Researcher Seeks Risk Factors for Autoimmune Disease
During the winter months, we all rely on our immune systems to keep us from catching a cold or the flu, or help us recover quickly if we do fall ill. However, sometimes the immune system itself is the source of our problems, producing one of dozens of ‘autoimmune’ conditions, some affecting specific organs and others affecting the entire body, with symptoms that range from irritating and uncomfortable to deadly. Even more alarming, while these ailments already affect as many as 50 million Americans, their prevalence is rising for reasons that remain unclear.
Lindsey A. Criswell, M.D., M.P.H., D.Sc., has spent her career investigating this mystery and tracking down the culprits behind autoimmune ailments, likely a complex network of genes and harmful environmental influences. Dr. Criswell, who is Director of NIH’s National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and an adjunct investigator in the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2024 for her accomplishments in this area of research. Her work has identified dozens of genes involved in autoimmune diseases, as well as critical environmental factors that influence their risk and severity.
New IRP Study Supports Non-Invasive Way to Gauge Blood Vessel Health
Nobody likes being jabbed with a needle for blood tests, but for people with sickle cell disease, it’s a necessary and frequent annoyance to make sure their condition is under control. However, blood tests may become less needed in the future for those patients thanks to new IRP research that has identified ways to measure certain health metrics using non-invasive, light-based technologies.
When IRP graduate student Pilar Alvarez Jerez looked at the results of a recent experiment, she noticed that when a particular genetic variant is present in a gene called GBA1, it causes a change in the gene's activity. The GBA1 variant, which is associated with Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, was discovered last year in people of African ancestry by researchers at NIH’s Center for Alzheimer's and Related Dementias (CARD). It appears to suppress the gene’s ability to make a functional version of an enzyme that helps brain cells recycle their proteins.
“This was an interesting finding, but it still didn’t answer how the variant was functioning to lower enzyme activity,” Pilar says.
Study Shows Promise of New Treatment Approach in 3D Brain ‘Organoid’ Model
Our cells’ survival depends on their ability to take in the nutrients and other substances that they require. Unfortunately, this capacity is a double-edged sword, as cells can bring in both valuable resources and ticking time bombs. However, IRP researchers recently identified an existing drug that may be able to combat Parkinson’s disease by reducing cells’ penchant for snatching up the toxic proteins involved in Parkinson’s disease.
IRP Researchers are Developing Vaccines Targeting the ‘Achilles Heel’ of a Wiley Infectious Threat
In the 40 years since HIV, the virus behind AIDS, was first definitively identified, treatments have changed the disease from a sure death to a long-term chronic illness. Yet, as we passed the 36th annual commemoration of World AIDS Day on December 1, it remains a dangerous health threat. Consequently, many researchers are attempting to develop vaccines to prevent or treat HIV, including IRP senior investigator Barbara K. Felber, Ph.D. Dr. Felber has been pursuing an effective vaccine since the discovery of HIV in the early 1980s using a unique approach that is not only making headway toward that important goal, but also offering insights into other infectious diseases, as well as cancer immunotherapy.
IRP Program Boosts Careers of Promising Physician-Scientists
Many scientists have a seemingly single-minded focus on their research, but there are considerable benefits to having one foot in the lab and the other in the clinic. Working with patients gives researchers a daily reminder of the people they are working so hard to help and allows them to investigate the effects of promising but still experimental treatments in willing volunteers. That’s one of the main reasons why the IRP’s Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program is designed to accelerate the careers of promising early-career physician-scientists.
This year, four NIH researchers began receiving support from the Lasker program, allowing them to dramatically expand their cutting-edge research. From investigating the roots of muscle-weakening genetic conditions to probing the mysteries of rare, hormone-producing tumors, these individuals will use the leg up provided by the Lasker Program to make new discoveries that could one day improve their patients’ lives. Read on to learn more about the exciting research the latest crop of Lasker Scholars is pursuing.
New IRP Research Hints at Possible Culprits Behind Long-COVID
Nearly five years after COVID-19 first raged across the United States, most people have some immunity to the disease through vaccination or a prior infection. However, COVID not only remains a continued threat to vulnerable individuals, but also has saddled some patients with lasting symptoms. New IRP research provides a starting point for better understanding that ‘long-COVID’ phenomenon by identifying an array of substances in the blood whose levels are abnormal months after people catch the illness.
IRP Research is Exploring the Role of Immune Cells in Dementia
If you visit a lab at NIH’s Center for Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias (CARD), you may find yourself surrounded by several robots hard at work nurturing the hundreds of sets of genetically modified stem cells that CARD scientists use to study the illnesses that give CARD its name. Many of these cells will be coaxed to mature into the neurons that power our movements, thoughts, and memories — but not all of them. Neurons have long received the lion share of dementia researchers’ attention, understandable seeing as the visible symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease are closely linked to a build-up of proteins — amyloid-beta and misfolded tau — that damage neurons. However, neurons aren’t the only brain cells involved in dementia.
IRP’s Oral Health Experts Explore Why It’s Not Always About Brushing and Flossing
When you dig into that bowl of candy this Halloween, you may want to keep in mind that those sweets are not only fueling your sweet tooth, but also an army of creepy crawlies living in your mouth, busily forming a sticky film of plaque and attacking your gums.
As Dental Hygiene Month comes to a close this October, we spoke with IRP Clinical Research Specialist Laurie Brenchley, R.D.H., a dental hygienist and clinical study coordinator in the laboratory of IRP senior investigator Niki Moutsopoulos, D.D.S., Ph.D. Together, Brenchley and Dr. Moutsopoulos are studying the link between oral health and the immune system, with a specific focus on cases in which genetic factors increase susceptibility to severe gum disease, more formally known as periodontitis.
No single event captures the incredible breadth of research going on in the IRP as effectively as the annual NIH Research Festival. In fact, the event is so jam-packed that it typically stretches over multiple days, running this year from September 23-25. The first day of the 2024 Research Festival kicked off with a poster session where scientists from all across NIH showcased the cutting-edge science they have been working on, demonstrating research on subjects like how cooking affects the brain, vaping’s impact on lung health, 3D models for studying pregnancy complications, and much more. Read on to dive deeper into a few of the more than 400 research projects presented at this celebration of IRP science.
This page was last updated on Friday, January 14, 2022
