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.
Investigators with the National Institutes of Health have discovered the genomic switches of a blood cell key to regulating the human immune system. The findings, published in Nature today, open the door to new research and development in drugs and personalized medicine to help those with autoimmune disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease or rheumatoid arthritis.
Study Led by Liberia-NIH Partnership Will Test Two Experimental Vaccines
A large clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of two experimental vaccines to prevent Ebola virus infection is now open to volunteers in Liberia. The trial is being led by a recently formed Liberia-U.S. clinical research partnership and is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. The Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccines in Liberia or PREVAIL, a Phase 2/3 study, is designed to enroll approximately 27,000 healthy men and women aged 18 years and older.
Pre-clinical studies in mice reveal ways to reduce cancer risk with modified treatment
National Institutes of Health researchers have uncovered a key factor in understanding the elevated cancer risk associated with gene therapy. They conducted research on mice with a rare disease similar to one in humans, hoping their findings may eventually help improve gene therapy for humans. Researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of NIH, published their research in the Jan. 20, 2015, online issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Nearly 42 percent of U.S. adults who drink also report using medications known to interact with alcohol, based on a study from the National Institutes of Health released today. Among those over 65 years of age who drink alcohol, nearly 78 percent report using alcohol-interactive medications.
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health have entered into an agreement with biotechnology company Vtesse, Inc., of Gaithersburg, Maryland, to develop treatments for Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC) and other lysosomal storage disorders. Researchers at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), both parts of NIH, will conduct studies on NPC and other lysosomal storage disorders with funding provided by Vtesse.
Earlier today, the NIH Clinical Center discharged the patient who was admitted to the hospital on December 11 following a high-risk exposure to Ebola virus while providing bedside nursing care in Sierra Leone. We are happy to report that the patient has shown no clinical or laboratory evidence of Ebola infection and will complete 21 days of monitoring at a private residence in Virginia under the direction of the Virginia Department of Health. The patient feels well and has no fever. CDC guidelines pertaining to monitoring and isolation will be followed until the completion of the 21-day observation period from the time of reported exposure.
NIH study shows young children with type 1 diabetes have significant difference in brain development
Young children who have long-term high blood sugar levels are more likely to have slower brain growth, according to researchers at centers including the National Institutes of Health.
The National Institutes of Health agency with primary responsibility for research on promising health approaches that already are in use by the American public has a new name — the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH).
We are continuing to observe and monitor the person who, following a high-risk exposure while working as a health care worker in Sierra Leone, was transported back to the United States in isolation via a chartered aircraft and admitted to the NIH Special Clinical Studies Unit. To date, this person has not tested positive for Ebola virus disease.
Cohort for clinical research program continues to grow
The National Institutes of Health has selected three researchers as new Lasker Clinical Research Scholars as part of a joint initiative with the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation to nurture the next generation of great clinical scientists. The scholars are Hans Ackerman, M.D., D.Phil.; Andrea Apolo, M.D.; and Falk Lohoff, M.D. They join two NIH Lasker scholars hired previously.
