Research & Training
Science Highlights
2011 Research Highlights
NIH conducts and funds wide-ranging research to improve the nation's health. With NIH support, scientists across the country and around the world uncover basic biomedical advances and conduct the clinical and translational research that transforms discoveries into medical practice. Here's just a small sampling of the accomplishments made by NIH-supported scientists in 2011.
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More about the 2011 Research Highlights
About Behavioral & Social Sciences Research (PDF - 1.9MB)
The 21st century is an exciting
time—a revolutionary period for the life sciences. We have
learned a lot about the biological parts and systems that make
up all living things. We also realize that it is just as important
to understand how behavior and society affect health and can
help fight disease. Combining information from both biomedical
and behavioral and social sciences research will lead to the
most effective interventions.
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About Behavioral &
Social Sciences Research
Medical Research with Animals (PDF - 1.6 MB)
Did you know that a child
born today in the United States is expected to live into his
or her late 70s, whereas the same child born at the turn of the
20th century would have been expected to live only into his or
her 40s? Eating better and learning how to keep ourselves and
our environment clean played a role, but medical research using
laboratory animals was a vital factor driving this incredible
progress.
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More about Medical Research with Animals
Advances in Colorectal Cancer Research
Cancers of the colon and
rectum, also known as colorectal cancers, are the third most
commonly diagnosed cancers among men and women in the United
States and the second leading cause of cancer death in this country.
In 2010, it is estimated that more than 140,000 Americans will
be diagnosed with colorectal cancer and more than 50,000 will
die of the disease.
Learn More about Colorectal
Cancer Research
Advances in HIV/AIDS Research
Over the past several decades,
researchers have learned a lot about the human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV) and the disease it causes, acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome (AIDS). But still more research is needed to help the
millions of people whose health continues to be threatened by
the global HIV/AIDS pandemic.
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Advances in Medical Imaging
NIH has an entire institute,
the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
(NIBIB), devoted to developing new imaging devices and other
leading edge technologies. Another NIH institute, the National
Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), supports many
basic researchers who use imaging as a tool to understand life
processes – understanding that lays the foundation for
health advances.
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Imaging
Nanotechnology at NIH
Nanotechnology is defined
as the understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly
1 to 100 nanometers, a scale at which unique properties of materials
emerge that can be used to develop novel technologies and products.
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at NIH
Research Riddle Resolved
18th-century stories of
the strange appearance and behavior of this mystery creature,
now known as the duck-billed platypus, left naturalists mystified
as to what could fit its seemingly catch-all characteristics.
We now know that the platypus is a monotreme, an ancient type
of mammal that lays eggs.
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Resolved
Stem Cell Research
Studying stem cells will
help us understand how they transform into the dazzling array
of specialized cells that make us what we are. Some of the most
serious medical conditions, such as cancer and birth defects,
are due to problems that occur somewhere in this process. A better
understanding of normal cell development will allow us to understand
and perhaps correct the errors that cause these medical conditions.
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Research
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