News Releases from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
A chemical that rid mice of malaria-causing parasites after a single oral dose
may eventually become a new malaria drug if further tests in animals and people
uphold the promise of early findings. The compound, NITD609, was developed by
an international team of researchers including Elizabeth A. Winzeler, Ph.D.,
a grantee of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),
part of the National Institutes of Health.
On average, a lower blood pressure goal was no better than the standard blood pressure goal at slowing progression of kidney disease among African-Americans who had chronic kidney disease resulting from high blood pressure, according to results of the African-American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK), the largest and longest study of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in African-Americans. However, the blood pressure goal did benefit people who also had protein in the urine, which is a sign of kidney damage. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, appears in the Sept. 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
A molecular test designed to easily diagnose tuberculosis (TB) and detect a drug-resistant form of the bacterium that causes TB can provide much more specific, sensitive and rapid results than currently available TB diagnostics, according to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine. In a test involving 1,730 patients with suspected drug-sensitive or multidrug-resistant pulmonary TB, the Xpert MTB/RIF TB test successfully identified 98 percent of all confirmed TB cases and 98 percent of patients with rifampin-resistant bacteria in less than two hours.
The National Institutes of Health announced today that it has awarded the first new grants under the Biomedical Research on the International Space Station (BioMed-ISS) initiative, a collaborative effort between NIH and NASA. Using a special microgravity environment that Earth-based laboratories cannot replicate, researchers will explore fundamental questions about important health issues, such as how bones and the immune system get weak.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have found that exposure to lead in childhood may delay the onset of puberty in young girls, with higher doses increasing the chance for later maturation.
An international consortium today published a third-generation map of human genetic variation, called the HapMap, which includes data from an additional seven global populations, increasing the total number to 11 populations. The improved resolution will help researchers interpret current genome studies aimed at finding common and rarer genetic variants associated with complex diseases.
NewsScan #68 includes recently published NIDA-supported research on a variety of issues, including PTSD and marijuana use, how synapses are formed, the effect of family-based interventions on Hispanic youth, a new approach to developing pain relievers, the effect of constructive parenting behaviors, cocaine addiction treatment, how the genes in zebrafish advance knowledge of nicotine addiction and memories and nicotine use.
A new payment site within Pay.gov will make it easier for companies that license
inventions owned by the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug
Administration to make their royalty payments. Royalties are typically paid
upfront for biological materials and over the term of a commercial patent
license. The project is led by the Office of Technology Transfer and the
Office of Financial Management at NIH.
Studies of the safety, effectiveness, and biological action of botanical products are major focuses for the five dietary supplement research centers selected to be jointly funded by the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), two components of the National Institutes of Health. The NIH's National Cancer Institute is co-supporting two of the five centers.
Scientists from the National Institutes of Health and University of Chicago have found a promising treatment method that in laboratory mice reduces the severity of skin and soft-tissue damage caused by USA300, the leading cause of community-associated Staphylococcus aureus infections in the United States. By neutralizing a key toxin associated with the bacteria, they found they could greatly reduce the damaging effects of the infection on skin and soft tissue. Community strains of S. aureus cause infection in otherwise healthy people and are considered extremely virulent, as opposed to hospital strains that infect people who already are weakened by illness or surgery.
As the costs of medical education continue to rise, the National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) serve as a lifeline for physician scientists who have high educational debt.
On Sept. 2-3, 2010, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) will convene a two-day conference on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: From Mouse Models to Human Disease and Treatment. This meeting will bring together basic research scientists working on models of autoimmune disease relevant to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), with clinicians treating lupus patients. There are numerous mouse models of lupus, but their relevance to the actual disorder is still a subject for debate. Moreover, since SLE is a heterogeneous disease, some features of the disorder may be better reflected in one or another mouse model.
NIH Director's Response to Stem Cell Injunction
Eleven research institutions in 11 states will receive more than $6 million in federal funding from fiscal year 2010 to support research on substance abuse
and associated problems among U.S. military personnel, veterans, and their families.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes
of Health, is collaborating with the Department of Veterans Affairs, to award
grants that will examine substance abuse related to deployment and combat related
trauma. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and the
National Cancer Institute (NCI) are also NIH partners in this endeavor. NIH is
awarding more than $4 million in grant funding; the VA, around $2 million.