Biomedical Innovation at NIH — Then and Now
To paraphrase President Obama from his guest editorial in the November issue of Wired magazine, there’s never been a better time to be alive. One NIH institute leading us into the future is the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), which supports avant-garde investigators at the nexus of engineering and the physical and life sciences with innovations that improve global health.
Developing Methods to Study the Brain's Visual System in Action
How does the brain know that what we’re looking at is standing still or moving? Dr. Robert H. Wurtz developed methods for studying the visual system, a technique now widely used for the study of higher brain functions, to find the answer to that question.
Yasmine Belkaid Wins Sanofi–Institut Pasteur 2016 Award
Yasmine Belkaid, chief of the Mucosal Immunology Section in the NIAID Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, has won the Sanofi–Institut Pasteur 2016 International Mid-Career Award for “outstanding research in the life sciences…contributing to progress in global public health,” announced on December 13, 2016 in Paris.
NIH researchers identify heritable brain connections linked to ADHD
In a new study of families affected by Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH) Intramural researchers have identified different connections in the brain that children may inherit from their parents and are linked to the disorder.
Simplifying HIV Treatment: A Surprising New Lead
The surprising results of an animal study are raising hopes for a far simpler treatment regimen for people infected with the AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Currently, HIV-infected individuals can live a near normal life span if, every day, they take a complex combination of drugs called antiretroviral therapy (ART). The bad news is if they stop ART, the small amounts of HIV that still lurk in their bodies can bounce back and infect key immune cells, called CD4 T cells, resulting in life-threatening suppression of their immune systems.
Challenges to Training Artificial Intelligence with Medical Imaging Data
If you were going to train an artificial intelligence (AI) system to understand and accurately diagnose medical images, what kind of information do you think would be most effective: lots of general image data, or small amounts of specific data?
Four NIH IRP Researchers Elected to National Academy of Medicine
This year, members of the National Academy of Medicine elected four NIH Intramural researchers to their ranks, one of the highest honors in science. Learn a bit about each of their research and follow the links to their IRP profiles for more information.
Mitochondrial DNA Replication and Inheritance
Dr. Hong Xu's team’s expertise in mitochondrial DNA genetics, along with a strong mitochondrial biology research group in the IRP, allowed them to solve the fundamental biological question of how organisms are able to stop the accumulation of mitochondrial DNA mutations from being passed on to future generations.
Morning Sickness Associated with Lower Miscarriage Risk
During the first trimester of pregnancy, many women experience what’s commonly known as “morning sickness.” As distressing as this nausea and vomiting can be, a team of NIH researchers has gathered some of the most convincing evidence to date that such symptoms may actually be a sign of something very positive: a lower risk of miscarriage.
Untangling Alzheimer’s Disease — Searching for Biomarkers in Exosomes
What if we could diagnose risk for Alzheimer’s before symptoms appeared? To address the challenge, in the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the IRP, Dr. Maja Mustapic searches for Alzheimer’s biomarkers using liquid biopsies.
