Vodcast 2007 Show Notes
Episode #0003 — June 8, 2007 Welcome to i on NIH! In this month’s episode: HIV vaccine research and education initiative, studying nutrition and fitness, and in our i-to-eye interview, a bicyclist's journey to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s disease.
V/O: FROM THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH IN BETHESDA, MARYLAND – AMERICA’S PREMIERE MEDICAL RESEARCH AGENCY – THIS IS “I ON NIH”! COVERING HEALTH-RESEARCH TOPICS IMPORTANT TO YOU AND THE NATION, THIS PUBLIC SERVICE VODCAST IS YOUR INFORMATION SOURCE FROM INSIDE ALL 27 INSTITUTES AND CENTERS AT NIH. HALF AN HOUR, ONCE A MONTH, WE’LL SHOW YOU THE EXCITEMENT OF ADVANCES AND THE IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT COMES FROM MEDICAL RESEARCH. AND NOW, HERE’S YOUR HOST, JOE BALINTFY. MUSIC HOST: WELCOME TO THE THIRD EDITION OF “I ON NIH”! IN THIS JUNE EPISODE, WE’RE LOOKING AT SOME TIMELY TOPICS, INCLUDING SOME COVERAGE FROM LAST MONTH’S HIV VACCINE AWARENESS DAY, EFFORTS TO STUDY NUTRITION AND FITNESS AT OUR METABOLIC UNIT, AND A SPECIAL INTERVIEW WITH JOSH ELDER, WHO’S BIKING ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE. BUT FIRST, “I ON NIH” IS PROUD TO INTRODUCE A NEW MEMBER TO OUR TEAM. BRINGING NEWS AND HEADLINES TO KICK OFF EACH EPISODE WE’LL BE TURNING TO HARRISON WEIN. HERE’S HARRISON AT THE NIH NEWS DESK. HARRISON: THANKS JOE. AN NIH-FUNDED RESEARCH TEAM HAS SEQUENCED THE GENOME OF A FEMALE GREY, SHORT-TAILED OPOSSUM—THE FIRST MARSUPIAL GENOME TO BE SEQUENCED. WHY STUDY MARSUPIALS? THEY’RE IDEAL FOR EARLY DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH. MARSUPIALS ARE BORN AT AN EARLIER STAGE THAN PLACENTAL MAMMALS LIKE HUMANS AND LIVE IN THEIR MOTHER’S POUCH UNTIL THEY CAN MOVE ON THEIR OWN. THE RESEARCHERS FOUND THAT OVER 99% OF THE OPOSSUM’S GENES ARE ALSO FOUND IN PEOPLE. ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING THINGS THEY FOUND IS THAT MOST OF THE GENETIC CHANGES BELIEVED TO HAVE PLAYED A ROLE IN HUMAN EVOLUTION ARE FOUND IN REGIONS OF THE GENOME THAT DON’T CODE FOR ANY PROTEINS. THESE REGIONS USED TO BE CALLED “JUNK DNA.” SCIENTISTS NOW KNOW THAT JUNK DNA CAN INFLUENCE THE ACTIVITY OF NEARBY GENES. THIS STUDY SUGGESTS IT MAY BE A MAJOR CREATIVE FORCE IN EVOLUTION. RESEARCHERS AT NIH’S NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE HAVE DESCRIBED A NEW STRUCTURE THAT HELPS THE AIDS VIRUS GAIN ENTRY TO ITS TARGET CELLS IN THE HUMAN IMMUNE SYSTEM. THEY USED A TECHNIQUE CALLED ELECTRON TOMOGRAPHY TO CAPTURE HIGHLY DETAILED, 3- DIMENSIONAL IMAGES OF HIV INTERACTING WITH IMMUNE SYSTEM CELLS CALLED T CELLS. THE TEAM REPORTED THAT WHEN HIV MAKES CONTACT WITH A T CELL A CLUSTER OF 5 TO 7 ROD-SHAPED VIRAL STRUCTURES FORMS BETWEEN THE VIRUS AND THE CELL. THEY DUBBED THE STRUCTURE THE “ENTRY CLAW.” THE MORE THAT RESEARCHERS UNDERSTAND HOW HIV INFECTS CELLS, THE MORE LIKELY THEY’LL BE ABLE TO DEVELOP BETTER THERAPIES TO PREVENT INFECTION. CHECK OUT THESE AND OTHER STORIES AT THE “NIH RESEARCH MATTERS” HOME PAGE. YOU CAN FIND THAT THROUGH WWW-DOT-NIH-DOT-GOV. CLICK THE LINK IN THE LEFT-HAND COLUMN THAT SAYS, “E-COLUMN: NIH RESEARCH MATTERS.” AND FROM “NIH NEWS IN HEALTH,” YOU HEAR ABOUT THE RESULTS OF CLINICAL RESEARCH ALL THE TIME. YOU’VE PROBABLY MADE A FEW CHANGES—WHAT YOU EAT OR HOW MUCH YOU EXERCISE—BASED ON SOME STUDY. BUT ARE YOU PLAYING YOUR PART IN CLINICAL RESEARCH? DOCTORS AND SCIENTISTS ARE CONDUCTING CLINICAL STUDIES IN EVERY STATE OF THE UNION. LEARN MORE ABOUT CLINICAL STUDIES… AND HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED. READ MORE ABOUT THIS AND OTHER HEALTH TOPICS IN “NIH NEWS IN HEALTH” AT NEWS-IN-HEALTH-DOT-NIH-DOT-GOV. THIS IS HARRISON WEIN AT THE NIH SCIENCE DESK. BACK TO YOU JOE. HOST: THANKS AND WELCOME HARRISON! NOW FOR OUR FIRST FEATURE. LAST MONTH, THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES’ VACCINE RESEARCH CENTER WAS PROMOTING HIV VACCINE AWARENESS DAY. “I ON NIH” CAUGHT UP WITH FOLKS ON THE FRONT LINES OF OUTREACH AND RESEARCH. WALLY AKINSO BRINGS US BOTH THE LOCAL AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE OF HIV VACCINE AWARENESS. WALLY: MAY 18TH WAS HIV VACCINE AWARENESS DAY. THIS ANNUAL OBSERVANCE IS A DAY TO RECOGNIZE AND THANK ALL OF THOSE WHO ARE WORKING TOGETHER TO FIND A SAFE AND EFFECTIVE HIV VACCINE. ONE OF THOSE IS BRENDA LARKIN OF THE VACCINE RESEARCH CENTER, PART OF NIH’S NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES. LARKIN: “WHEN LOOKING AT THE STATISTICS OF HIV, WE KNOW THAT THIS IS A GLOBAL PANDEMIC. AND WHEN THINKING IN THE PAST OF WHAT VACCINES HAVE DONE, THEY’VE HAD A GREAT PUBLIC HEALTH BENEFIT. IT WAS A WAY OF SAVING LIVES IN THE PAST. AND I BELIEVE TODAY WE CAN STILL SAVE LIVES IF WE CAN COME UP WITH A VACCINE TO PREVENT HIV INFECTION.” KRIPKE: “WE’VE SEEN THAT WITH OTHER VIRAL DISEASES IN THE PAST FOR EXAMPLE POLIO HAS BEEN NEARLY ERADICATED BECAUSE OF THE VACCINE.” WALLY: DR. KATHARINE KRIPKE IS THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR THE VACCINE RESEARCH PROGRAM AT NIAID. KRIPKE: “40 MILLION PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD ARE INFECTED WITH HIV. AND EVERY YEAR THERE ARE 4 MILLION NEW INFECTIONS. WE CAN’T TREAT PEOPLE AS FAST AS PEOPLE ARE GETTING INFECTED RIGHT NOW; WE DON’T HAVE THE RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE TO DO THAT. NOW WE’RE DEFINITELY SUPPORTIVE OF DEVELOPING MORE RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE FOR TREATING PEOPLE, BUT ULTIMATELY THE WAY TO END THE EPIDEMIC IS BY DEVELOPING A VACCINE.” LARKIN: “BETWEEN THE SCIENCE THAT IS GOING ON ON THE NIH CAMPUS AT THE VACCINE RESEARCH CENTER AND THE PUBLIC’S INVOLVEMENT IS HOW WE’RE GOING TO GET TO EFFECTIVE HIV VACCINES.” WALLY: AN EFFORT TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT, IS THE BE-THE-GENERATION CAMPAIGN, INCLUDING INFORMATION BROCHURES AND PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS: PSA www3.niaid.nih.gov/ news/events/HVAD/ WALLY: BUT THE “BE THE GENERATION” WEBSITE AND MATERIALS ARE ONLY PART OF THE OUTREACH. HIV VACCINE AWARENESS DAY IS A BIG OPPORTUNITY TO HIGHLIGHT HIV VACCINE AWARENESS EFFORTS. LARKIN: “ONE THING WE DO IS WE CELEBRATE ALL PAST VOLUNTEERS WHO HAVE PARTICIPATED IN HIV VACCINE CLINICAL TRIALS, NOT ONLY AT THE VACCINE RESEARCH CENTER, BUT AROUND THE WORLD. AND WE ALSO THEN TRY TO DO OUTREACH. (0:58) WE CONTINUALLY DO OUTREACH BECAUSE WE REALLY NEED TO ALWAYS INCREASE AWARENESS ABOUT HIV VACCINES BECAUSE WE ONE DAY HOPE TO FIND A VACCINE THAT MAY PREVENT HIV INFECTION. BUT WE NEED TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE DO NOT HAVE AN HIV VACCINE RIGHT NOW.” KRIPKE: “A VACCINE IS OUR BEST HOPE FOR ENDING THE AIDS EPIDEMIC AND WE NEED EVERYBODY’S SUPPORT.” WALLY: GARNERING SUPPORT THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS WITH LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS IS ONE WAY NIAID AND THE VACCINE RESEARCH CENTER START DIALOGUES. STERLING WASHINGTON IS THE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT AT US HELPING US, PEOPLE INTO LIVING, INC., AN ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO REDUCING HIV INFECTION IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY AND PROVIDING SUPPORT SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE HIV POSITIVE. HIS ORGANIZATION IS PARTICULARLY ACTIVE ON HIV VACCINE AWARENESS DAY. WASHINGTON: “WE ARE, IN ADDITION TO GETTING THE WORD OUT ABOUT THE VACCINE RESEARCH EFFORTS, WE’RE GOING TO BE HOLDING SOME INFORMATION AND EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS AT OUR HEADQUARTERS.” WASHINGTON: “WE’RE LOCATED IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BUT DO OUTREACH TO SUBURBAN MARYLAND, NORTHERN VIRGINIA AND ALSO WEST VIRGINIA. THIS MORNING WE WENT OUT WITH THE BARBERSHOP TEAM AND THAT IS A TEAM THAT GOES OUT EVERY WEEK OR SO TO LOCAL BARBER SHOPS AND DELIVERS CONDOMS AND SAFER SEX MATERIALS TO THE BARBER SHOPS. THE BARBERS IN THE SHOPS HAVE IN LARGE PART BEEN TRAINED TO BE SAFER SEX EDUCATORS AND SAFER SEX METHODS AND THEY SPEAK WITH THEIR CLIENTS FOR THE NEED FOR SAFER SEX METHODS LIKE CONDOM USE. INTEGRATING THE VACCINE EFFORT INTO THIS, WE ALSO TOOK INFORMATION ON THE VACCINE RESEARCH CENTER AND HOW PEOPLE CAN BECOME PART OF THE TRIALS. AND IT WAS CENTERED ON THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY WHICH IS UNDERREPRESENTED IN A LOT OF THE VACCINE STUDIES.” KRIPKE: “AFRICAN AMERICANS AND LATINOS ARE SOME OF THE HIGHEST RISK IN THE US – WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THE VACCINE IS BEING TESTING WITH THE PEOPLE WHO WILL NEED IT MOST. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE TRIALS WILL BE REPRESENTATIVE.” WALLY: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT US HELPING US IS RON SIMMONS. HE EXPLAINS THAT THERE’S A HISTORY WITH HIS ORGANIZATION, THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY AND THE FIGHT AGAINST HIV. SIMMONS: “IT’S IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE TO BE INVOLVED IN CLINICAL TRIALS SO THAT WHEN THE RESULTS COME OUT, YOU KNOW IT WORKS FOR YOU. THE PROBLEM IS THAT TOO OFTEN TIMES BLACKS ARE NOT INVOLVED WITH CLINICAL TRIALS THEN WHEN THE DRUG COMES OUT, THEY FIND THAT IT DOESN’T WORK AS WELL FOR BLACK PEOPLE SO MY FEELING IS WE’VE GOT TO BE A PART OF THAT.” SIMMONS: “SO WE SAID LET’S TRAIN THE BARBERS SO THAT THEY CAN BE HIV EDUCATORS SO THAT WHEN THEY’RE WORKING IN THEIR SHOPS, AND WHEN THEY HEAR SOMETHING IGNORANT, THEY CAN CORRECT IT.” SIMMONS: “IN FACT, THE BARBERSHOP PROGRAM WE HAVE NOW, WE ACTUALLY TEACH THE BARBERS TO INITIATE THE CONVERSATION WITH THE GUY IN THE CHAIR. BEFORE IT WAS MORE ‘IF YOU HEAR THIS BEING SAID’ THIS IS THE TRUTH.” KRIPKE: “PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT A) WE NEED HIV NEGATIVE VOLUNTEERS, AND B) THEY’RE NOT GOING TO GET HIV FROM THE VACCINE AND C) THE RESEARCH DOES NOT INVOLVE INTESTINALLY INJECTING PEOPLE WITH HIV.” WALLY: DR. KRIPKE ENCOURAGES PEOPLE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HIV VACCINE RESEARCH AND GETTING INFORMED AT THE BE-THE-GENERATION WEBSITE. KRIPKE: “RIGHT NOW, MOSTLY WHAT WE NEED IS FOR PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE IN CLINICAL TRIALS OF VACCINE PRODUCTS SO THAT WE CAN TEST THEM AND MOVE THEM FORWARD BUT THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO GET INVOLVED. PEOPLE CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT VACCINE RESEARCH AND GET INFORMED. ONE WAY THEY CAN DO THAT IS BY VISITING THE BE THE GENERATION WEBSITE WHICH IS BE-THE-GENERATION-DOT-ORG. ALSO THEY CAN ONCE THEY DO INFORM THEMSELVES ABOUT VACCINE RESEARCH, IF THEY THINK THAT IT’S IMPORTANT THEN THEY CAN EDUCATE THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY ABOUT IT, THEY CAN BE SUPPORTIVE OF PEOPLE WHO VOLUNTEER FOR TRIALS IF THEY THEMSELVES ARE UNABLE TO PARTICIPATE, OR NOT INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING THEY CAN AT LEAST BE SUPPORTIVE OF OTHERS. THAT’S VERY IMPORTANT. ALSO PEOPLE CAN PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARDS FOR THE RESEARCH IF THERE’S RESEARCH GOING ON IN THEIR AREAS. ALL OF OUR TRIAL SITES HAVE COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARDS THAT SERVE AS INFORMATION LINK BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY AND THE RESEARCHERS AND ENABLE THE COMMUNITY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE RESEARCH AS WELL AS HELP THE RESEARCHERS UNDERSTAND PERSPECTIVE OF THE COMMUNITY.” WALLY: FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HIV VACCINE RESEARCH AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION, VISIT WWW-DOT-BE-THE-GENERATION-DOT-ORG. THIS IS WALLY AKINSO FOR I-ON-NIH. HOST: THANKS WALLY. NOW FOR A FEATURE ON THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH METABOLIC UNIT. HOST: TO WRAP UP THIS MONTH’S EPISODE, WE HAVE A SPECIAL EYE-TO-EYE INTERVIEW. BILL SCHMALFELDT TALKED TO JOSH ELDER WHO WE’LL BE FOLLOWING DURING HIS JOURNEY ACROSS THE COUNTRY. HERE’S BILL TO EXPLAIN: HOST: WE’LL STAY IN TOUCH WITH JOSH AND KEEP YOU UPDATED ON HIS PROGRESS. THANKS FOR WATCHING ANOTHER EDITION OF “i ON NIH” – BE SURE TO TUNE IN NEXT MONTH: WE’RE PLANNING STORIES AND INTERVIEWS TO HELP KEEP YOUR SUMMER SAFE AND ALLERGY FREE. FOR “i ON NIH” I’M JOE BALINTFY. MUSIC V/O: “i ON NIH” IS A PUBLIC SERVICE VODCAST FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, PRODUCED BY THE NIH NEWS MEDIA BRANCH OF THE OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC LIAISON. THANKS FOR TUNING IN. WE’LL BE BACK NEXT MONTH WITH ANOTHER EPISODE OF “i ON NIH.”  NIH Vodcast Questions? |
