity might help us improve the health of our canine companions – and ourselves.

Framingham at 70: Celebrating a Landmark Heart Study

Framingham Heart Study logo

At the start of his third term in 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s blood pressure was an alarmingly high 188/105—or, more accurately, alarming by today’s standards. But back then, nobody knew that high blood pressure was related in any way to cardiovascular disease (CVD). As a result, the nation was completely blind-sided when Roosevelt died of a stroke four years later.

The link between hypertension and CVD is now common knowledge due to a research program launched in 1948 called the Framingham Heart Study, now in its 70th year. To kick off American Heart Month this February, the Framingham Study’s current director, IRP Senior Investigator Daniel Levy, M.D., gave a lecture on February 1, titled “Unraveling the Mysteries of Cardiovascular Disease: Lessons from NHLBI’s Framingham Heart Study.”

Science Days at Research Triangle Park

Emmi Rotgers and Anton Jetten

Of NIH’s campuses around the country, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina is the largest outside of main campus. NIEHS Science Days, now in its 15th year, celebrates the institute’s research achievements during a two-day event held every November.

Fun with Science and Grownups at NIH

Bioinformatician Keri Richards shows 7-year-old James vials from a freezer in her lab at NIDCD. The vials contain DNA samples.

Hi, my name is James. I’ve always really liked science and I want to be a scientist when I grow up, but I never got to see where scientists work until I went to Take Your Child to Work Day at NIH with my Auntie Kit. It was awesome!

Happy Pi Day

Reblogged from the Data Science at NIH's Input / Output blog.

The irrational number \pi, which is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, is truncated or rounded to 3.14. Since today is March 14th, or 3/14, it’s Pi Day. NIH celebrates Pi Day by reflecting on the variety of ways that mathematics and all the quantitative sciences are used in biomedical science.

It's Time for a Science FARE!

Speaking at the NIH Research Festival in September, Michael Gottesman, M.D., the NIH Deputy Director for Intramural Research said, “The real research is being done by the fellows, by the students.” The FARE awards are meant to commend those researchers doing outstanding work at the NIH.

FARE poster presenter at NIH Research Festival

What’s Your Science?

What could be better than a big festival celebration? How about a festival celebrating science! Sounds like a nerd’s dream, right? Read more...

Technology Incubators and Imaging at NIH Research Festival

Until recently, visualizing many of the processes underlying human diseases had been almost impossible. The NIH IRP’s role in developing technologies that can peer into human organs and cells is a key component of the Long-Term Intramural Research Program Planning Report and basis of sessions during this year’s #ResearchFest.