http://www.nih.gov/news/ News Releases from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) en-us 60 http://www.nih.gov/images/nih50.gif http://www.nih.gov/news/ 50 50 http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/niaid-11.htm This week, May 10-16, marks Food Allergy Awareness Week, a time to focus public awareness on this growing health problem. Together with the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), a patient and family advocacy group, we at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) encourage all Americans to help those affected by this life-limiting disease. Mon, 11 May 2009 09:40:00 EDT 12309@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/niaid-11.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/nhlbi-10.htm An international research team has identified a number of unsuspected genetic variants associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and hypertension (high blood pressure), suggesting potential avenues of investigation for the prevention or treatment of hypertension. The research was funded in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health and by several other NIH institutes and centers. Mon, 11 May 2009 08:55:00 EDT 12209@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/nhlbi-10.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/niaid-06.htm The longest U.S. study of people with HIV/AIDS will be honored at a 25th anniversary commemoration on May 12, 2009, at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C. The Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) has significantly contributed to the scientific understanding of HIV, AIDS and the effects of antiretroviral therapy through more than 1,000 publications, many of which have guided public health policy and the clinical care of people with HIV. MACS investigators prospectively study the natural and treated history of HIV infection in thousands of homosexual and bisexual men at sites in Baltimore, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. Wed, 06 May 2009 09:40:00 EDT 12109@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/niaid-06.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/fic-06.htm The Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health has announced the appointment of six new members to its advisory board. Joining the board as voting members are Dr. Gail Cassell, Dr. Roscoe M. Moore, Jr., Dr. Ariel Pablos-Mendez and Dr. Bonita F. Stanton. Additionally, there are two new ex-officio members on the board, Dr. Barbara Alving, director of the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) at NIH and Dr. Donald Lindberg, Director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at NIH. Wed, 06 May 2009 09:40:00 EDT 12009@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/fic-06.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/nimh-05.htm A study on schizophrenia has implicated machinery that maintains the flow of potassium in cells and revealed a potential molecular target for new treatments. Expression of a previously unknown form of a key such potassium channel was found to be 2.5 fold higher than normal in the brain memory hub of people with the chronic mental illness and linked to a hotspot of genetic variation. Tue, 05 May 2009 15:45:00 EDT 11909@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/nimh-05.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/ncrr-05.htm The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), part of the National Institutes of Health, announced today it will provide up to an estimated $122 million over the next five years to fund Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) in seven IDeA-eligible states. By promoting the development, coordination and sharing of research resources and expertise, these awards expand research opportunities and increase the number of competitive investigators in 23 eligible states and Puerto Rico. The INBRE is a component of the IDeA program, which is designed to improve the competitiveness of investigators in states that historically have not received significant levels of NIH research funding. Tue, 05 May 2009 11:10:00 EDT 11809@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/ncrr-05.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/niaid-05.htm Today, on World Asthma Day, we at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), components of the National Institutes of Health, stand together with the international community to renew our dedication to understand the causes of asthma and to find better ways to treat, prevent and manage this disease. Tue, 05 May 2009 10:00:00 EDT 11709@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/niaid-05.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/fic-04.htm The Fogarty International Center, part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced it will award approximately $537,000 over three years to fund international research collaboration at five universities. Fogarty International Research Collaboration Award (FIRCA) grants are given jointly to an NIH-supported investigator and an overseas collaborator in a low- and middle-income country, with the financial support going to the foreign collaborator. The FIRCA program is intended to benefit the research interests of both collaborators while increasing research capacity at the foreign site. Mon, 04 May 2009 16:35:00 EDT 11609@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/fic-04.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/nci-04.htm Government and private sector cancer scientists today launched a research partnership to find biomarkers for lung cancer that develops in people who have never smoked. The research studies are designed to create a better understanding of the biology of lung cancer and to develop a test to detect early-stage lung cancer in lifetime nonsmokers. The Canary Foundation, a nonprofit organization that funds research in early cancer detection, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, are sponsoring this multi-institutional effort. NCI's Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) and the Canary Foundation will provide initial funding of $1 million each. Mon, 04 May 2009 10:10:00 EDT 11509@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/nci-04.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/nci-04.htm Government and private sector cancer scientists today launched a research partnership to find biomarkers for lung cancer that develops in people who have never smoked. The research studies are designed to create a better understanding of the biology of lung cancer and to develop a test to detect early-stage lung cancer in lifetime nonsmokers. The Canary Foundation, a nonprofit organization that funds research in early cancer detection, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, are sponsoring this multi-institutional effort. NCI's Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) and the Canary Foundation will provide initial funding of $1 million each. Mon, 04 May 2009 10:10:00 EDT 11509@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/nci-04.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/niehs-04.htm A new study indicates there may be yet another reason to reduce childhood obesity -- it may help prevent allergies. The study published in the May issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology showed that obese children and adolescents are at increased risk of having some kind of allergy, especially to a food. The study was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), both parts of the National Institutes of Health. Mon, 04 May 2009 10:10:00 EDT 11409@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/niehs-04.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/ninds-03.htm Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have identified a gene associated with narcolepsy, a disorder that causes disabling daytime sleepiness, sleep attacks, irresistible bouts of sleep that can strike at any time, and disturbed sleep at night. The gene has a known role in the immune system, which strongly suggests that autoimmunity, in which the immune system turns against the body's own tissues, plays an important role in the disorder. Mon, 04 May 2009 10:10:00 EDT 11309@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2009/ninds-03.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/apr2009/od-29.htm The National Institutes of Health Advisory Committee on Research on Women's Health of the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) announces the appointment of five new members: Margery L.S. Gass, M.D., Paula Adina Johnson, M.D., Jeanne Craig Sinkford, D.D.S., Farida Sohrabji, Ph.D., and Gary E. Striker, M.D. Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:10:00 EDT 11209@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/apr2009/od-29.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/apr2009/ninds-28.htm In three studies, including the most comprehensive study of autism genetics to date, investigators funded in part by the National Institutes of Health have identified common and rare genetic factors that affect the risk of autism spectrum disorders. The results point to the importance of genes that are involved in forming and maintaining the connections between brain cells. Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:15:00 EDT 11109@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/apr2009/ninds-28.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/apr2009/niaid-28.htm Officials from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and from China's Henan Provincial Bureau of Health will meet in Zhengzhou, China, on April 29 to sign an implementation arrangement intended to foster research on tuberculosis, including clinical research on new treatments for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB). The Henan Provincial Bureau of Health and the NIAID plan to develop jointly a collaborative TB research program at the Henan Provincial Chest Hospital. Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:15:00 EDT 11009@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/apr2009/niaid-28.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/apr2009/niehs-28.htm The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Worker Education and Training Program (WETP) will take part on May 1 in a disaster training exercise with several other agencies in Cincinnati, Ohio. The exercise will include a table top instructional activity to respond to a simulated explosion and dispersion of chemicals from a Cincinnati business, as well as displays and stations for the participants to conduct hands-on work. Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:15:00 EDT 10909@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/apr2009/niehs-28.htm http://www.nih.gov/news/health/apr2009/niehs-27.htm Representatives from four international agencies, including the director of the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP), today signed a memorandum of cooperation that could reduce the number of animals required for consumer product safety testing worldwide. Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:15:00 EDT 10809@http://www.nih.gov/news/health/apr2009/niehs-27.htm