Remdesivir Is Active Against MERS Coronavirus in Monkeys

Drug Also Being Tested in Clinical Trials Against the New Coronavirus

BY BIJETA PRASAI, NHLBI

The drug remdesivir has antiviral effects against a variety of viruses including Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in rhesus monkeys, according to a study conducted by NIAID researchers at the Rocky Mountain Labs in Hamilton, Montana. Because MERS-CoV and the new COVID-19 coronavirus are closely related viruses, the scientists believe that remdesivir treatment will work against the new coronavirus as well.  Clinical trials of remdesivir for COVID-19 are already underway

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Research Briefs: Coronavirus Research

Highlights 

When COVID-19—a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)—was first detected in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, NIAID intramural and extramural scientists mobilized quickly to study the virus. Key areas of investigation include conducting basic research on its origins and how it causes disease, and developing animal study models, new treatments, and vaccines.

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From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research

Bioengineering: A New Frontier for the NIH

BY MICHAEL M. GOTTESMAN, DDIR, AND BRUCE TROMBERG, DIRECTOR, NIBIB

NIH’s Bioengineering Festival, which will be held this fall, recognizes the enormous potential of the NIH intramural research program to make innovative bioengineering contributions to biomedical research.

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Photographic Moment

President Trump Visits NIH to Discuss Coronavirus

On March 3, 2020, President Donald Trump visited NIH for a tour of the Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center, which is overseen by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Research is underway to develop a safe and effective vaccine for the novel coronavirus.

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Five New Lasker Scholars

Part of the Next Generation of Clinical Researchers

BY LAURA STEPHENSON CARTER

Congratulations to the five investigators who recently joined the ranks of the Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program, NIH’s collaborative effort with the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation to nurture the next generation of clinical researchers: Sean Agbor-Enoh; Paule V. Joseph; Joanna Klubo-Gwiezdzinska; Nirali N. Shah; and David Takeda.

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A Giant Leap of Love, Faith, and Courage

A Husband-Wife’s Quest to Cure a Genetic Prion Disease

BY SUNITA CHOPRA, NCI

Sonia Vallabh and her husband Eric Minikel hadn’t set out to build careers in science. But a tragic event changed their careers and they became patient-scientists in search of a cure for prion disease.

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Technology Transfer: Biologically Engineered Pacemaker

NIA Scientists Invent Biologically Engineered Pacemaker

NIA researchers developed a genetically engineered, cell-based biological pacemaker, which restores normal rhythmic heartbeat.

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Blood Test May Point to Timing of Breast-Cancer Diagnosis

Shifts in White Blood-Cell Types Leading Up to a Breast-Cancer Diagnosis

BY MARLA BROADFOOT, NIEHS

Shifts in the populations of different types of leukocytes, or white-blood cells, in a woman’s bloodstream may signal a later diagnosis of breast cancer according to a study by researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. 

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Colleagues: Recently Tenured

Meet your recently tenured colleagues: J. Robert Hogg (NHLBI), Andrew D. Johnson (NHLBI), Vanja Lazarevic (NCI-CCR), Vijay Ramchandani (NIAAA), Sergio Damián Rosenzweig (CC, pictured), and S. Cenk Sahinalp (NCI-CCR).

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From the Annals of NIH History

A Pioneer in Vaccines

BY GORDON MARGOLIN, OFFICE OF NIH HISTORY

Name this NIH luminary: She was an internationally recognized bacteriologist who worked at the NIH from 1936 until she retired in 1971. She was the first woman to head a laboratory at the NIH, becoming the chief of the Laboratory of Bacterial Products in 1958. And she stayed on as a guest worker for another 20 years after retiring, dying in 1995 at the age of 94.

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The Training Page: From the Fellows Committee

Better Mentoring

BY CRAIG MYRUM, NIA

We can probably think of personal stories that demonstrate how the quality of mentor-mentee relationships have a profound impact on trainees’ career trajectories. Several studies support this notion.

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Research Briefs

Read about NIH scientific advances by intramural scientists: finding new ways to beat malaria; joint impact of exposure to toxic chemicals and stressful life events on preterm birth; persistant organic pollutants in maternal blood linked to smaller fetal size; and discovery of new autoinflammatory disease and its biological causes.

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Improving End-of-Life Care for Dying Children

NIH Researchers Develop an Illustrated Storybook

BY SOFIYA HUPALO, NIGMS

Palliative-care researchers Lori Wiener and Meaghann Weaver have written a children’s storybook—The Gift of Gerbert’s Feathers—to help families and caregivers of children with a terminal illness talk about progressive illness, engage children in decision making, and reduce the stigma surrounding the topic of death.

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The SIG Beat: Flow Cytometry Winter Meeting

NEWS FROM AND ABOUT THE SCIENTIFIC INTEREST GROUPS

Highlights from the Flow Cytometry Interest Group 2019 Winter Meeting

Some 150 attendees at the NIH Flow Cytometry Interest Group’s annual meeting (held in December 2019) were eager to hear the latest research advances in the flow-cytometry field.

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The SIG Beat

NEWS FROM AND ABOUT THE SCIENTIFIC INTEREST GROUPS

New SIG: Interspecific Modeling

The new Interspecific Modeling Interest Group promotes collaboration among researchers who work on developmental and disease models of different species.

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Announcements

News about events, deadlines, lectures, and more. Note: In support of the Office of Personnel Management guidance to strengthen our efforts to protect the federal workforce and to ensure continuity of operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, most lectures and events are being held virtually or have been cancelled or postponed.  Please check event details to determine status.

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