neuroscience

IRP Scientists Curb Inflammation to Protect Brain Cells From Stroke

schematic of an ischemic stroke

Every forty seconds, someone in the United States suffers a stroke, and researchers across the country are hunting for a way to help brain cells survive these traumatic events. A group of IRP researchers recently discovered a promising new tool to aid in this effort. By blocking the action of a brain chemical called monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), the scientists markedly reduced stroke-related brain damage and disability in rats.1

Summertime Brains: Alex Fuksenko

Alex Fuksenko, a senior at the University of Maryland in College Park, spent his summer in the lab of NIH IRP Investigator Kevin Briggman, Ph.D.

Fuksenko helped to create a website called Labrainth that “gamifies” the identification and tracing of neurons in 2D images produced by electron microscopes. By visiting the website and completing those activities, members of the public can earn points and move up leaderboards while producing data that machine learning algorithms can use to learn how to trace neurons in these images themselves, a necessary step towards producing an accurate 3D model of the human brain.

Summertime Brains: Carly Kaplan

Carly Kaplan, a junior at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, spent her summer working in the lab of NIH IRP Investigator Dr. Kareem Zaghloul. As a member of Dr. Zaghloul’s team, Carly examined how the human brain creates and recalls memories. An aspiring doctor, she believes that this sort of research is “the backbone of the medical profession” and that “doctors can’t do what they do without the research behind it.” While at NIH, she was particularly intrigued by the opportunity to watch Dr. Zaghloul perform neurosurgery on the epilepsy patients who were part of in his lab’s studies.

Summertime Brains: Joanne Compo

Joanne Compo, a sophomore at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, spent the summer of 2017 working in the lab of NIH IRP Distinguished Investigator Dr. Kenneth Fischbeck. She helped create a quality of life questionnaire for patients with Kennedy’s disease, a neuromuscular disorder that causes muscles to weaken over time due to the death of motor neurons responsible for movement. Such a questionnaire could help affected individuals get diagnosed more quickly and shed light on which interventions improve their lives the most.

Summertime Brains: Jason Mazique

Jason Mazique, who is currently a freshman at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, spent his 2017 summer working in the lab of NIH IRP Senior Investigator Dr. Harish Pant. During his time at the NIH, Mazique investigated how a particular protein affects neurons in the brain, with implications for neurological conditions like ALS and Alzheimer’s disease

Six Paths Forward in Biomedical Research

NIH Clinical Center

Last month I moderated our annual retreat with the NIH Scientific Directors, those individuals tasked with leading their Institute or Center (IC)-based intramural research program. We were joined by many of the IC Clinical Directors. And this year we decided to do something a little different: listen to a series of talks about exciting, new IRP research.

Sliding Through Science History, Part 2

Dietzgen Binary Slide Rule

Are you beginning to think that slide rules look alike? If you could see the types and number of scales, you’d understand that each slide rule model is different. There are specialized scales for cubes, spheres, voltage, etc. Check out a few of the slide rules that made history with IRP investigators.

New NIH Museum Acquisitions: Computer Boards to Coloring Books

NeuroPET Scanner Board

Have you ever had a PET scan? (That’s short for positron emission tomography.) This computer board, called a discriminator, was one of 64 in the Neuro-PET scanner designed and built at the NIH under the direction of Dr. Giovanni De Chiro.

Tracing the Neural Circuitry of Appetite

Reblogged from the NIH Director's Blog. Originally posted by Dr. Francis Collins, NIH Director, on May 5, 2015.

If you’ve ever skipped meals for a whole day or gone on a strict, low-calorie diet, you know just how powerful the feeling of hunger can be. Your stomach may growl and rumble, but, ultimately, it’s your brain that signals when to start eating—and when to stop. So, learning more about the brain’s complex role in controlling appetite is crucial to efforts to develop better ways of helping the millions of Americans afflicted with obesity.

A Graduate Student’s Journey in the NIH IRP

Lucy Kotlyanskaya at the lab bench

As a recently graduated student at the NIH, in partnership with University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I felt so privileged to be a member of this amazing community of scientists, and I want to create awareness that there are opportunities for graduate students to do research in the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP). The NIH IRP provides training to scientists at every level of experience.