brain

Research Reveals Trigger for Brain’s Repairmen

IRP Discoveries Could Enhance Recovery from Brain Injuries

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Many futurists and science fiction writers dream about a time when nanobots will run around our bodies fixing any damage that occurs. Until that day comes, we’re reliant on our immune system to mop up when things go wrong, a fickle set of cells that sometimes needs a push to get going. IRP scientists recently discovered how a particular type of cell in the blood stimulates the brain’s construction crew to leap into action, potentially opening the door to treatments that boost healing in the brain.

Targeting Tumors in the Brain

IRP Research Brings Hope to Patients with Deadly Cancer

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Among the many forms of brain cancer, glioma may be the most well-known, having recently taken the lives of Ted Kennedy in 2009, John McCain in 2018, and actor Tim Conway in 2019. Despite the attention drawn to it by the deaths of these public figures, glioma remains both mysterious and highly lethal. Fortunately, IRP researchers are fighting back against this stubborn foe. In preparation for World Brain Day on July 22, we talked with IRP Lasker Clinical Research Scholar Jing Wu, M.D., Ph.D., about her efforts to better understand glioma and identify potential therapies to treat the deadly disease.

New Neurons Push Away PTSD

IRP Researchers Explore How the Brain Shrugs Off Severe Stress

Monday, June 26, 2023

Deep within the brain, a structure called the hippocampus serves as a hub where memory and emotion collide, helping us to learn what not to do if we want to stay safe. However, for the 12 million people in the U.S. with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), those self-preservation instincts kick into overdrive, with severe consequences for quality of life.

June is PTSD Awareness Month, which draws attention to an often-debilitating condition that occurs when people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event or period in their lives continue to experience severe depression and anxiety for months or years afterward. While there are a variety of medications and therapies that can help people with PTSD, not everyone benefits from those treatments. Before scientists can develop additional treatment options, they must learn more about the biological roots of the condition, so IRP senior investigator Heather Cameron, Ph.D., is doing her part by examining how stress affects the hippocampus, one of the few brain regions where new neurons are continuously born.

Postbac Poster Day Returns to NIH Campus

Budding Scientists Assemble for First Time Since 2019

Monday, May 22, 2023

In many ways, working at NIH feels like being at a world-renowned university, complete with a variety of classes, intellectually stimulating lectures, social events, and opportunities for professional development. It’s no wonder, then, that NIH has long been a destination for young people who have just departed from their alma maters with their newly earned undergraduate degrees.

These new graduates come to the IRP to hone their scientific skills in NIH’s Postbac IRTA program, conducting research in IRP labs for one or two years under the expert guidance of the IRP’s seasoned investigators. The program also provides the opportunity once per year for participants to present the fruits of their efforts to all their IRP colleagues at Postbac Poster Day, and this year’s event on April 19 and 20 was the first to include an in-person component since 2019. Read on to learn about a few of the nearly 1,000 postbacs who showed off their research at this year’s event, which spanned fields from neuroscience and cancer to genetics and virtual reality.

Symposium Celebrates Award-Winning Female Scientists

Three Young Women Honored at Annual Event

Monday, May 8, 2023

There’s no doubt that science flourishes when it welcomes individuals with different backgrounds and perspectives. In pursuit of that goal, NIH has put considerable effort into closing the gender gap in the biomedical sciences, a field in which men significantly outnumber women, especially as the heads of labs and in leadership positions. Those efforts have so far yielded promising progress, with the proportion of women in IRP senior investigator positions increasing from 22 percent at the end of fiscal year 2016 to 27 percent at the end of fiscal year 2022. Over that same time period, women went from comprising 38 percent of IRP tenure-track investigators to 44 percent.

Part of what makes the IRP a welcoming place for female scientists is the NIH Women Scientists Advisors (WSA), a group of IRP scientists elected to represent the interests of women in the IRP. Once per year, the WSA selects a few female postdoctoral fellows or graduate students conducting research at NIH as WSA Scholars. At a symposium on April 13 honoring the achievements of this year’s Scholars, the awardees presented their efforts to learn more about a devastating childhood neurological condition, decrease health disparities in breast cancer, and use stem cells to investigate the roots of a nerve-destroying disorder. Read on to learn more about this year’s WSA Scholars and the important work they’re doing in their IRP labs.

NIH Mourns the Passing of Dr. Herbert M. Geller

Friday, April 28, 2023

The IRP community is saddened by the recent passing of our esteemed colleague, Herb Geller, Ph.D., who died April 16, 2023, at the NIH Clinical Center from complications of advanced prostate cancer. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Nancy Geller, Ph.D., who is the Director of the Office of Biostatistics Research at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

Dr. Geller joined the National Institutes of Health in 2001, where he became the Chief of the Developmental Neurobiology Laboratory in the Cell and Developmental Biology Center at NHLBI. During his long and successful career in neurobiology, Dr. Geller made a significant impact on the field of neuroscience. His laboratory focuses on understanding the role of the extracellular matrix — the intricate network of molecules that surround cells which control migration, pathfinding, and growth of neurons during brain development.

Hunger Hormone Feeds Alcohol Cravings

IRP Researchers Pursue New Approaches to Treating Alcohol Use Disorder

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

While most adults in the U.S. consume alcohol in moderation, for nearly 30 million of them, going even one day without alcohol feels nearly impossible. For these Americans, alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a serious condition that harms their health, relationships, and career. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of people with AUD receive treatment, and even then, for many patients, the chances of a relapse are high.

As the search for a reliable and effective treatment continues, IRP senior investigator Lorenzo Leggio, M.D., Ph.D., is exploring the biological processes that underlie alcohol cravings to unlock new approaches to therapy. April is Alcohol Awareness Month, so we took the opportunity to speak with him about recent discoveries made by his IRP team and its collaborators.

Examining the Roots of Opioid Use Disorder

IRP Researchers Are Peering Into the Brain to Learn Why Opioid Drugs Are So Hard to Quit

Monday, March 13, 2023

The ancient Egyptians, despite their significant anatomical knowledge, thought the heart was the seat of intelligence. Over the millennia, that view changed as philosophers and scientists alike came to appreciate the extraordinary role of the brain. It is partly thanks to them that we celebrate Brain Awareness Week every March. In honor of this observance, we took the opportunity to talk with IRP senior investigator Yihong Yang, Ph.D., and postdoctoral fellow Ida Fredriksson, Ph.D., Pharm.D., about their investigation into how cravings for opioids build during a period of prolonged abstinence, often leading to relapse.

Moms’ Caffeine Consumption May Affect Babies’ Brains

Findings Could Explain Why Caffeine Exposure In-Utero Increases Kids’ Risk for Obesity

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Between books, the media, and well-meaning friends and relatives, new parents are inundated with advice about how to set their kids up for a happy and healthy future. However, what parents do before their children are even born can also have a huge impact on how they turn out. For instance, new IRP research suggests that a pregnant woman’s caffeine consumption can rewire her baby’s brain in ways that put the child at increased risk for obesity later in life.

IRP Scientist Shares Path From Stuttering to Science

Diversity-Focused NIH Program Helps Dr. Shahriar SheikhBahaei Investigate the Neuroscience of Voluntary Movement

Monday, January 30, 2023

IRP neuroscientist Shahriar SheikhBahaei, Ph.D., first became aware of his stutter when he was 5 years old. Years later, his career would revolve around studying the biological roots of his speech impediment. But before he could start his own lab focused on how the brain controls voluntary movement, he needed a leg up from NIH’s Independent Research Scholars (IRS) program.