Specialized Neurons Play a Unique Role in Pain

Step Toward Designing New Approaches to Pain Therapy

Scientists have known more about neurons that detect temperature and touch than they have about those that underlie mechanical pain...until a recent NIH discovery.

Read more about this and other NIH advances in “Research Briefs.”

Nine New Stadtman Investigators Take on the Scientific World

BY LAURA STEPHENSON CARTER

Eagerly tackling challenging questions; using powerful scientific techniques; already making significant discoveries. Meet nine Earl Stadtman Investigators who are taking on the biomedical-research world: Constanza Camargo (NCI-DCEG); Tae-Wook Chun (NIAID); Nicholas Guydosh (NIDDK); Heather Hickman (NIAID); Ariel Levine (NINDS); Susan Moir (NIAID); Alexander Sodt (NICHD); Mia Sung (NIA); and Jinwei Zhang (NIDDK).

Daniel Reich, M.D., Ph.D.: Imagining Brain Imaging

BY ANNE DAVIDSON, NICHD

Humming along in the corner of Daniel Reich’s lab is a small scientific instrument that you’d expect to see at a tech company or in a design studio. It’s a 3-D printer busily making a customized cutting box that can hold a brain extracted at an autopsy so it can be sliced into thin sections. Reich, a neuroradiologist and senior investigator in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and his group developed the 3-D-printed cutting boxes as part of their research on multiple sclerosis.

The DDIR Innovation Award Program

Supporting Collaborative Research Projects and Centers

BY MICHAEL GOTTESMAN, DDIR, AND CHARLES DEAROLF, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR INTRAMURAL RESEARCH

With the goal of sparking new partnerships, we are pleased that this year we could provide financial support to promote collaborative research projects and centers through the DDIR Innovation Award Program.

BY KELLY LENOX, NIEHS

The largest study of its kind revealed that women with fibroid tumors are not at increased risk of miscarriage, contradicting common beliefs of women and health-care providers. The findings, reported in the June 7, 2017, issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, may reduce unnecessary surgery for women with fibroids who plan to become pregnant. (Am J Epidemiol DOI:10.1093/aje/kwx062)

Two NCI scientists win Lasker Award; three postdocs receive funding for health-disparities research.

Better Practices for Communicating Science

How to Avoid Hyping Your Research Findings

BY BARBARA VANN, NIGMS

From tweets and blog posts to press releases and news articles, reports of scientific advances can oversell the findings and misrepresent the discovery process. In fact, when Jon Lorsch joined the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) as its director in 2013, he was struck by the volume of press releases from grantee institutions that hyped incremental findings and gave too much credence to the conclusions from single studies.

Meet your recently tenured colleagues: Laufey Thora Amundadottir (NCI-DCEG); Sonja Berndt (NCI-DCEG); José Faraldo-Gómez (NHLBI); Samer Hattar (NIMH, pictured); Sandra Lynn Wolin (NCI-CCR); and Jinfang (Jeff) Zhu (NIAID)

Read about such NIH advances as specialized neurons playing a role in pain; 3-D imaging of tissues; ancient genes influencing modern brains; glucocorticoids taming inflammation; essential genes for cancer immunotherapy; and more.

FROM THE FELLOWS COMMITTEE

Using Science to Teach Science

BY CRAIG MYRUM, NIA

Imagine yourself back in the classroom of your first college science course. How was the content delivered? Did you learn through activities? Discussions? Demonstrations? Videos? Games? Group work? Chances are, probably not. You more likely listened to your professor attempt to pass along as much information as he could (probably via PowerPoint) within the allotted time.

Total Eclipse of the Sun

While most NIHers enjoyed seeing a partial solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, James Yang had a spectacular view of the total solar eclipse in Newberry, South Carolina.

NIH Clinical Center Received 2017 Excellence Award for Outstanding Emotional Support to Patients

The National Research Corporation (NRC) Health selected the NIH Clinical Center as a recipient of its 2017 Excellence Award, having earned the highest ratings in overall satisfaction by patients and their families in the category of Emotional Support, among 426 eligible facilities. Each year, NRC Health recognizes top-performing hospitals and health systems that have exhibited an exceptional commitment to understanding each individual patient’s complete care journey.