Skip to main content
NIH Intramural Research Program, Our Research Changes Lives

Navigation controls

  • Search
  • Menu

Social follow links

  • Podcast
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Main navigation

  • About Us
    • What Is the IRP?
    • History
    • Honors
      • Nobel Prize
      • Lasker Award
      • Breakthrough Prize
      • Shaw Prize
      • Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
      • Presidential Medal of Freedom
      • National Medal of Science
      • Searle Scholars
      • The National Academy of Sciences
      • The National Academy of Medicine
      • The National Academy of Engineering
      • The American Academy of Arts and Sciences
      • National Medal of Technology & Innovation
      • Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals
      • Crafoord Prize
      • Fellows of the Royal Society
      • Canada Gairdner Awards
    • Organization & Leadership
    • Our Programs
      • NCI
      • NEI
      • NHGRI
      • NHLBI
      • NIA
      • NIAAA
      • NIAID
      • NIAMS
      • NIBIB
      • NICHD
      • NIDA
      • NIDCD
      • NIDCR
      • NIDDK
      • NIEHS
      • NIMH
      • NIMHD
      • NINDS
      • NINR
      • NLM
      • CC
      • NCATS
      • NCCIH
    • Research Campus Locations
    • Contact Information
  • Our Research
    • Scientific Focus Areas
      • Biomedical Engineering & Biophysics
      • Cancer Biology
      • Cell Biology
      • Chemical Biology
      • Chromosome Biology
      • Clinical Research
      • Computational Biology
      • Developmental Biology
      • Epidemiology
      • Genetics & Genomics
      • Health Disparities
      • Immunology
      • Microbiology & Infectious Diseases
      • Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
      • Molecular Pharmacology
      • Neuroscience
      • RNA Biology
      • Social & Behavioral Sciences
      • Stem Cell Biology
      • Structural Biology
      • Systems Biology
      • Virology
    • Principal Investigators
      • View by Investigator Name
      • View by Scientific Focus Area
    • Accomplishments
      • View All Accomplishments by Date
      • View All Health Topics
      • The Body
      • Health & Wellness
      • Conditions & Diseases
      • Procedures
    • Accelerating Science
      • Investing in Cutting-Edge Animal Models
      • Creating Cell-Based Therapies
      • Advancing Computational and Structural Biology
      • Combating Drug Resistance
      • Developing Novel Imaging Techniques
      • Charting the Pathways of Inflammation
      • Zooming in on the Microbiome
      • Uncovering New Opportunities for Natural Products
      • Stimulating Neuroscience Research
      • Pursuing Precision Medicine
      • Unlocking the Potential of RNA Biology and Therapeutics
      • Producing Novel Vaccines
    • Research in Action
      • View All Stories
      • Battling Blood-Sucking Bugs
      • Unexpected Leads to Curb Addiction
      • Shaping Therapies for Sickle Cell Disease
      • The Mind’s Map Maker
    • Trans-IRP Research Resources
      • Supercomputing
    • IRP Review Process
    • Commercializing Inventions
  • NIH Clinical Center
    • Clinical Center Facilities
    • Clinical Faculty
    • Advancing Translational Science
    • Clinical Trials
      • Get Involved with Clinical Research
      • Physician Resources
  • News & Events
    • In the News
    • I am Intramural Blog
    • Speaking of Science Podcast
    • SciBites Video Shorts
    • The NIH Catalyst Newsletter
    • Events
  • Careers
    • Faculty-Level Scientific Careers
    • Trans-NIH Scientific Recruitments
      • Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigators
        • Science, the Stadtman Way
      • Lasker Clinical Research Scholars
      • Independent Research Scholar
    • Scientific & Clinical Careers
    • Administrative Careers
  • Research Training
    • Program Information
    • Training Opportunities
    • NIH Work/Life Resources
The NIH Catalyst: A Publication About NIH Intramural Research

National Institutes of Health • Office of the Director | Volume 32 Issue 5 • September–October 2024

From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research

NIH Is Home to Life-long Learners

BY NINA F. SCHOR, DDIR

Nina Schor

It is hard to believe that the fall season of 2024 is upon us. This, as it were, is the “Back to School” issue of the NIH Catalyst. Welcome back to all who took some well-deserved time during the summer months to relax and recharge, to enjoy the company of friends and family, and to connect with nature, the arts, personal hobbies, and whatever else makes you human and keeps you going!

This issue pays tribute, in part, to the discoverers and inventors of the past who have fueled some of the innovation that has improved our ability to understand and treat illness. As many of you know, I have spent my clinical life as a child neurologist and my research life as a pharmacologist. When I read through the content outline for this issue, I was reminded of how many medical challenges we face involve interactions of the immune system and endogenous or environmental triggers of it with the nervous system.

For example, many years after researchers at NIMH described the association of recent strep throat and a Tourette-like syndrome in children, neurologists are still debating whether a disorder called PANDAS and the related disorder PANS exist as discrete pathophysiological entities. The possible connection is intriguing. However, confounders include observations that strep throat is so common in children, that association is not causality, that the vast majority of children with Tourette syndrome do not have recent strep infection, and that there is a well-established familial predisposition to Tourette syndrome across generations. What’s going on here?

My own research has focused on the childhood cancer called neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma affects the developing neural crest and consists of sympathetic nervous system cells that fail to fully mature, retaining their proliferative potential. Between 2% and 4% of children with neuroblastoma get a neurological syndrome called opsoclonus myoclonus, also known as dancing eyes–dancing feet syndrome. Opsoclonus myoclonus associated with neuroblastoma is further associated with developmental and behavioral regression and persists even after the neuroblastoma is cured.

This movement disorder is also associated with some adult cancers, albeit rarely. But in those cases, antibodies aimed at cancer antigens that cross-react with normal brain tissue in the cerebellum are often identified. Such is not the case with children with neuroblastoma and opsoclonus myoclonus. Yet immunomodulatory therapies do seem to decrease the severity of the syndrome and improve the outcome for these children.

When I was a graduate student at Rockefeller University (New York), I took a course called “Cellular Immunology,” taught by Shu Man Fu (now professor emeritus at the University of Virginia) and Ralph Steinman (who died of pancreatic cancer in 2011). I remember thinking how phenomenological immunology was, with cells categorized based on what they did in a particularin vitro assay and antigens classified based on their association with cellular proliferation, differentiation, or senescence, respectively.

We have come a long way. There are mechanisms and genes and tools with which to understand such phenomena, of which we never could have dreamt when I was a student. But the story of the PANDAS and the PANS, and the challenge of opsoclonus myoclonus, tells us just how far we have yet to go. With NIMH, NINDS, NIAID, NCI, and all our sister institutes in close proximity, what better place than the NIH to unravel the next set of interdisciplinary mysteries that link the immune system with the nervous system.

One of my roles as the DDIR is to provide opportunities for NIH scientists to collaborate and to be exposed to new ideas that can open new pathways of investigation. So, it is only fitting that this “Back to School” issue of the Catalyst also highlights the NIH Research Festival on September 23–25, a scientific immunotherapy symposium celebrating the career of Steven Rosenberg on September 26–27, and the 30th anniversary year of the Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series (WALS), which runs from September through June—all rich fodder for insight and inspiration. I do hope you can take advantage of all that these opportunities have to offer.

This page was last updated on Thursday, December 5, 2024

  • Issue Overview
  • Features
    • The Autoantibody Hunters
    • Research Festival to Celebrate NIH Past, Present, and Future
    • NCCIH’s New Clinical Director: Miroslav “Misha” Bačkonja
    • Wednesday: The Day We Come Together to Be Inspired
    • Clear Plastic Aligners Give Patients with Brittle Teeth New Smiles
    • NEI Launches New Funding Mechanism to “Innovate Together”
    • Celebrating 50 Years of Cancer Immunotherapy Research
  • Departments
    • From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research
    • News You Can Use
    • Research Briefs
    • Opinion: Contemplating the Colorful NIH Canopy in Fall
    • Colleagues: Recently Tenured
    • Photographic Moment
    • Eve Marder to Discuss Climate Change and Neurological Disorder Risk
    • Announcements
    • Announcements: Kudos
  • Issue Contents
  • Download this issue as a PDF

Catalyst menu

  • Current Issue
  • Previous Issues
  • About The NIH Catalyst
  • Contact The NIH Catalyst
  • Share Your Story
  • NIH Abbreviations

Subscribe Today!

Subscribe to The NIH Catalyst Newsletter and receive email updates.

Subscribe

Get IRP Updates

Subscribe

  • Email
  • Print
  • Share Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

Main navigation

  • About Us
    • What Is the IRP?
    • History
    • Honors
    • Organization & Leadership
    • Our Programs
    • Research Campus Locations
    • Contact Information
  • Our Research
    • Scientific Focus Areas
    • Principal Investigators
    • Accomplishments
    • Accelerating Science
    • Research in Action
    • Trans-IRP Research Resources
    • IRP Review Process
    • Commercializing Inventions
  • NIH Clinical Center
    • Clinical Center Facilities
    • Clinical Faculty
    • Advancing Translational Science
    • Clinical Trials
  • News & Events
    • In the News
    • I am Intramural Blog
    • Speaking of Science Podcast
    • SciBites Video Shorts
    • The NIH Catalyst Newsletter
    • Events
  • Careers
    • Faculty-Level Scientific Careers
    • Trans-NIH Scientific Recruitments
    • Scientific & Clinical Careers
    • Administrative Careers
  • Research Training
    • Program Information
    • Training Opportunities
    • NIH Work/Life Resources
  • Department of Health and Human Services
  • National Institutes of Health
  • USA.gov

Footer

  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • IRP Brand Materials
  • HHS Vulnerability Disclosure
  • Web Policies & Notices
  • Site Map
  • Search