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:
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — Sam Srisatta, a 20-year-old Florida college student, spent a month living inside a government hospital here last fall, playing video games and allowing scientists to document every morsel of food that went into his mouth.
From big bowls of salad to platters of meatballs and spaghetti sauce, Srisatta noshed his way through a nutrition study aimed at understanding the health effects of ultraprocessed foods, the controversial fare that now accounts for more than 70% of the U.S. food supply. He allowed The Associated Press to tag along for a day.
“Today my lunch was chicken nuggets, some chips, some ketchup,” said Srisatta, one of three dozen participants paid $5,000 each to devote 28 days of their lives to science. “It was pretty fulfilling.”
Examining exactly what made those nuggets so satisfying is the goal of the widely anticipated research led by National Institutes of Health nutrition researcher Kevin Hall.
“What we hope to do is figure out what those mechanisms are so that we can better understand that process,” Hall said.
NIH-led clinical trial suggests that drug slows progression of rare neurological disease.
An experimental drug appears to slow the progression of Niemann-Pick disease type C1 (NPC1), a fatal neurological disease, according to results of a clinical study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The study appears in The Lancet.
NPC1 is a rare genetic disorder that primarily affects children and adolescents, causing a progressive decline in neurological and cognitive functions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved any treatments for the condition.
Niemann-Pick disease type C1, a lipid storage disorder, as seen in a mouse cerebellum.
A new study identifies genes that are necessary in cancer cells for immunotherapy to work, addressing the problem of why some tumors don’t respond to immunotherapy or respond initially but then stop as tumor cells develop resistance to immunotherapy.
The study, from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), was led by Nicholas Restifo, M.D., a senior investigator with NCI’s Center for Cancer Research, with coauthors from NCI; Georgetown University, Washington D.C.; the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; New York University, New York City; and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. It was published online in Nature on August 7, 2017. NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
NCI researchers have identified genes that are essential for cancer cells to be killed by T cells.
In a new study from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, researchers found a higher than expected prevalence of cancer at baseline screening in individuals with Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS), a rare inherited disorder that leads to a higher risk of developing certain cancers. The research demonstrates the feasibility of a new, comprehensive cancer screening protocol for this high-risk population.
Part of a representative image of a whole body MRI of an LFS patient. Arrow denotes lesion found to be lung adenocarcinoma
Study analyzes how virus is spread sexually and from mother to fetus.
National Institutes of Health scientists have developed a mouse model to study Zika virus transmitted sexually from males to females, as well as vertically from a pregnant female to her fetus. They are using the model to study how and when the virus is spread, including how the virus crosses the placenta, as well as to investigate potential treatments to block virus transmission.
Placenta from Zika-infected mouse showing heavy virus infection (green fluorescence) on the maternal side and limited infection on the fetal side. The yellow line designates maternal vs fetal tissue, and the insert shows infection of virus (arrow) on the fetal side of the placenta.
NIMHD will fund three awards to support minority health and health disparities research.
Three postdoctoral fellows within the NIH Intramural Research Program have been selected to receive the first William G. Coleman Jr., Ph.D., Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Innovation Award. This competitive award seeks to support innovative research ideas and concepts - proposing potential for high impact in areas of minority health and health disparities research. Award recipients receive $15,000, each for supplies and services to be used in FY 2017.
While progress has been made in recent years to address existing inequities in health care and research among minorities; health disparities persist. The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), part of the National Institutes of Health, seeks to improve the health status of minorities and other health disparity populations.
Researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have produced the first direct evidence that parts of our brains implicated in mental disorders may be shaped by a “residual echo” from our ancient past. The more a person’s genome carries genetic vestiges of Neanderthals, the more certain parts of his or her brain and skull resemble those of humans’ evolutionary cousins that went extinct 40,000 years ago, says NIMH’s Karen Berman, M.D. NIMH is part of the National Institutes of Health.
In particular, the parts of our brains that enable us to use tools and visualize and locate objects owe some of their lineage to Neanderthal-derived gene variants that are part of our genomes and affect the shape of those structures – to the extent that an individual harbors the ancient variants. But this may involve trade-offs with our social brain. The evidence from MRI scans suggests that such Neanderthal-derived genetic variation may affect the way our brains work today – and may hold clues to understanding deficits seen in schizophrenia and autism-related disorders, say the researchers.
MRI data shows (left) areas of the skull preferentially affected by the amount of Neanderthal-derived DNA and (right) areas of the brain’s visual system in which Neanderthal gene variants influenced cortex folding (red) and gray matter volume (yellow). Michael Gregory, M.D., NIMH Section on Integrative Neuroimaging
Three-part series airing in August portrays the hopes and setbacks of patients, doctors, and nurses seeking cures.
On August 10, Discovery will premiere First in Human, a three-part documentary on the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, providing an unprecedented, first-hand look at the successes and setbacks that are a part of developing brand-new medicines that may ultimately benefit millions worldwide. Over a period of a year, film crews embedded within the hospital follow four patients who volunteered to participate in experimental treatments in the hopes they will help them, or others in the future. The series also follows the dedicated doctors and nurses who carry out the research while caring for the patients. Narrated by Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory,” “Hidden Figures,”), First in Human will air August 10, 17 and 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
“For thousands of patients around the world, NIH is known as the National Institutes of Hope and I am delighted that Discovery’s series will educate the public on the bravery of our volunteer patients who are our partners in scientific discovery,” said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. “This film depicts, in a very poignant way, the difficult decisions faced by many suffering from disease, and the profound contribution of research participants to improving treatments for all.”
Dr. Terry Fry, Head of the Hematologic Malignancies Section at the National Cancer Institute, discusses immunotherapy treatment with research participant Bo Cooper.
Today investigators at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) announced the opening of enrollment for a unique precision medicine clinical trial. NCI-COG Pediatric Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (Pediatric MATCH) is a nationwide trial to explore whether targeted therapies can be effective for children and adolescents with solid tumors that harbor specific genetic mutations and have progressed during or after standard therapy. Pediatric MATCH will incorporate more than eight different study drugs, each targeting a predefined set of genetic mutations, to match patients with therapies aimed at the molecular abnormalities in their tumors.
Biological basis is unknown but may be related to stress response, NIH researchers say.
How well cancer patients fared after chemotherapy was affected by their social interaction with other patients during treatment, according to a new study by researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Cancer patients were a little more likely to survive for five years or more after chemotherapy if they interacted during chemotherapy with other patients who also survived for five years or more. Patients were a little more likely to die in less than five years after chemotherapy when they interacted during chemotherapy with those who died in less than five years. The findings were published online July 12, 2017, in the journal Network Science.
A new study led by scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, demonstrates that aldosterone, a hormone produced in the adrenal glands, may contribute to alcohol use disorder (AUD). The novel research, conducted in collaboration with a team of investigators in the United States and Europe, appears in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
