The IRP has been home to a number of truly remarkable scientists who spent decades making discoveries and developing technologies that would go on to improve the lives of many. One of these giants was Theodor Kolobow, M.D., who passed away in March of last year at age 87. During his many years at the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), Dr. Kolobow made momentous contributions to the study of our lungs and cardiovascular systems, including advancements in the development of artificial organs and key insights into the biological processes behind acute lung injury.
Dr. Kolobow's legacy lives on not only through his colleagues' fond memories and his lasting influence on medical practice, but also through the NIH's historical archives. Read on for a tour through Dr. Kolobow's life and career, as can only be told by the Office of NIH History.
New Technique Overcomes Major Obstacle to Stem-Cell-Based Treatments
Your brain cells need plenty of oxygen and nutrients to survive — that is, unless you’re a hibernating ground squirrel. By tapping into the cellular process that keeps these animals’ brains healthy during the long winter months, IRP scientists have discovered a way to increase the survival of neuron-producing stem cells implanted into the brain after a stroke, a development that could one day dramatically improve stroke treatment.
DNA Day Reddit “Ask Me Anything” Prompts Rousing Discussion
Each year on April 25, we celebrate National DNA Day, which commemorates the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 and the discovery of DNA's double helix in 1953. On this day students, teachers, and the public learn more about genetics and genomics. In honor of DNA Day this year, on April 24, the NIH IRP partnered with the NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) to host a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) with three experts on the many ways that advances in the genomic sciences are changing our lives.
Drug Candidate Calms Overzealous Immune Response in the Eye
Our immune cells don’t like strangers and attack many organisms and substances that they have never seen before, including harmless ones. In autoimmune diseases, this reaction gets out of hand and our own cells are caught in the crossfire. IRP scientists have found that a new therapeutic compound can curb this sort of autoimmune carnage in the eye.
While the Human Genome Project accomplished a remarkable feat in sequencing all the genes in the human genome, technological limitations still left significant swaths of our genetic blueprints unexplored. Recent advances in DNA sequencing are starting to fill in those gaps, but these new technologies require new computational tools to make sense of the data they generate. That’s where computer scientists like the IRP’s Adam Phillippy, Ph.D., come in.
Study Results Could Help Improve Treatment for Alcohol-Related Problems
Your brain is always busy, even when you’re not thinking about anything. Scientists believe the way brain cells communicate with one another when the brain is in that ‘resting state’ might differ in individuals with certain diseases. In a recent study of this idea, IRP researchers found that resting state brain activity could effectively predict the severity of alcohol-related problems.
Computational Biology Research Conducted at NIH Garners $25,000 Prize
The IRP is home to some of today’s and tomorrow’s greatest scientific minds. Hundreds of budding biomedical pioneers begin honing their scientific skills here in high school, but very few win distinction as quickly as seventeen-year-old Daniel Schäffer, whose IRP research earned him inclusion among this year’s 40 finalists in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search.
New System Could Boost Treatment Effectiveness and Curb Side Effects
Cancer kills more than half a million men, women, and children each year in the U.S, and chemotherapy is only slightly more discriminating than the disease it treats. As a result, many cancer treatments kill cells throughout the body and cause severe side effects. New IRP research could solve this problem by creating a way to release those toxic compounds only when and where doctors desire.
As Women's History month draws to a close, we’d like to introduce you to some of the IRP researchers who have received the honor of delivering the Anita B. Roberts Lecture. The Anita B. Roberts Lecture Series is organized by the NIH Women Scientist Advisors Committee to highlight outstanding research achievements by female scientists at NIH. The series is supported by the Office of Research on Women’s Health.
Discovery Could Lead to New Approaches for Boosting Blood Cell Counts
Much of human biology is a black box — scientists know the key players and the end results, but not how those outcomes come about. Consequently, it remains a mystery why some medications help patients. A new IRP study has cracked open the black box to reveal how high levels of an inflammatory molecule inhibit blood cell production in some individuals and why a particular medicine helps reverse this life-threatening condition.
This page was last updated on Friday, January 14, 2022
