infectious disease

Seeking Antibiotic Alternatives to Annihilate Infections

IRP’s Darryl Zeldin Investigates New Ways to Combat Bacterial Pneumonia

a pile of pills

Our immune system is supposed to block infections like pneumonia, and in most instances, it does. Even so, nearly 1 million Americans each year become sick enough from pneumonia to require a visit to the hospital, and for about 50,000, the lung infection is deadly.

Multiple types of infectious organisms can cause pneumonia, and doctors use antibiotics to treat cases caused by bacteria. Unfortunately, bacteria are resilient organisms that have waged an evolutionary battle against our antibiotics ever since penicillin was first discovered, leading to alarming rates of antibiotic-resistant infections. It’s no wonder, then, that the public health community calls attention to this life-threatening conundrum each November during Antibiotic Awareness Week.

Fighting the Fungus Among Us

Overactive Immune Response Sets Stage for Infection

various fungi growing in a petri dish

Fungal infections are a serious medical threat to many people, especially those who are critically ill or have weakened immune systems. What’s more, outbreaks are on the rise, as studies show that rising global temperatures are causing fungi to evolve into new strains and grow in regions that were once too cold for comfort. Recent outbreaks include a tragic incident at a Michigan paper mill that sickened nearly 100 people and caused one death, as well as a cluster of fungal infections that have killed at least seven women who underwent cosmetic surgery at clinics in Mexico.

Commemorating Fungal Disease Awareness Week this week brings attention to the importance of combating fungal threats to our well-being. The theme this year is ‘Think Fungus,’ and that’s exactly what IRP senior investigator Michail Lionakis, M.D., Sc.D., has been doing for the last 20 years.

Preventing Cellular Rust Hinders Tuberculosis

Study Suggests New Treatment Approach for Deadly Lung Infection

tuberculosis bacteria

Oxygen is, quite literally, the air we breathe (or, more accurately, 21 percent of it). However, just as oxygen in the air can turn a handy garden tool into a useless hunk of rust, certain unstable, oxygen-containing molecules in our bodies can wreak havoc on our cells. According to new IRP research, revving up cellular systems that prevent this kind of damage could significantly improve outcomes for people with tuberculosis.

NIH Mourns the Passing of Ji Ming Wang

Dr. Ji Ming Wang

The IRP community is profoundly saddened by the recent passing of Ji Ming Wang, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Investigator and Head of the Chemoattractant Receptor and Signal Section in the Cancer Innovation Laboratory at NIH's National Cancer Institute (NCI). He died unexpectedly on December 24, 2022.

Dr. Wang studied the role of chemoattractant receptors in infection, inflammation, immune responses and cancer progression for over 30 years. In 1998, Ji Ming was the first to identify a critical role for the receptors in mediating cancer cell metastasis to distant organs. His later work focused on leukocyte infiltration, a hallmark of inflammation and cancer progression.

A Year of Honors for IRP Cancer Researchers

Four NIH Scientists Received Prestigious Recognition in 2022

clockwise from top-left: Dr. Michael Lichten, Dr. Susan Lea, Dr. Kandice Tanner, and Dr. Deborah Morrison

The complexities of cancer, which is actually a collection of many diseases, has made conquering it an enormous challenge. Fortunately, researchers in the NIH Intramural Research Program are up to the task. This year, four IRP investigators in NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) have been recognized for their groundbreaking contributions to answering fundamental questions about the disease and the immune system’s response to similar threats.

Leading the Charge Against Infectious Disease

Government Awards Recognize H. Clifford Lane’s Four Decades of Research Achievements

Dr. H. Clifford Lane

The remarkable career of H. Clifford Lane, M.D., might have gone very differently if a NIH scientist hadn’t accidentally eavesdropped on Dr. Lane’s conversation with a colleague in 1979. After hearing Dr. Lane mention that he had missed the deadline to apply for a position at NIH, the NIH researcher made some calls and discovered a spot there had just opened up — one that was perfect for Dr. Lane, who would spend the ensuing decades conducting life-saving research to understand and combat some of the world’s most dangerous infectious diseases.

Now the Clinical Director at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), Dr. Lane has been named a finalist for the 2022 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals’ Career Achievement Award in recognition of his crucial contributions to the fight against HIV/AIDS, Ebola, COVID-19, and other illnesses. Also known as the “Sammies,” the awards recognize federal employees who are “breaking down barriers, overcoming huge challenges, and getting results.”

IRP’s Carolina Barillas-Mury Elected to National Academy of Medicine

NIH Researcher Recognized for Important Insights Into Malaria Transmission

Dr. Carolina Barillas-Mury

In many parts of the world, the high-pitched buzz of a mosquito is a harbinger of more than an annoying itch — it’s a warning of possible malaria infection. Malaria, a disease spread by mosquitos that causes high fever and flu-like illness, is a serious risk for nearly half of the world’s population. According to the World Health Organization, there were 241 million cases of malaria and 627,000 deaths in 2020 alone. More than 95 percent of them occurred in Africa.

Efforts to combat malaria using measures like preventative treatments and environmental mitigation have helped to reduce infections and deaths over the past decade, but those improvements have recently plateaued, according to IRP Distinguished Investigator Carolina Barillas-Mury, M.D., Ph.D., section chief in the Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

IRP’s Heinz Feldmann Elected to National Academy of Medicine

Vaccine Research Facilitated Rapid Response to Ebola Outbreak

Dr. Heinz Feldmann

IRP Senior Investigator Heinz Feldmann, M.D., was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) last year for leading the development of the technology that resulted in the first Ebola vaccine approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and used by the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat the deadly disease. Election to the NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.

As chief of the Laboratory of Virology at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Feldmann’s work focuses on viruses like Ebola that cause hemorrhagic fever, a condition marked by fever, weakness, muscle pain, and sometimes bleeding. These highly contagious viruses require specialized laboratories and strict safety procedures to study.

IRP’s Harvey Alter Awarded Nobel Prize

NIH Researcher’s Pioneering Work Led to Discovery of Hepatitis C

Dr. Harvey Alter

When the phone rang at 4:15 in the morning, IRP senior scientist Harvey J. Alter, M.D., was annoyed. He didn’t answer it. After the third try, he reluctantly got out of bed and took his phone out to the hallway.

“Before I could yell at the person, he said, ‘This is Stockholm calling,’” Dr. Alter recalls. “And then I got stopped in my tracks. Then the moment of disbelief and awe comes over you.”

The man from Stockholm informed Dr. Alter that he had won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his contributions to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. He shared the prize with Michael Houghton, Ph.D., of the University of Alberta, Canada, and Charles M. Rice, Ph.D., of Rockefeller University in New York.

Pandemic Brings All Hands on Deck

IRP Investigators Begin Hundreds of New Coronavirus-Related Studies

coronavirus particles (gold) emerging from an infected cell

Within just a few months after COVID-19 began spreading in the United States, IRP researchers had already made numerous important contributions to the fight against the deadly virus. Scientific knowledge about the disease continues to expand at a unprecedented pace, and the IRP will continue to play a major role in this effort over the coming months and years. In fact, nearly 300 new intramural research projects related to the novel coronavirus are currently starting up or have already begun.