cancer

Treatment Corrects Consequences of Accelerated Cellular Aging

Mouse Study Demonstrates Promise of New Therapy for Rare Genetic Conditions

time warp

If you ask a scientist how old you are, you may be surprised to get a different answer depending on who you’re talking to. That’s because age can be measured both ‘chronologically’ — in terms of time — and at a cellular level. Indeed, certain genetic mutations cause cells to age faster, leading to a host of health problems. Fortunately, a recent IRP study performed in mice suggests that boosting levels of a specific molecule could help alleviate some of those patients’ symptoms.

IRP Research Yields Life-Changing Treatments

Highlighting Drugs and Vaccines Stemming from NIH Discoveries

syringe and vials of medicine

On May 3, more than six decades of IRP research culminated in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approving the world’s first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a disease that puts tens of thousands of Americans in the hospital each year and kills thousands. While the new vaccine, called Arexy, has been getting all the headlines recently, it is only the latest example of a slew of FDA-approved medications and vaccines that might never have existed without the tireless efforts of scientists at NIH.

Indeed, a recently published study led by Mark Rohrbaugh, Ph.D., J.D., a special advisor in the NIH Office of Science Policy, found that inventions developed at NIH have contributed to more FDA-approved products than those created at any other nonprofit research institution in the world over the past five decades. NIH tops the study’s list with 27 FDA-approved products, six more than the study attributed to the combined efforts of all the schools in the University of California system.

Postbac Poster Day Returns to NIH Campus

Budding Scientists Assemble for First Time Since 2019

IRP postbac fellow Vernon Kennedy with his poster at Postbac Poster Day

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

Dr. Brittany Lord

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 W. Michael Kuehl

Dr. W. Michael Kuehl

The IRP community mourns the recent passing of our colleague W. Michael Kuehl, M.D., former senior investigator in the Genetics Branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), after a long struggle with renal cancer.

In his more than 30 years at NCI, Michael was devoted to understanding the cellular and molecular biology of multiple myeloma (MM) and pre-malignant MGUS (monoclonal gammopathy of uncertain significance), a precursor of the disease. He identified multiple mechanisms of molecular pathogenesis in MM and he linked pre-malignant MGUS to MM, which is relevant for the early diagnosis and treatment of MM.

Dying Tumor Cells Suppress Anti-Cancer Immune Response

IRP Study Points to Strategies to Stop Disease From Spreading

T cells (red) attacking cancer cell (white)

Ancient Greek myth describes how the hero Hercules battled the many-headed hydra, which regrew two heads every time Hercules cut one off. This frustrating fight against a seemingly invulnerable opponent would be an apt metaphor for treating cancer, in which tumor cells sometimes die in a particular way that actually helps their brethren multiply and spread to other parts of the body. In a study of that phenomenon using a mouse model of breast cancer, IRP researchers discovered that it occurs because that form of cell death suppresses the immune system’s response to the cancer, a finding that points to several potential ways to improve cancer therapy.

IRP’s Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque Elected to the National Academy of Medicine

NIH Scientist Proves What Happens in the Mouth Doesn’t Stay in the Mouth

Dr. Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque

For many people, good oral health means a pretty smile, not necessarily a healthy body. However, poor dental health can lead to serious illness and disability. IRP senior investigator Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque, D.D.S., Ph.D., has spent her career illuminating the connection between our mouths and our overall health. Dr. Webster-Cyriaque, who recently joined NIH as Deputy Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) and Chief of the Viral Oral Infections in Immunosuppression and Cancer Laboratory at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in October for her seminal contributions to our understanding of viruses that infect the mouth.

Poster Session Showcases IRP Graduate Students

Event Includes In-Person Presentations for First Time Since 2020

people looking at posters at the 2023 NIH Graduate Student Research Symposium poster session

Three years after COVID-19 dramatically changed the way scientists and many others work, much of life in the NIH IRP has begun to resemble the way things were in February of 2020. This includes the return of in-person scientific poster sessions like the one that took place on February 16 as part of the 19th annual NIH Graduate Student Research Symposium. Nearly 130 graduate students conducting their Ph.D. research in IRP labs as part of NIH’s Graduate Partnership Program presented their progress at that poster session and its virtual counterpart held February 15.

The two poster sessions made it clear that IRP graduate students are essential contributors to the life-changing discoveries made at NIH, from using geckos to learn about human eye diseases to investigating how the immune system combats infectious invaders to exploring ways to improve cancer treatment. Keep reading to learn about some of the bright scientists-in-training who showed off their work during the two-day event.

NIH Mourns Two Accomplished Cancer Researchers

A Tribute to Drs. James M. Phang and John J. DiGiovanna

Dr. John J. DiGiovanna (left) and Dr. James M. Phang (right)

The IRP is deeply saddened by the recent passing of two members of its community, James "Jim" M. Phang, M.D., and John J. DiGiovanna, M.D. Dr. Phang passed away on January 29 after a months-long struggle with esophageal cancer. Dr. DiGiovanna died on February 6, more than two years after his diagnosis of metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Creating Cutting-Edge Cancer Vaccines

IRP Research Identifies a Tantalizing Target for Cancer Immunotherapy

person getting vaccine injection

February 4 is World Cancer Day, a time to mark international efforts to prevent, detect, and treat cancer. Immunotherapy, one of the most significant advances in treating cancer, was pioneered here at NIH more than 30 years ago. Today, IRP senior investigator Claudia M. Palena, Ph.D., is pushing cancer immunotherapy forward with the discovery of a novel target for cancer vaccines.