Research advances from the Intramural Research Program (IRP) are often in the headlines. Read the news releases that describe our most recent findings and achievements:
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
NIH researcher assists in study of Norwegian women
Norwegian pregnant women who received a vaccine against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus showed no increased risk of pregnancy loss, while pregnant women who experienced influenza during pregnancy had an increased risk of miscarriages and still births, a study has found. The study suggests that influenza infection may increase the risk of fetal loss.
Monday, January 14, 2013
The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) of the National Institutes of Health announced today that Eddie Reed, M.D., an award-winning physician and internationally recognized cancer researcher, will serve as the clinical director for the NIMHD Intramural Research Program.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Scientists from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the University of Oxford, U.K., have shed light on a long-standing enigma about the structure of a protein related to the Hepatitis B virus. Their findings were reported in Structure.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Mouse study findings may offer clues for understanding cell fusion
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have identified proteins that allow muscle cells in mice to form from the fusion of the early stage cells that give rise to the muscle cells.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
NIH researchers identify new gene variants associated with risk for complex inflammatory syndrome
Researchers have identified four new regions on the human genome associated with Behcet's disease, a painful and potentially dangerous condition found predominantly in people with ancestors along the Silk Road. For nearly 2,000 years, traders used this 4,000-mile network linking the Far East with Europe to exchange goods, culture and, in the case of the Silk Road disease, genes. National Institutes of Health researchers and their Turkish and Japanese collaborators published their findings in the Jan. 6, 2013, advance online issue of Nature Genetics.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Scientists have discovered a gene that interferes with the clearance of hepatitis C virus infection. They also identified an inherited variant within this gene, Interferon Lambda 4 (IFNL4), that predicts how people respond to treatment for hepatitis C infection. The results of this study, by investigators at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the NIH, and their collaborators at NIH and other institutions, were published online in Nature Genetics on Jan. 6, 2013.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Working-age adults with disabilities account for a disproportionately high amount of annual emergency department visitors, reports a comparison study from National Institutes of Health researchers. As emergency department care may not be the best to address non-urgent concerns and is higher in cost, finding a way to decrease these visits is of interest to many stakeholders.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Patients who have inherited a specific common genetic variant develop bladder cancer tumors that strongly express a protein known as prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA), which is also expressed in many pancreatic and prostate tumors, according to research at the National Institutes of Health.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Works in brain like ketamine, with fewer side effects – NIH trial
A drug that works through the same brain mechanism as the fast-acting antidepressant ketamine briefly improved treatment-resistant patients' depression symptoms in minutes, with minimal untoward side effects, in a clinical trial conducted by the National Institutes of Health. The experimental agent, called AZD6765, acts through the brain's glutamate chemical messenger system.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Scientists at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health, have demonstrated that DNA previously thought to be "junk" plays a critical role in immune system response. The team's findings were published in Cell and may lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets for the treatment of immune-related disorders.
