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Study Identifies Three Effective Treatments for Childhood Anxiety Disorders
10/31/2008
Treatment that combines a certain type of psychotherapy with an antidepressant medication is most likely to help children with anxiety disorders, but each of the treatments alone are also effective, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) The study was published online Oct. 30, in the 'New England Journal of Medicine.'

Researchers Identify Mechanism and Possible Drug Treatment for Growth of Nerve Tumors in Neurofibromatosis
10/31/2008
Researchers studying neurofibromatosis type 1 — a rare disease in which tumors grow within nerves — have found that the tumors are triggered by crosstalk between cells in the nerves and cells in the blood. The researchers, who were funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DOD), also found that a drug on the market for treating certain kinds of blood cancer curbs tumor growth in a mouse model of neurofibromatosis type 1. A clinical trial of the drug is underway in people with the disease.

NIH Funds 16 Science Education Partnership Awards
10/31/2008
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced today it will provide up to an estimated $17 million to fund 16 Science Education Partnership Awards (SEPAs). Led by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) — a part of the NIH — SEPAs provide two to five years of support to stimulate scientific curiosity and encourage hands-on science education activities. By supporting collaboration among scientists, educators and community organizations, SEPA projects help improve public understanding of NIH-funded medical research and encourage young people to choose science as a career path.

Earlier Jaundice Treatment Decreases Brain Injury In Preemies
10/31/2008
A study from a National Institutes of Health research network found that an early treatment to prevent severe newborn jaundice in extremely early preterm infants reduced the infants’ rate of brain injury, a serious complication of severe jaundice.

New Teaching Tools Foster Science and Diabetes Education in Native American Schools
10/30/2008
The Diabetes Education in Tribal Schools' (DETS) 'Health is Life in Balance' K-12 curriculum will be launched by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Indian Health Service (IHS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and eight tribal colleges and universities.

Review of Prostate Cancer Prevention Study Shows No Benefit for Use of Selenium and Vitamin E Supplements
10/29/2008
Initial, independent review of study data from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT), funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and other institutes that comprise the National Institutes of Health shows that selenium and vitamin E supplements, taken either alone or together, did not prevent prostate cancer.

Healing Process Found to Backfire in Lung Patients
10/28/2008
A mechanism in the body which typically helps a person heal from an injury, may actually be causing patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) to get worse, researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and their collaborators have found.

Leukemia Information Added to NIH Web Site about Senior Health
10/28/2008
Information about leukemia has just been added to NIHSeniorHealth, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Web site designed especially for older adults.

NIH Director's Council of Public Representatives Welcomes Six New Members
10/28/2008
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has selected six outstanding individuals to serve as members of the Director's Council of Public Representatives (COPR), the advisory committee to the NIH Director on issues important to the public.

NIH Grants $55 Million in Institutional Development Awards
10/24/2008
The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced today it will provide up to an estimated $55 million to fund five new Institutional Development Awards (IDeA) over the next five years. The awards support multidisciplinary centers -- each concentrating on one general area of research -- that strengthen institutional biomedical research capability and enhance research infrastructure. The IDeA program is designed to improve the competitiveness of investigators in states that historically have not received significant levels of competitive NIH research funding.

The National Institutes of Health and Jackson Medical Mall Launch Informative Health Series for Mississippians
10/24/2008
A quarterly health information series was launched today by the National Institutes of Health and the Jackson Medical Mall.

Annual Bibliography of Significant Advances in Dietary Supplement Research 2007
10/24/2008
The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces the release of the ninth issue of the Annual Bibliography of Significant Advances in Dietary Supplement Research. The papers selected for the 2007 Bibliography include research supported by government, industry, and academic institutions, as well as public-private partnerships.

Panel Advocates Improved Understanding of Hepatitis B and Screening of High-Risk Populations
10/23/2008
Management of hepatitis B is a challenge for physicians and patients due to an incomplete understanding of the disease course, complex treatment indications, and the lack of large studies focusing on important health outcomes. To examine these issues, the NIH convened an independent, impartial panel this week to weigh the available evidence on the management of hepatitis B.

Large-Scale Genetic Study Sheds New Light on Lung Cancer, Opens Door to Individualized Treatment Strategies
10/23/2008
A multi-institution team, funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today reported results of the largest effort to date to chart the genetic changes involved in the most common form of lung cancer, lung adenocarcinoma. The findings should help pave the way for more individualized approaches for detecting and treating the nation's leading cause of cancer deaths.

Researchers Establish International Human Microbiome Consortium
10/22/2008
In related news, leaders from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, signed a letter of intent in September with the European Commission (EC) officially agreeing to combine the data from the NIH Human Microbiome Project and the EC Metagenomics of the Human Intestinal Tract (MetaHIT) project.

New Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research Centers Target Stress-Related Illnesses, Obesity, Cancer, and Other Conditions
10/22/2008
The National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has added four new Centers of Excellence for Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CERCs) to its research centers program. The new centers will add to knowledge about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches and their potential in treating and preventing diseases and conditions that are common among Americans.

NIH Joins with the Jackson Medical Mall to Launch Health Series
10/22/2008
To mark the second anniversary of the National Institutes of Health Information Center at the Jackson Medical Mall in Jackson, MS. The center features health information materials from many of NIH's 27 Institutes and Centers on cancer, heart disease, dental care, diabetes, sudden infant death syndrome, and many other health topics.

Researchers Identify Novel Type of Antibody that Potently Inhibits HIV Infection
10/22/2008
A small antibody fragment that is highly effective in neutralizing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by preventing the virus from entering cells has been identified by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This finding may provide insight into the development of new treatments against HIV and other viruses, hopefully in the not too distant future. The study appears online Oct. 20, 2008, in 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.'

Three NIH Employees Win Presidential Rank Awards
10/21/2008
Three NIH employees were among the more than 350 career federal executives recognized with Presidential Rank Awards on Sept. 30 by President George W. Bush for their outstanding leadership and longtime service to government.

Early Pandemic Flu Wave May Protect Against Worse One Later
10/21/2008
New evidence about the worldwide influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 indicates that getting the flu early protected many people against a second deadlier wave, an article co-authored by an NIH epidemiologist concludes.

Author Lee Woodruff, Nobel Laureate Richard Axel to Speak at NIDCD's 20th Anniversary
10/18/2008
Researchers in a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have demonstrated for the first time that a direct artificial connection from the brain to muscles can restore voluntary movement in monkeys whose arms have been temporarily anesthetized.

Scientists Restore Movement to Paralyzed Limbs through Artificial Brain-Muscle Connections
10/16/2008
Researchers in a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have demonstrated for the first time that a direct artificial connection from the brain to muscles can restore voluntary movement in monkeys whose arms have been temporarily anesthetized.

NIH Funds Two New Centers to Develop Innovative Imaging Technology for Neurodegenerative Disorders and Advanced Software for Protein Analysis
10/16/2008
The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced today it will provide up to an estimated $11 million over the next five years to create two new Biomedical Technology Research Centers (BTRCs) that will provide researchers nationwide with access to specialized research tools, training and state-of-the-art equipment.

NIA and McKnight Brain Research Foundation Join Forces to Support Cognitive Aging Research
10/16/2008
The Research Partnership in Cognitive Aging is a newly launched public-private effort to support current and emerging research on age-related changes in the brain and cognition. Jointly funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the McKnight Brain Research Foundation, through the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), this effort is expected to award an estimated $20 million in research grants over the next five years.

Prolonging the Withdrawal of Life Support in the ICU Affects Family Satisfaction with Care
10/16/2008
According to a paper published in the Oct. 15, 2008, issue of the 'American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine', this practice, referred to as sequential withdrawal, may be relatively common, and may have a varying impact on the family's satisfaction with ICU care. This study was funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), the lead Institute for end-of-life research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Francine R. Kaufman, M.D. Begins Term as Diabetes Education Program Chair
10/16/2008
Francine R. Kaufman, M.D., director of the Comprehensive Childhood Diabetes Center and head of the Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, began a three-year term as chair of the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) on October 1.

More Effective Treatment Identified for Common Childhood Vision Disorder
10/16/2008
While the majority of eye care professionals treat children diagnosed with CI using some form of home-based therapy, a new study concludes that office-based treatment by a trained therapist along with at-home reinforcement is more effective. The research, reported in the Oct.13 issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, was funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

NIH to hold press conference on October 22 following Consensus Development Conference on Management of Hepatitis B
10/16/2008
Hepatitis B is a major cause of liver disease worldwide, ranking as a substantial cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Approximately 1.25 million people are chronically infected with the virus in the United States, resulting in 3,000 to 5,000 deaths each year. The incomplete understanding of the natural history of the disease, coupled with multiple conflicting guidelines, make the management of this complex disease challenging. These issues will be addressed at the upcoming NIH Consensus Development Conference: Management of Hepatitis B, October 20-22, 2008.

Larger Labs Report Kidney Function Routinely
10/11/2008
Labs that conduct the highest number of routine blood tests are more likely than others to report estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), an important measure of kidney function that can identify early kidney disease, according to a survey funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The work is reported in the October issue of the 'American Journal of Kidney Diseases.'

NIH Scientists Discover Crucial Control in Long-Lasting Immunity
10/11/2008
National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists have identified a protein that plays matchmaker between two key types of white blood cells, T and B cells, enabling them to interact in a way that is crucial to establishing long-lasting immunity after an infection.

Jack Killen, M.D., Named Deputy Director of NCCAM
10/11/2008
John (Jack) Killen, Jr., M.D. was recently appointed Deputy Director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Stellar Scientists, Author to Take Part in NIDCD's 20th Anniversary Symposium
10/10/2008
The scientific and human sides of communication and communication disorders will be featured on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008, when the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), one of the National Institutes of Health, holds a symposium to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The symposium will take place from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Natcher Conference Center, on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Md. It will highlight accomplishments of NIDCD research over the past two decades as well as the perspectives and talents of people who have a personal connection with a communication disorder. Roughly one in six people in this country will experience a communication disorder in his or her life.

NIAID Awards Contracts to Search for Protein Markers of Disease
10/10/2008
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded two five-year contracts to establish Clinical Proteomics Centers for Infectious Diseases and Biodefense. The contracts were awarded to the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, and to the Canadian firm Caprion Proteomics, Montreal. Researchers at the centers will analyze human blood and other tissue samples from completed or ongoing clinical studies with the aim of discovering proteins that could serve as biomarkers of infectious disease..

New Systems Biology Awards Enable Detailed Study of Microbes
10/10/2008
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will award five-year contracts estimated to be up to $68.7 million to establish programs in Systems Biology for Infectious Disease Research at four research institutions. Scientists at each facility will apply novel techniques to study diseases that include severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), tuberculosis and influenza.

New Data Resource to Advance Computer-Aided Drug Design
10/10/2008
The University of Michigan will lead the effort to expand and enhance the molecular data needed to develop computer programs that more accurately predict potential drug candidates. The data will be housed in a Web-based resource that the scientific community and others interested in this information can access for free. The resource is estimated to receive up to $5 million over five years from NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).

Annual Report Targets Chronic Kidney Disease in the United States
10/9/2008
A 30 percent increase in chronic kidney disease over the past decade has prompted the U.S. Renal Data System (USRDS) to issue for the first time a separate report documenting the magnitude of the disease, which affects an estimated 27 million Americans and accounts for more than 24 percent of Medicare costs. The USRDS is funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

New NIH Policy to Fund Meritorious Science Earlier
10/9/2008
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a new policy today that will enhance success rates of new and resubmitted applications by decreasing the number of allowed grant application resubmissions from two to one.

NIH Grantees Win 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the Discovery and Development of the Green Fluorescent Protein, GFP
10/9/2008
The 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry is shared by two NIH grantees, Martin Chalfie, Ph.D., of Columbia University and Roger Y. Tsien, Ph.D., of the University of California at San Diego.

Scientists Decode Genome of Parasite that Causes Relapsing Malaria
10/9/2008
Scientists have deciphered the complete genetic sequence of the parasite Plasmodium vivax, the leading cause of relapsing malaria, and compared it with the genomes of other species of malaria parasites. The findings shed light on distinctive genetic features of P. vivax, and may lead to new tools to prevent and treat P. vivax malaria. Results of the study, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), appear in the Oct. 9 issue of 'Nature'.

Statement of Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health on National Latino AIDS Awareness Day, October 15, 2008
10/9/2008
The HIV infection rate for Latinos in this country -- 29.3 new cases per 100,000 people in 2006 -- is nearly three times higher than for whites. Since the epidemic began, an estimated 80,690 Latinos with AIDS in the United States have died. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), joins the Latino community in mourning those who have succumbed to this terrible disease.

Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., NIH Director, Announces New NIH CIO
10/8/2008
Bethesda, Maryland October 7, 2008 — Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is pleased to announce the appointment of John F. 'Jack' Jones, Ph.D., as NIH Chief Information Officer (CIO), effective June 22, 2008.

Human Microbiome Project Awards Funds for Technology Development, Data Analysis and Ethical Research
10/8/2008
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced the first awards for its Human Microbiome Project, which will lay a foundation for efforts to explore how complex communities of microbes interact with the human body to influence health and disease. The funding, estimated to be up to approximately $21.2 million, will support the development of innovative technologies and computational tools, coordination of data analysis, and an examination of some of the ethical, legal and social implications of human microbiome research.

NIAID Announces 25 New Awards to Develop Radiation Countermeasures
10/8/2008
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded 25 new grants to develop new and better diagnostics and treatments for radiation exposure after a nuclear attack. Several of these grants were awarded under Project Bioshield Authority, legislation that enables NIAID within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to use a rapid award process to help stimulate research on medical countermeasures against chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) threats.

Anti-Cancer Drug Prevents, Reverses Cardiovascular Damage in Mouse Model of Premature Aging Disorder
10/8/2008
An experimental anti-cancer drug can prevent -- and even reverse -- potentially fatal cardiovascular damage in a mouse model of progeria, a rare genetic disorder that causes the mostdramatic form of human premature aging, National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers reported today.

Noted Geriatrician Named Aging Institute Deputy Director
10/7/2008
Marie A. Bernard, M.D., a noted geriatrician and educator from the University of Oklahoma, has been named deputy director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), effective Oct. 12, 2008. Bernard brings exceptional skills and training as a physician, educator, administrator and investigator to the position at NIA, where she will take a major leadership role in directing the nation’s research program on aging and on age-related cognitive change.

NIH Scientists Identify Link Between Brain Systems Implicated in Schizophrenia
10/7/2008
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have deciphered the complex relationship between three distinct brain circuits implicated in schizophrenia. The researchers determined that one brain circuit acts through an intermediary brain circuit. The intermediary circuit acts like a volume control knob, turning up the electrical activity of still another brain circuit, or turning it down. The finding suggests that schizophrenia could result from a malfunction anywhere in the link between these three brain circuits.

NIH Launches New Web Site for Parents on Medical Research Studies for Children
10/7/2008
A new Web site from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 'Children and Clinical Studies' (www.ChildrenAndClinicalStudies.nhlbi.nih.gov), offers parents and health care providers an insider's guide to children's medical research.

Scientists Identify Gene Variant Involved in Isolated Cleft Lip
10/7/2008
About 20 percent of isolated cleft lip, one of the world’s most common birth defects, may be due to a one-letter difference in the DNA sequence of a gene involved in facial development, researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health report.

NIH's National Children's Study Enters Next Phase
10/4/2008
The National Institutes of Health announced today that its comprehensive study to examine the effect of genes and the environment on children's health had entered the next phase of operations. At a briefing on the latest developments in the National Children's Study, NIH officials named the study centers funded for 2008.

DNA of Good Bacteria Drives Intestinal Response to Infection
10/3/2008
A new study shows that the DNA of so-called 'good bacteria' that normally live in the intestines may help defend the body against infection. The findings, available October 2 online in the journal Immunity, are reported by Yasmine Belkaid, Ph.D., and her colleagues in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Millisecond Brain Signals Predict Response to Fast-Acting Antidepressant
10/3/2008
In the new study at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, depressed patients showed increasing activity in a mood-regulating hub near the front of the brain while viewing flashing frightful faces -- the more the increase, the better their response to an experimental fast-acting medication called ketamine.

NIDCD Launches Campaign to Protect the Hearing of Tweens
10/3/2008
A new campaign to help parents of 8- to 12-year-olds teach their children how to avoid hearing loss from overexposure to loud noise was launched today by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), part of the National Institutes of Health.

NCI Launches First-Ever Study to Determine if Biomarkers Can Help Guide Treatment for Lung Cancer
10/3/2008
This study, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, is called MARVEL (Marker Validation for Erlotinib in Lung Cancer) and will attempt to definitively establish the future value of selecting patients for treatment based on the presence or absence of EGFR activation.

NIH Announces Initial Implementation Timeline For Enhancing Peer Review Activity
10/3/2008
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced today that it will begin implementing changes to enhance its peer review system, after an extensive, year-long review. While the peer review system is a cornerstone of NIH, the increasing complexity and interdisciplinary nature of modern research has created a number of new challenges and demands on the system that merit enhancements in critical areas.

NNIH Announces Initial Implementation Timeline For Enhancing Peer Review Activity
10/1/2008
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced today that it will begin implementing changes to enhance its peer review system, after an extensive, year-long review. While the peer review system is a cornerstone of NIH, the increasing complexity and interdisciplinary nature of modern research has created a number of new challenges and demands on the system that merit enhancements in critical areas.

NIH Named to AARP's List of Best Employers for Workers Over 50
10/1/2008
The National Institutes of Health has been named to AARP's list of Best Employers for Workers Over 50. NIH is the first federal agency to make the AARP list, placing eleventh in the 2008 rankings.

NIDA NewsScan #55
10/1/2008
The NIDA NewsScan #55 examines the latest findings on drug abuse on the aging brain as well key issues including the relationship between nicotine addiction and adolescents, effect of parents' sobriety counseling on children's behavior as well as 12-step meetings on sustained abstinence and increased participation in community–based treatment as a result from methadone maintenance before prison release. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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