IRP Study Suggests Immune System Changes Hinder Healing in Adults
With all the hijinks that young children and teenagers get up to, it’s a good thing they heal so quickly from a broken leg or arm. Unfortunately, this ability begins to diminish within a few years of graduating high school. Now, new IRP research is showing that changes in the immune system underlie the difficulties older individuals have with repairing their bones.
Dr. Dilys Parry died peacefully in her sleep in the early morning of February 2, 2024, after a long illness. For 30 years, Dr. Parry was a staff clinician and principal investigator in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) at NIH's National Cancer Institute (NCI). Following her retirement from federal service in 2007 she continued to engage with her colleagues on projects as a special volunteer.
Dr. Parry’s medical genetics research focused primarily on genetic and clinical studies of neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2) and chordoma, a rare bone tumor derived from the notochord, and adult brain tumors. She was deeply committed to educating patients about the natural history of these diseases and helping them and at-risk relatives receive genetic testing or other types of screening to aid in early detection and treatment. Her research helped to identify susceptibility genes for and delineate the spectrum of clinical manifestations associated with NF2 and chordoma. She also elucidated correlations between the specific types of variants in the gene NF2 and clinical findings. Much of the momentum that exists in chordoma research traces back to Dr. Parry’s early interest in the disease.
IRP Study Answers Key Questions About Bone Development and Healing
The idea that there can be “too much of a good thing” applies just as much to the human body as it does to an overly sweet dessert or excessive holiday decorations. For instance, you might think that rapid bone growth would be helpful for fixing fractures, but it can actually make bones weaker in the long run. A recent IRP study revealed how a certain molecule manages the way bones develop in a growing fetus and heal after damage to make sure they don’t trade strength for speed.
Study in Mice Suggests a New Approach to Treating Periodontal Disease
Our teeth are extremely tough, but neglectful oral hygiene practices and certain genetic disorders can still massively damage them. If this deterioration becomes bad enough, teeth can be permanently lost. In a recent study, IRP researchers identified a promising new strategy for helping the body regenerate a part of the tooth that is particularly difficult to repair.
