Curated News: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

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Released: 16-Nov-2020 11:05 AM EST
Mediterranean Diet Helps Reduce Effects of Stress in Animal Model, Study Shows
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Even before the pandemic and the presidential election, Americans reported some of the highest perceived levels of stress in the world, according to the American Psychological Association.

12-Nov-2020 12:00 PM EST
Envision color: Activity patterns in the brain are specific to the color you see
NIH, National Eye Institute (NEI)

Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have decoded brain maps of human color perception. The findings, published today in Current Biology, open a window into how color processing is organized in the brain, and how the brain recognizes and groups colors in the environment. The study may have implications for the development of machine-brain interfaces for visual prosthetics. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health.

12-Nov-2020 12:00 PM EST
Envision color: Activity patterns in the brain are specific to the color you see
NIH, National Eye Institute (NEI)

Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have decoded brain maps of human color perception. The findings, published today in Current Biology, open a window into how color processing is organized in the brain, and how the brain recognizes and groups colors in the environment. The study may have implications for the development of machine-brain interfaces for visual prosthetics. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health.

10-Nov-2020 11:30 AM EST
Pitt Scientists Discover Secret to Superbug’s Virulence in Diabetic Infections
Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh

The bodies of people with uncontrolled diabetes appear to be the perfect environment for a common type of superbug to thrive unchecked and do its worst damage, according to new research by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine scientists.

Released: 13-Nov-2020 12:30 PM EST
Chemists discover the structure of a key coronavirus protein
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

MIT chemists have determined the molecular structure of a protein found in the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Released: 13-Nov-2020 11:55 AM EST
Albert Einstein College of Medicine Researchers Receive $5 Million NIH Grant to Study HIV and HPV Cancers in Africa
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

A team of scientists from Albert Einstein College of Medicine has received a five-year, $4.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish a research center to investigate HIV- and human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers in Africa.

Released: 13-Nov-2020 9:55 AM EST
New Saliva-Based Antibody Test for SARS-CoV-2 Highly Accurate in Initial Study
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

A new saliva-based test developed by a team at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has been found to accurately detect the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Released: 12-Nov-2020 2:40 PM EST
Why Does COVID-19 Seem to Spare Children?
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

The findings, published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, support efforts to block the enzyme to potentially treat or prevent COVID-19 in older people.

Released: 12-Nov-2020 2:00 PM EST
Breaking It Down: How Cells Degrade Unwanted MicroRNAs
UT Southwestern Medical Center

DALLAS – Nov. 12, 2020 – UT Southwestern researchers have discovered a mechanism that cells use to degrade microRNAs (miRNAs), genetic molecules that regulate the amounts of proteins in cells.

Released: 12-Nov-2020 8:30 AM EST
Dopamine Surge Reveals How Even for Mice, ‘There’s No Place Like Home’
Florida Atlantic University

“There’s no place like home,” has its roots deep in the brain. Using fiber photometry, scientists are the first to show that home evokes a surge of dopamine in mice that mimics the response to a dose of cocaine. The study demonstrates how dopamine rises rapidly in mice moved from a simple recording chamber to their home cage, but less so when they return to a cage not quite like the one they knew.

   
Released: 11-Nov-2020 4:10 PM EST
Novel population of neurons identified that control binocular eye movements in 3D space
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Researchers have discovered a previously undescribed set of neurons called saccade-vergence burst neurons that help control our eyes as they view in three-dimensional space. Models had predicted the existence of such neurons, which are in the mid-brain’s central mesencephalic reticular formation.

9-Nov-2020 8:10 AM EST
Diagnostic Imaging May Increase Risk of Testicular Cancer
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Early and repeated exposures to diagnostic imaging, such as X-rays and CT scans, may increase the risk of testicular cancer.

9-Nov-2020 2:40 PM EST
Study: Loneliness Highest in the 20s and Lowest in the 60s
UC San Diego Health

Seeking to develop effective interventions, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine examined the psychological and environmental factors that lead to patterns of loneliness in different age groups.

Released: 10-Nov-2020 11:00 AM EST
Tackling Teenage Depression: $4 Million NIH Grant Supports Search for Biomarkers for Severe Depression
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), in 2017 approximately 13% of adolescents in the United States, or 3.2 million children aged 12 to 17, had at least one major episode of depression. While many recover from such an episode, a significant portion will develop severe depression or a chronic mood disorder. There is an urgent need to identify adolescents who are at higher risk for serious problems and may benefit from aggressive treatment.

Released: 9-Nov-2020 3:15 PM EST
NIH Awards $2.9 Million Grant to Wake Forest Baptist Scientists to Develop Flu Vaccine for Newborns Using Animal Model
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Newborns and young infants are particularly susceptible to the flu and are six times more likely to die from the infection than older children. Currently there is no flu vaccine available for babies less than 6 months old.

9-Nov-2020 9:55 AM EST
Hydroxychloroquine Does Not Help Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19: Study
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Findings from a national study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) “do not support” the use of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

Released: 5-Nov-2020 2:00 PM EST
Llama Nanobodies Could be a Powerful Weapon Against COVID-19
Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh

Today in Science, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine describe a new method to extract tiny but extremely powerful SARS-CoV-2 antibody fragments from llamas, which could be fashioned into inhalable therapeutics with the potential to prevent and treat COVID-19.

Released: 5-Nov-2020 1:05 PM EST
NIH Grant aims to enhance scientific models of aging focused on creating better intervention tools for age-related decline
Texas Biomedical Research Institute

The Southwest National Primate Research Center (SNPRC) at Texas Biomedical Research Institute and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio received a $1.3 million collaborative grant to continue the San Antonio Marmoset Aging Program (SA MAP) and further define the hallmarks of aging in a nonhuman primate (monkey) model. Developing the marmoset model will allow for eventual testing of interventions in additional model systems that could slow or change age-related decline in humans.

   
Released: 5-Nov-2020 8:05 AM EST
Leukemia-on-a-chip: Dissecting the chemoresistance mechanisms in B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
NYU Tandon School of Engineering

A team including researchers from the NYU Tandon School of Engineering and NYU Langone Health demonstrated an in vitro organotypic “leukemia-on-a-chip” model to emulate in vivo leukemia bone marrow pathology and study chemiresistance.

Released: 4-Nov-2020 4:50 PM EST
SLAC, Stanford to host national service center for cryo-ET sample preparation
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The NIH is establishing a national service center at the SLAC and Stanford where biomedical researchers can learn how to prepare extremely thin specimens that are frozen into a glassy state for cryogenic electron tomography (cryo-ET), a powerful tool for directly visualizing cellular components in 3D.

2-Nov-2020 12:25 PM EST
A Novel Immunotherapy Proves Effective in Animal Models of Multiple Sclerosis
Thomas Jefferson University

Jefferson researchers develop an approach to specifically impede the autoimmune response that drives the disease, while leaving the rest of the immune system fully functioning.

   
Released: 4-Nov-2020 1:45 PM EST
Study uncovers subset of COVID-19 patients who recover quickly and sustain antibodies
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

One of the pressing questions about COVID-19 remains: How long does immunity last? One key indicator of immunity is the presence of virus-specific antibodies.

Released: 4-Nov-2020 12:55 PM EST
Improving genomic analysis website
South Dakota State University

A website used by more than 20,000 scientists to analyze their genomic data is getting an upgrade, thanks to a four-year, nearly $870,000 National Institutes of Health grant.

Released: 4-Nov-2020 8:00 AM EST
Genetic Mutation Could Worsen Heart Function in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Patients
UT Southwestern Medical Center

DALLAS – Nov. 4, 2020 – A mutation in the gene that causes cystic fibrosis may accelerate heart function decline in those with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a new study by UT Southwestern researchers suggests. The findings, published online recently in the Journal of the American Heart Association, could help doctors develop new strategies to preserve heart function in this population, potentially extending patients’ lives.

Released: 3-Nov-2020 1:40 PM EST
UC researchers pioneer more effective method of blocking malaria transmission in mosquitoes
University of California, Irvine

Irvine, Calif., Nov. 3, 2020 — Employing a strategy known as “population modification,” which involves using a CRISPR-Cas9 gene drive system to introduce genes preventing parasite transmission into mosquito chromosomes, University of California researchers have made a major advance in the use of genetic technologies to control the transmission of malaria parasites.

   
Released: 3-Nov-2020 1:00 PM EST
Johns Hopkins Researchers Engineer Tiny, Shape-Changing Machines That Deliver Medicine Efficiently To The GI Tract
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Inspired by a parasitic worm that digs its sharp teeth into its host’s intestines, Johns Hopkins researchers have designed tiny, star-shaped microdevices that can latch onto intestinal mucosa and release drugs into the body.

   
Released: 3-Nov-2020 12:25 PM EST
Active Surveillance Safe for African Americans with Low-Risk Prostate Cancer
UC San Diego Health

Researchers with UC San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center say active surveillance is safe for African American men with low-risk prostate cancer.

2-Nov-2020 4:30 PM EST
Cornea appears to resist infection from novel coronavirus
Washington University in St. Louis

Although viruses such as herpes simplex can infect the eye's cornea and Zika virus has been found in corneal tissue and tears, new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests the cornea can resist infection from the novel coronavirus.

Released: 3-Nov-2020 8:15 AM EST
Study Reveals Unexpected Protective Role for Brain Swelling After Injury
University of Utah Health

Following a brain-injuring bump or blow to the head, brain cells and blood vessels typically swell. This can lead to a potentially life-threatening increase in pressure inside the skull, and managing swelling is critical for patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). But researchers at University of Utah Health have discovered that swelling may also be important for protecting the brain.

Released: 2-Nov-2020 12:45 PM EST
Early UAMS Study Results Show 3.5% of Arkansans Infected by Coronavirus
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Early results from a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS)-led COVID-19 antibody study show that 3.5% of Arkansans have been infected with the novel coronavirus.

Released: 2-Nov-2020 8:50 AM EST
Exploring Autophagy as a Therapeutic Strategy against Frequent Mutations in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Rutgers Cancer Institute

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey expert investigates the role of a cellular survival mechanism known as autophagy in the formation of tumors driven by mutations in tumor suppressors known as LKB1 and oncogene KRAS.

Released: 30-Oct-2020 2:05 PM EDT
Roswell Park Sees Suggestion of Benefit in First Clinical Trial to Combine Beta-Blocker and Checkpoint Inhibitor
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

The same biochemical triggers that spur a “fight or flight” response when we encounter threats may help tumor cells to thrive. A team of researchers from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is looking at ways to disrupt that dynamic so that cancer treatments can be more effective. Their latest work, published today in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, suggests that a drug widely prescribed to control blood pressure may improve patients’ response to cancer immunotherapy.

Released: 29-Oct-2020 8:30 AM EDT
Boo! How Do Mexican Cavefish Escape Predators?
Florida Atlantic University

When startled, do all fish respond the same way? A few fish, like Mexican cavefish, have evolved in unique environments without any predators. To see how this lack of predation impacts escape responses that are highly stereotyped across fish species, scientists explored this tiny fish to determine if there are evolved differences in them. Findings reveal that the dramatic ecological differences between cave and river environments contribute to differences in escape behavior in blind cavefish and river-dwelling surface cavefish.

Released: 29-Oct-2020 8:20 AM EDT
Cancer-Fighting Gene Restrains ‘Jumping Genes’
UT Southwestern Medical Center

DALLAS – Oct. 29, 2020 – About half of all tumors have mutations of the gene p53, normally responsible for warding off cancer. Now, UT Southwestern scientists have discovered a new role for p53 in its fight against tumors: preventing retrotransposons, or “jumping genes,” from hopping around the human genome. In cells with missing or mutated p53, the team found, retrotransposons move and multiply more than usual. The finding could lead to new ways of detecting or treating cancers with p53 mutations.

Released: 28-Oct-2020 10:35 AM EDT
New Johns Hopkins Center for Research on COVID-19 Immunity
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have been jointly awarded a major grant from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, to set up a center for research on the human serological immune response to SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Released: 27-Oct-2020 11:20 AM EDT
Cancer cells mediate immune suppression in the brain
University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame researchers showed that one type of cell important for immunity, called a myeloid cell, can suppress the immune response — which has the effect of allowing breast cancer cells to metastasize to the brain to form secondary tumor cells there.

Released: 27-Oct-2020 11:10 AM EDT
Scientists discover how a common mutation leads to ‘night owl’ sleep disorder
University of California, Santa Cruz

A new study by researchers at UC Santa Cruz shows how a genetic mutation throws off the timing of the biological clock, causing a common sleep syndrome called delayed sleep phase disorder.

22-Oct-2020 12:10 PM EDT
"White Matter Lesion" Mapping Tool Identifies Early Signs of Dementia
NYU Langone Health

A new tool for analyzing tissue damage seen on MRI brain scans can detect with more than 70 percent accuracy early signs of cognitive decline, new research shows.

Released: 26-Oct-2020 12:50 PM EDT
High Fat or ‘Ketogenic’ Diets Could Prevent, Reverse Heart Failure
Saint Louis University Medical Center

Research from Saint Louis University finds that high fat or “ketogenic” diets could completely prevent, or even reverse heart failure caused by a metabolic process.

21-Oct-2020 3:35 PM EDT
New Population of Immune Cells Could Play a Role in Multiple Sclerosis
Thomas Jefferson University

Researchers uncover defining features of a subset of T-cells that may drive autoimmunity in MS, and could prove to be a new target for therapy.

Released: 22-Oct-2020 4:55 PM EDT
Flexing our research muscle: Scientists use APS to better understand muscle form, function
Argonne National Laboratory

Powerful APS X-rays are used to uncover the structure and behavior of proteins controlling tarantula muscles. These insights may help scientists better understand our own muscles.

Released: 22-Oct-2020 4:00 PM EDT
NIH Awards Over $100 Million to Examine Biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease in Adults with Down Syndrome
University of California, Irvine

The Alzheimer’s Biomarkers Consortium – Down Syndrome (ABC-DS), a multi-institution research team, co-led by members from the University of California, Irvine, has been awarded an unprecedented five-year, $109 million grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to expand research on the biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease in adults with Down syndrome.

Released: 22-Oct-2020 2:05 PM EDT
Type 1 diabetes: Tannic acid encapsulation protects transplanted islets from rejection
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Transplanting cadaver pancreatic islets is a promising therapy for Type 1 diabetes, but a reactivated autoimmunity means low graft viability after five years. Research now shows that a protective coating of two biopolymers can delay allograft and autoimmune-mediated rejection in mouse models of T1D.

Released: 22-Oct-2020 1:15 PM EDT
Cord blood DNA can hold clues for early ASD diagnosis and intervention
UC Davis Health (Defunct)

Specific regions in cord blood DNA can help identify kids who might develop autism, a study led by UC Davis MIND Institute researchers. The findings may hold clues for early diagnosis and intervention.

Released: 22-Oct-2020 11:55 AM EDT
Key details about broadly neutralizing antibodies provide insights for universal flu vaccine
University of Chicago Medical Center

New research from an immunology team at the University of Chicago may shed light on the challenges of developing a universal flu vaccine that would provide long-lasting and broad protection against influenza viruses.

Released: 22-Oct-2020 11:30 AM EDT
Toward a New Staging System for Prostate Cancer, and Why it Matters
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

The development and validation of a staging system for non-metastatic prostate cancer could help doctors and patients assess treatment options, as well as improve clinical trials.

21-Oct-2020 4:15 PM EDT
New experimental blood test determines which pancreatic cancers will respond to treatment
Van Andel Institute

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Oct. 22, 2020) — Scientists have developed a simple, experimental blood test that distinguishes pancreatic cancers that respond to treatment from those that do not. This critical distinction could one day guide therapeutic decisions and spare patients with resistant cancers from undergoing unnecessary treatments with challenging side effects.

20-Oct-2020 8:30 AM EDT
Scientists use gene therapy and a novel light-sensing protein to restore vision in mice
NIH, National Eye Institute (NEI)

A newly developed light-sensing protein called the MCO1 opsin restores vision in blind mice when attached to retina bipolar cells using gene therapy. The National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, provided a Small Business Innovation Research grant to Nanoscope, LLC for development of MCO1. The company is planning a U.S. clinical trial for later this year.

20-Oct-2020 8:30 AM EDT
Scientists use gene therapy and a novel light-sensing protein to restore vision in mice
NIH, National Eye Institute (NEI)

A newly developed light-sensing protein called the MCO1 opsin restores vision in blind mice when attached to retina bipolar cells using gene therapy. The National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, provided a Small Business Innovation Research grant to Nanoscope, LLC for development of MCO1. The company is planning a U.S. clinical trial for later this year.

Released: 21-Oct-2020 2:55 PM EDT
Mayo Clinic contributes to diagnostic, therapeutic advance for rare neurodegenerative disorder
Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic researchers, along with national and global collaborators, have developed a potential test for Machado-Joseph disease, or spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) ― a disease that has no cure. They also have clarified the role of a gene target associated with the disease.



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