March–April 2022 | NIH Intramural Research Program

Meet the Makers

NIH Biomedical Engineers Shape Tomorrow’s Technology

The unassuming salamander has the remarkable ability to regenerate a lost limb. Could we ever regenerate tissue that way or even grow new body parts? What might hidden biological processes happening at the nanoscale teach us about human health? Can mathematical equations be used to understand and predict the behavior of complex biological systems? How can artificial intelligence be effectively used as a tool for biomedical research? Bioengineers at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) are asking such questions—and striking up trans-NIH collaborations to answer them.

From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research

My Time as Deputy Director for Intramural Research: The Recent Years

BY MICHAEL GOTTESMAN, DDIR

In recent years, there has been a gradual evolution of the intramural research program to reflect our need to enhance team science, shared resources, and collaborations; build a community of increased diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA); and strengthen our clinical program including changes in the oversight of the NIH Clinical Center and human subjects research, and paying more attention to the career development of our clinical researchers.

Itching for Answers

NIDCR Scientists Search for the Molecules That Make Us Itch

Why do we itch? Existing treatments for chronic itch are not always effective. Recent research by scientists, in the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, working in different labs with differing expertise, may help explain why.

News Brief

Former NIH Director Francis Collins Named Temporary Science Advisor to the President

Former NIH Director Francis Collins, who retired from that position in December 2021, was recently named temporary science advisor to President Joe Biden and co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Meet 26 New Stadtman Investigators

Trans-NIH Search Process Recruits Creative, Independent Thinkers

Meet 26 new investigators who were recruited through the Earl Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigators Program, named for renowned biochemist, senior investigator, and mentor Earl Stadtman (1919–2008). The Stadtman program, a trans-NIH search process that crosses all areas of biomedical research, is designed to attract a diverse group of talented early-career scientists who might not apply to NIH via searches conducted by individual institutes and centers.

New Lasker Scholars Begin Breaking New Ground

Early-career Scientists Power Through Pandemic to Launch Labs

NIH has long prided itself on its ability to accelerate the careers of the brightest young physicians and scientists in the country. One of these many efforts is the Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program. Keep reading to learn more about how NIH’s newest Lasker Scholars are changing the way we treat those illnesses.

News You Can Use

New Web Application to Study Cellular Responses to Glucocorticoids

NIH researchers created a new web tool, called GCgx, that will allow scientists to study how different human cell types will respond to glucocorticoids, a powerful class of steroid drugs used for anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive therapy and to fight an overactive immune system.

How Community-Engaged Research Combats Health Disparities

Stephen B. Thomas Talks About Building Trust in Underserved Communities

Stephen B. Thomas, director of the Center for Health Equity at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, described how reframing lessons from the Tuskegee Syphilis Study has led to ways to build trust and address health disparities in Black and other underserved communities. Barbershops and salons are now recognized as legitimate and safe places for engaging people in health promotion and disease prevention.

COVID-19 Timeline at NIH (January-February 2022)

COVID-19 Research and Activities at NIH

Highlights of the COVID-19-related activities that were going on at NIH in January and February 2022.

The Training Page

FROM THE FELLOWS COMMITTEE

Getting to Know Us

Are you an NIH postdoc or clinical fellow? Do you have an idea, or an issue, or just want to meet fellows outside of your own institute or lab? The NIH Fellows Committee (FelCom) is here to represent you.

Photographic Moment

Saying Goodbye to a Statue

Devon Valera, a curatorial intern in the Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum, was helping to move about 3,700 objects to a new storage facility when she came across this statue.

Research Briefs

Read about NIH scientific advances and discoveries by intramural scientists: first stem-cell model of eye disease; drugs targeting skeletal muscle metabolism may help treat diabetes; personalized immunotherapy a potential treatment for metastatic breast cancer; suicides by drug overdose increase in some groups despite overall decline; new species of microbes discovered on human skin; and the brain influences insulin production.

Announcements

News about events, deadlines, lectures, and more.

This page was last updated on Tuesday, May 17, 2022