In the News

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:

Featured Article

An electrode in the brain restores the career of saxophonist Joey Berkley

NPR
Friday, July 26, 2024

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.

NIH and Lilly to generate public resource of approved and investigational medicines

Collaboration may make drug development pipelines more productive

The National Institutes of Health and Eli Lilly and Company will generate a publicly available resource to profile the effects of thousands of approved and investigational medicines in a variety of sophisticated disease-relevant testing systems, NIH announced today.

Brain fun and games

NIH takes part in Brain Awareness Week

Flying footballs, couch potato mice, and what can happen with explosive-propelled iron spikes are just a few of the interactive tools that scientists from the National Institutes of Health will use to teach young people about the amazing human brain at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Md., on March 14 and 15.

NIH study links childhood cancer to delays in developmental milestones

Language, motor deficits, seen within months of starting treatment

Infants and toddlers who have been treated for cancer tend to reach certain developmental milestones later than do their healthy peers, say researchers at the National Institutes of Health and in Italy.

NIH encourages reducing disparities in kidney transplantation

In recognition of World Kidney Day on March 8, the National Institutes of Health is promoting efforts to reduce disparities in organ transplantation. This is particularly important among African-Americans, Hispanics, and American Indians, all of whom are disproportionately affected by kidney failure — yet are less likely to receive organ transplants.

NIH launches consumer-friendly tips series on complementary health practices

A new series of monthly health tips, Time to Talk Tips, will provide consumers with easy-to-read information on complementary health practices. The effort is managed by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) at the National Institutes of Health. A resource in NCCAM's Time to Talk campaign, the series highlights specific health topics, such as the safe use of dietary supplements, natural products used for the flu and colds, and mind and body approaches used to manage symptoms of a variety of conditions.

NIH researchers discover new method to label cells for tracking by MRI

Researchers have developed a method to label transplanted cells so they can be tracked by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In the future, as cell therapies become a more integral part of regenerative medicine and tumor treatment, there could be increased need to measure how many transplanted immune or stem cells reach their target.

International voice in human subjects protections named NIH Clinical Center bioethics chief

Christine Grady, Ph.D., was recently named chief of the Department of Bioethics of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center. Grady has served as deputy director of the department since 1996 and served as acting chief since September 2011. Her research focuses on clinical research subject recruitment, incentives, vulnerability, consents, and international research ethics.

More than 10,000 participants have joined the GuLF STUDY

NIH seeking thousands more oil spill workers to find potential health effects of spill

Nearly two years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 10,000 cleanup workers and volunteers have enrolled in the Gulf Long-term Follow-up (GuLF) STUDY, a national effort to determine if the oil spill led to physical or mental health problems. Reaching the GuLF STUDY's target goal of 55,000 participants would make it the largest health study of its kind.

NIH spotlights research for rare eye diseases during Rare Disease Day

On the fifth annual Rare Disease Day, the National Eye Institute (NEI), a part of the National Institutes of Health, joins patients and organizations around the world to raise awareness of rare diseases, celebrate advances in treatment, and pledge continued support of rare disease research. In the United States, a disease is considered rare if it affects fewer than 200,000 Americans. Scientists have identified more than 7,000 rare diseases. Some rare diseases affect only a few hundred people. But considered together, rare diseases affect 25 million Americans, which means about 1 in every 10 people has a rare disease.

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This page was last updated on Friday, July 26, 2024