Research advances from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Intramural Research Program (IRP) often make headlines. Read the news releases that describe our most recent findings:
Saxophonist Joey Berkley was living his dream: he was playing jazz in New York City. But about 20 years ago, he noticed his left hand wasn’t cooperating. It got worse and worse.
“As soon as I picked my horn up and touched — literally just touched my horn — my hands would twist into pretzel shapes,” Berkley recalled in a conversation with Morning Edition host A Martinez.
Berkley was experiencing focal dystonia, a movement disorder marked by involuntary muscle contractions.
He said he “muscled through it” as best he could. But that meant he wasn’t just pressing down on the keys of his sax — he was crushing them. “My fingers would literally be bleeding afterwards,” he said. “I had to quit playing.”
Joey Berkley learned of an experimental procedure at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, that involved placing an electrode directly into his brain.
Scientists from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the University of Oxford, U.K., have shed light on a long-standing enigma about the structure of a protein related to the Hepatitis B virus. Their findings were reported in Structure.
Mouse study findings may offer clues for understanding cell fusion
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have identified proteins that allow muscle cells in mice to form from the fusion of the early stage cells that give rise to the muscle cells.
NIH researchers identify new gene variants associated with risk for complex inflammatory syndrome
Researchers have identified four new regions on the human genome associated with Behcet's disease, a painful and potentially dangerous condition found predominantly in people with ancestors along the Silk Road. For nearly 2,000 years, traders used this 4,000-mile network linking the Far East with Europe to exchange goods, culture and, in the case of the Silk Road disease, genes. National Institutes of Health researchers and their Turkish and Japanese collaborators published their findings in the Jan. 6, 2013, advance online issue of Nature Genetics.
Scientists have discovered a gene that interferes with the clearance of hepatitis C virus infection. They also identified an inherited variant within this gene, Interferon Lambda 4 (IFNL4), that predicts how people respond to treatment for hepatitis C infection. The results of this study, by investigators at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the NIH, and their collaborators at NIH and other institutions, were published online in Nature Genetics on Jan. 6, 2013.
Working-age adults with disabilities account for a disproportionately high amount of annual emergency department visitors, reports a comparison study from National Institutes of Health researchers. As emergency department care may not be the best to address non-urgent concerns and is higher in cost, finding a way to decrease these visits is of interest to many stakeholders.
Patients who have inherited a specific common genetic variant develop bladder cancer tumors that strongly express a protein known as prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA), which is also expressed in many pancreatic and prostate tumors, according to research at the National Institutes of Health.
Works in brain like ketamine, with fewer side effects – NIH trial
A drug that works through the same brain mechanism as the fast-acting antidepressant ketamine briefly improved treatment-resistant patients' depression symptoms in minutes, with minimal untoward side effects, in a clinical trial conducted by the National Institutes of Health. The experimental agent, called AZD6765, acts through the brain's glutamate chemical messenger system.
Scientists at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health, have demonstrated that DNA previously thought to be "junk" plays a critical role in immune system response. The team's findings were published in Cell and may lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets for the treatment of immune-related disorders.
The 2012 Science of Eliminating Health Disparities Summit is the leading scientific gathering on health disparities. Thousands of participants will attend approximately 100 sessions to exchange new knowledge, and learn about progress, successes, challenges, and opportunities in implementing innovative research. Sessions will also feature practice and policy interventions to inform health disparities science, and highlight the power and impact of multi-sector partnerships in tackling the social, behavioral, environmental, economic, and biological factors that cause health disparities. The theme is Building a Healthier Society: Integrating Science, Practice, and Policy. https://www.nimhd.nih.gov/summit_site/
Actions would aim to strengthen the biomedical research workforce and manage deluge of data
The National Institutes of Health is seeking to launch multiple initiatives designed to help strengthen the biomedical research enterprise and sustain the global competitiveness of the U.S. scientific community well into the future. Faced with significant challenges affecting the biomedical research workforce and the storage and use of large biomedical datasets, the NIH Director charged the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) to develop recommendations. The ACD used three specialized committee working groups, each of which included additional outside experts on the relevant topics.
