News

National Institutes of Health study suggests women with mood disorders, gestatational diabetes may have a higher risk.

Intramural Group Wins Microphotography Prize

A National Institutes of Health study in mice suggests that parents have an innate capacity to respond to an infant’s cries for help and this capacity may serve as a foundation from which a parent learns to adjust to an infant’s changing needs.

The drug miglustat appears to stabilize the swallowing problems that occur in children and adolescents with Niemann-Pick type C1 (NPC1), a rare and ultimately fatal neurological disease, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The authors conclude that the drug could slow the deterioration of swallowing function in NPC1 cases and decrease the risk of pneumonia resulting from aspiration, or inhaling food or drink. Aspiration pneumonia accounts for roughly 2 out of 3 deaths in people with NPC1.

The National Institutes of Health has announced research funding to encourage the development of approaches that identify children at high risk for developing Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), thought to be a severe complication of COVID-19. Up to $20 million will be awarded to successful research proposals over four years.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have discovered another set of pore-like holes, or channels, traversing the membrane-bound sac that encloses the deadliest malaria parasite as it infects red blood cells. The channels enable the transport of lipids—fat-like molecules—between the blood cell and parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. The parasite draws lipids from the cell to sustain its growth and may also secrete other types of lipids to hijack cell functions to meet its needs.

The placental membranes that contain the fetus and amniotic fluid lack the messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule required to manufacture the ACE2 receptor, the main cell surface receptor used by the SARS-CoV-2 virus to cause infection, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered a second gene that causes melorheostosis, a rare group of conditions involving an often painful and disfiguring overgrowth of bone tissue. The gene, SMAD3, is part of a pathway that regulates cell development and growth. The researchers are now working to develop an animal model with a mutant version of SMAD3 to test potential treatments for the condition.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered in mice what they believe is the first known genetic mutation to improve cognitive flexibility—the ability to adapt to changing situations.

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have devised a new strategy to stop tumors from developing the new blood vessels they need to grow. Once thought to be extremely promising for the treatment of cancer, blocking molecules that stimulate new blood vessel growth (angiogenesis) has proven ineffective because tumor cells respond by producing more stimulatory molecules. The new strategy involves disabling key enzymes that replenish the molecule that cells need for the reactions that sustain new vessel growth.

Ida S. Owens, Ph.D., was internationally known for her research advances on the genetics of drug metabolism. She also was the first African American woman to earn a doctoral degree from Duke University.

Duane Alexander, M.D., a former director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), died on February 16, 2020, from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 79 years old.

The National Institutes of Health’s Peter Basser, Ph.D., has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his work in developing diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (dt-MRI) and streamline tractography, which enables neurosurgeons to visualize and avoid sensitive structures within the brain. Diffusion tensor MRI measures the diffusion of water molecules, which can be used to probe the structure and architecture of brain tissue. It is used by neurologists and radiologists to diagnose stroke, cancer, and other brain disorders.

Read about NICHD’s notable research findings and activities from 2019.

Nano-sized vesicles released by certain bacteria that inhabit the vagina may protect against HIV infection, suggests a study of human cells and tissues by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Bologna, Italy. Known as extracellular vesicles, these bubble-like particles are produced by many kinds of cells and are thought to transport molecules from one cell to another.

R. Douglas Fields, Ph.D., chief of NICHD’s section on Nervous System Development and Plasticity has been named a distinguished Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Pregnant women who are exposed to higher air pollution levels during their second pregnancy, compared to their first one, may be at greater risk of preterm birth, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

NICHD researcher Mary Dasso, Ph.D., considers herself to have been lucky at many points in her career. But luck alone cannot account for her success as a principal investigator and program leader. Read about her career over the decades.