July–August 2017 | NIH Intramural Research Program

Middle-Age Weight and Fitness Changes

Blame Your Enzyme

Researchers have long known that losing weight and maintaining the capacity to exercise tend to get harder beginning between ages 30 and 40—the start of midlife. Scientists have developed new therapies for obesity, including fat-fighting pills. However, many therapies have failed because of a lack of understanding of the biological changes that cause middle-aged people to gain weight, particularly around the abdomen.

From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research

IRBs at NIH Revisited

Serving the Interests of Patients and Clinical Investigators

BY MICHAEL GOTTESMAN, DDIR, AND RICHARD WYATT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, OIR

The NIH Clinical Center (CC) pioneered institutional review boards (IRBs) more than 60 years ago in recognition of the need for analyzing the risks versus the benefits of clinical protocols.

Using 3-D Printing to Assess Radiation Exposure

BY CORA A. HERSH, NCI

In a lab at the National Cancer Institute, a 3-D printer about the size of a coffee maker sits atop a table, periodically whirring away as its heated nozzle extrudes plastic in precise patterns. This printer is brewing up tools for health physicists to improve their estimates of radiation dose for epidemiological studies.

A Conversation with Atul Gawande

Surgeon, Writer, and Public-Health Researcher

BY MANJU BHASKAR, NINDS

Surgeon. Writer. Public-health researcher and one of the most prolific commentators on the state of medicine and health care. Atul Gawande has definite ideas on how a more systematized health-care system will go a long way toward eliminating medical errors and improving patient care. He visited NIH recently for a conversation with NIH Director Francis Collins about “Systems Science and Innovation in Health-Care Delivery.”

Alumni News: Bryon Adinoff

Bryon Adinoff, M.D.: Addiction Scientist

Understanding How Thought Processes Work

BY GÜLCAN AKGÜL, NICHD

NIH Alum Bryon Adinoff talked recently with The NIH Catalyst about his work with understanding and treating addiction, how the field of psychiatry has evolved since he was in medical school, the opioid epidemic, and more.

Colleagues: Recently Tenured

Meet your recently tenured colleagues: Claudia Kemper (NHLBI); Joseph Marcotrigiano (NIAID); Zenaide (Zena) Quezado (pictured; CC); Joshua N. Sampson (NCI-DCEG); Zhengping Zhuang (NCI-CCR).

Science In Space!

Astronaut Kate Rubins Visits NIH

BY EMILY PETRUS, NINDS

Scientists usually do experiments in controlled environments, with unlimited access to electricity, air, and gravity. Then there are other scientists who do research in extreme conditions where everything is compact, suspended, and unknown. Kate Rubins, a molecular biologist turned NASA astronaut, knows how to work in controlled as well as extreme environments—from the remote regions of central Africa to the even more remote regions of outer space. On April 25, 2017, she visited NIH to talk about her experiences aboard the International Space Station.

A Match Made for the Heavens

How NIH and NASA Have Partnered in Biomedical Research

BY EMILY PETRUS, NINDS

Will humans one day travel to Mars or other planets? How will we get there, bring our supplies, and make life sustainable? And how will long-duration space flight and life on distant planets affect us physiologically and psychologically? Luckily, NASA and NIH are working jointly, through a memorandum of understanding (MOU), to use the unique environment of the International Space Station (ISS) to answer these questions as well as questions about human health in general.

Research Briefs

Cracking the Brain’s Memory Codes; Real-Time Imaging in Mice a Promising Influenza Study Tool; Study Finds Tens of Millions of Americans Drink Alcohol in Dangerously High Amounts; Repurposing Experimental Cancer Therapy to Treat Muscular Dystrophy; Mitochondrial “Circuit Breaker” May Protect Heart from Damage; An Antidepressant May Enhance Drug Delivery to Brain; and more.

FROM THE FELLOWS COMMITTEE

Knowing How and Where to Look for Training Opportunities

BY CRAIG MYRUM, NIA

While most fellows continue to cultivate their depth and breadth of knowledge in their area of expertise, some are so intensively focused on their research that adequate time is not given to strategically planning for life beyond the lab. Regardless of your post-fellowship plans, more time is usually warranted on addressing additional skills that are required for the next step in your career.

News Briefs

Francis Collins to stay on as NIH Director; Discovery Channel program on Clinical Center to air in August (film crew pictured); Congressional staffers visited NIH; new illustrated history of the National Library of Medicine.

New Methods

Medical-Imaging Device Developed by NICHD Researchers Awarded U.S. Patent

BY LINDA HUYNH, NICHD

A calibration device for medical imaging developed by researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development received U.S. Patent approval in March. The device, a diffusion MRI phantom, calibrates MRI scanners that perform diffusion MRI methods, such as diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI. Reliable calibration standards help ensure the quality and accuracy of these images, which can help diagnose stroke, brain disease, and cancer.

From the Annals of NIH History

Angel of Independence

BY MICHELE LYONS, OFFICE OF NIH HISTORY

The silver Mexican Medallion Libertad coin pictured here symbolizes an agreement between the Mexico National Council on Science and Technology and the United States National Institutes of Health. The coin is one of many in a collection at the Office of NIH History.

National Week of Making at the NIH Library

Celebrating Innovation, Ingenuity, and Creativity

BY KATHLEEN MCGLAUGHLIN, NIH LIBRARY

NIH celebrated the National Week of Making, held June 16-22, in recognition of the innovation, ingenuity, and creativity of “makers”—the diverse community of independent designers and inventors who use a variety of technologies to make their own unique products.

Announcements

Lectures, seminars, festivals, and other events. Pictured: Katherine Janeway (Harvard) who will present “Bringing Genomics to the Pediatric Oncology Clinic: Diagnosis, Treatment Selection, and Rational Clinical Trial Design” at the Trent Lecture on Wednesday, September 6.

This page was last updated on Monday, April 11, 2022