Features

Celebrating the Art of Science

Blood Vessel Cells in a Zebrafish Brain

Scientists from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) produced an award-winning microscopy image that shows how fluorescent granular perithelial cells are closely associated with blood vessels that surround an adult zebrafish’s brain.

NIH’s Early Homes

From N.Y. to D.C. to Bethesda

BY VICTORIA A. HARDEN AND MICHELE LYONS

From its inception, the National Institutes of Health has had responsibilities, scientific knowledge, and ambitions that have increased faster than its real estate. Before moving to its current location in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1938, the NIH and its predecessor, the Hygienic Laboratory, occupied three other sites, each one bigger than the last.

Pioneering Gene Therapy for Radiation-Induced Dry Mouth

Ongoing Clinical Trial Explores Saliva-restoring Gene Transfer

BY CATHERINE EVANS, NIDCR

For most individuals who survive head and neck cancers, the relief of successful treatment can be tempered by a troubling side effect of some cancer therapies: chronic dry mouth. Treatments can help, including saliva substitutes, salivary stimulants, and ice chips that moisten the mouth. But there’s no cure for radiation-induced dry mouth. NIDCR investigators have developed the first-ever salivary-gland gene therapy tried in humans.

Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Festival 2017

Charting New Paths

BY SARA HARGRAVE, OBSSR

“These days, we once again see behavioral science at the forefront of health research,” said NIH Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak during the opening remarks of the NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Festival.