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Media Availability Following Briefing for Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin on the Bayview Biomedical Research Center
5/31/2008
Senators Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) and Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) will visit the National Institutes of Health’s Biomedical Research Center (BRC) on the Johns Hopkins Bayview campus in Baltimore, Maryland on Monday, June 2, 2008.
Spontaneous Mutations Rife in Non-Familial Schizophrenia
5/31/2008
People with schizophrenia from families with no history of the illness were found to harbor eight times more spontaneous mutations — most in pathways affecting brain development — than healthy controls, in a study supported in part the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
NIH Researchers Find That Rett Syndrome Gene is Full of Surprises
5/30/2008
By manipulating the number of copies of the MECP2 gene in mice,
the authors of the new study found that it controls thousands of
other genes, suppressing some, but activating most. The research
was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders
and Stroke (NINDS) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute
of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), both part of NIH.
NIH Expands National Consortium Dedicated to Transforming Clinical and Translational Research
5/30/2008
Fourteen academic health centers in 11 states are the latest members of the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) consortium. Creating a unique network of medical research institutions across the nation, the consortium is working to reduce the time it takes for laboratory discoveries to become treatments for patients and to engage communities in clinical research efforts. It also is fulfilling the critical need to train the next generation of clinical and translational researchers. The consortium is led by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a part of the NIH.
NIDA to Highlight Latest Drug Abuse Research at Cincinnati Conference Blending Addiction Science and Treatment
5/30/2008
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health, will convene a 2-day conference to explore how the latest scientific findings in drug abuse can fill the current gap between research and clinical treatment practices.
Francis S. Collins to Step Down as Director of National Human Genome Research Institute
5/29/2008
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced his intention to step down on August 1 to explore writing projects and other professional opportunities.
Scientists Identify a Brain Mechanism Underlying Persistent Cocaine Craving
5/29/2008
Scientists have identified a mechanism in the brain that helps to explain why craving for cocaine, and the risk of relapse, seems to increase in the weeks and months after drug use is stopped. The research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.
NCI Scientists Visualize Gene Regulation in Living Cells
5/23/2008
A research team led by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has applied advanced imaging methods and computer simulations to be able to glance at the regulation of a cancer-related gene in a living cell. They found that the efficiency with which the components of the cell’s gene reading machinery come together has an impact on gene expression, the process by which a gene translates its information into a new protein. The findings, published in the May 23, 2008 issue of 'Molecular Cell', shed new light on the means by which living cells regulate gene activity.
Reducing Blockage Fails to Improve Access to the Bloodstream for Kidney Dialysis
5/23/2008
Reducing early blockages in bloodstream access for kidney failure treatment does not increase the likelihood that the access will function adequately for long-term treatments, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Results were published May 14, 2008, in the '
Journal of the American Medical Association'.
More Intensive Dialysis Does Not Improve Outcomes among Patients with Acute Kidney Injury
5/23/2008
No significant difference in death rates or other outcomes was found between a group of patients with acute kidney injury that received intensive dialysis and another group that received a more standard regimen of dialysis, according to a joint Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) study published in the June issue of the 'New England Journal of Medicine'.
Smokers Flock Together and Quit Together
5/23/2008
Researchers analyzing changes in smoking behavior over the past three decades within a large social network found smokers quit in groups and not as isolated individuals. Those who continued to smoke also formed clusters that, over time, shifted from the center of the social network, where social connections are more numerous, to the periphery of the group. The report, appearing in the May 22, 2008, 'New England Journal of Medicine' and funded primarily by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the NIH, could play a role in developing clinical and public health interventions to reduce and prevent smoking.
NIAID to Advance B-Cell Approach to HIV Vaccines
5/21/2008
To advance underdeveloped approaches to designing a preventive HIV vaccine, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is launching a new program to foster the study of B cells, immune cells that can produce antibodies with the capacity to neutralize HIV.
NIH Launches Undiagnosed Diseases Program
5/20/2008
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced a new clinical research program that will aim to provide answers to patients with mysterious conditions that have long eluded diagnosis. Called the Undiagnosed Diseases Program, the trans-NIH initiative will focus on the most puzzling medical cases referred to the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., by physicians across the nation.
Statement of Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on National Asian and Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, May 19, 2008
5/20/2008
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),
part of the National Institutes of Health, joins with Asians and
Pacific Islanders in mourning the members of this community who
have died from AIDS and in commending those who provide HIV/AIDS
prevention services and who care for people living with HIV.
NINR Welcomes Three New Members to Advisory Council for Nursing Research
5/20/2008
Three new members to the National Advisory Council for Nursing
Research (NACNR), the principal advisory board for the National
Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), were announced today. The
advisory council meets three times a year to provide recommendations
on the conduct and support of biomedical, social, and behavioral
research that provides an evidence base for nursing practice. NINR,
one of the National Institutes of Health, supports clinical and
basic research to establish a scientific basis for the care of
individuals across the lifespan.
Researchers Develop First Transgenic Monkey Model of Huntington's Disease
5/20/2008
Scientists have developed the first genetically altered monkey
model that replicates some symptoms observed in patients with Huntington's
disease, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes
of Health.
Statement of Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, May 18, 2008
5/17/2008
This year's HIV Vaccine Awareness Day
provides us with an opportunity to renew and strengthen our commitment
here at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to finding a safe
and effective HIV vaccine that will slow, and hopefully one day
end, the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
NIH Launches Undiagnosed Diseases Program
5/14/2008
Teleconference to discuss new trans-NIH clinical research program and its anticipated service to the medical community and patients from across the United States.
Free NIH Teaching Tools Help Educators Meet State Science Education Standards
5/14/2008
A popular series of curriculum supplements from the National Institutes
of Health (NIH) aimed at promoting science education achievement
is now aligned to individual state education standards in science,
math, health and English language arts for kindergarten through
the 12th grade.
Molecular Pathway in Muscle Helps Explain Effectiveness of Diabetes Interventions
5/13/2008
Scientists at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal
and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of
Health (NIH), demonstrate for the first time in a mouse model that
skeletal muscle cells cultured in a low-calorie environment refrain
from differentiating, an energy-demanding process by which cells
mature and specialize.
First Addiction Science Award to be Given to Students at International Science Fair
5/9/2008
This year, for the first time, three students will receive awards for exemplary projects in Addiction Science at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the world's largest science competition for high school students. The Addiction Science award is co-sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company.
Mothers' High Normal Blood Sugar Levels Place Infants at Risk for Birth Problems
5/9/2008
Pregnant women with blood sugar levels in the higher range of normal -- but not high enough to be considered diabetes -- are more likely than women with lower blood sugar levels to give birth to babies at risk for many of the same problems seen in babies born to women with diabetes during pregnancy, according to a study funded in large part by the National Institutes of Health.
Duck-Billed Platypus Genome Sequence Published
5/8/2008
The first analysis of the genome sequence of the duck-billed platypus
was published today by an international team of scientists, revealing
clues about how genomes were organized during the early evolution
of mammals. The research was supported in part by the National
Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes
of Health (NIH).
NIHSeniorHealth Offers Tips on Eating Well as You Get Older
5/8/2008
How should you eat as you get older? Which foods are likely to
keep you most healthy and which ones should you limit? Is it possible
to eat well and stay within a healthy weight? These and other questions
are addressed in 'Eating Well as You Get Older,' the latest topic
to be added to NIHSeniorHealth, the health and wellness Web site
developed by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National
Library of Medicine (NLM), both part of the National Institutes
of Health.
Mental Disorders Cost Society Billions in Unearned Income
5/8/2008
Major mental disorders cost the nation at least $193 billion annually
in lost earnings alone, according to a new study funded by the
National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health
(NIMH).
Kidney Disease Substantially Worsens in a Fourth of African Americans despite Therapy for Hypertension
5/6/2008
The best available treatment for chronic kidney disease from high
blood pressure did not keep the disease from substantially worsening
in about a fourth of African-Americans studied, according to long-term
results of a National Institutes of Health study published April
28, 2008, in the 'Archives of Internal Medicine'.
Studies Test New Approaches to Islet Transplantation
5/3/2008
Researchers from 11 medical centers in the United States,
Canada, Sweden, and Norway have begun testing new approaches to
transplanting clusters of insulin-producing islets in adults with
difficult-to-control type 1 diabetes. The clinical studies,
funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will determine
whether changes to current methods of islet transplantation lead
to improved, long-lasting control of blood glucose with fewer side
effects.
Researchers Find that a Small Molecule Can Activate an Important Cancer Suppressor Gene
5/2/2008
By activating a cancer suppressor gene, a small molecule called
nutlin-3a can block cancer cell division, according to researchers
at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes
of Health.
Intensive Training for Medical Staff in Latin American Hospitals Reduces Serious Complication of Pregnancy
5/2/2008
An intensive educational program for physicians and midwives involving
19 hospitals in Argentina and Uruguay dramatically reduced the
rate of postpartum hemorrhage, according to researchers from the
National Institutes of Health and other institutions.
Researchers Produce First Sequence Map Of Large-Scale Structural Variation in Human Genome
5/1/2008
A nationwide team of researchers, funded in part by the National
Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes
of Health (NIH), has produced the first sequence-based map of large-scale
structural variation across the human genome.
Researchers Find Quick Way to Make Human Monoclonal Antibodies against Flu
5/1/2008
Human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) -- highly specific, identical, infection-fighting proteins produced in large quantities in the lab in cell lines that are derived from a single antibody-producing cell -- against influenza can be rapidly produced in the lab, according to a new report from scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).