NIH

NIH researchers conducted a detailed study on individuals experiencing anomalous health incidents, known as Havana Syndrome, and found no significant MRI-detected brain injuries or clinical differences compared to controls. Despite extensive testing, the symptoms, which include cognitive dysfunction and dizziness, were not linked to detectable neurological damage but were acknowledged as genuine and impactful. Compared to healthy volunteers, affected U.S. government personnel did not exhibit MRI-detectable brain injury or…

Many U.S. biomedical researchers and their collaborators abroad are reacting with alarm to a new National Institutes of Health requirement that foreign groups send their NIH partners copies of their lab notebooks and other raw data at least every few months. It’s “crazy,” says Brazilian researcher Mauro Teixeira, who gets NIH funding through a U.S. university for a mosquito-borne disease study. The 19 May policy change, sparked by concerns about U.S.-funded…

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks at a press conference on Capitol Hill about 11 Senate Democrats who sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to invoke the 14th Amendment to avoid a catastrophic debt default, in Washington, May 18, 2023.Evelyn Hockstein | ReutersSen. Bernie Sanders vowed to oppose President Joe Biden's pick to lead the National Institutes of Health – and any other health nominee – until the administration delivers a plan to lower prescription drug prices. "I will oppose all nominations…

Postdocs in U.S. biomedical research labs should be paid better, even if it means supporting fewer of them. That’s the preliminary position of a working group formed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to address growing concerns that postdoctoral appointments are no longer an attractive option for young researchers. Meeting online last week to discuss its progress, the group laid out “guiding principles” that include boosting postdoc pay, pushing for…

Scientists have identified genomic variants that cause disabling pansclerotic morphea, a rare inflammatory skin disorder characterized by severe skin lesions and poor wound healing, leading to deep scarring. They discovered that patients have an overactive version of the STAT4 protein, which regulates inflammation and wound healing, and found a potential treatment using a drug, ruxolitinib, that targets the inflammatory pathway. The drug, a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor, was observed to dramatically improve symptoms in…

Last year, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) delivered a stern warning to two in-house clinical researchers who had broken an important rule. They had failed to submit the results of two clinical trials they had overseen to ClinicalTrials.gov, a database meant to inform the public about human studies and their results. The reporting requirement has often been ignored, but this time the agency took an unprecedented step: It told the scientists it…

A woman receives a booster dose of the Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a vaccination centre in Antwerp, Belgium, February 1, 2022.Johanna Geron | ReutersPatients are now enrolling in an early stage clinical trial to test a universal flu vaccine based on messenger RNA technology, the National Institutes of Health announced Monday. Scientists hope the vaccine will protect against a wide variety of flu strains and provide long-term immunity so people do not have to receive a shot every year.  related…

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have identified new genetic risk factors for two types of non-Alzheimer’s dementia, with a previously unknown variant discovered in the TCPN1 gene associated with Lewy body dementia.Discovery provides potential clues for Lewy body and frontotemporal dementias.In a collaborative effort between the <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>National Institutes of Health</div><div…

A study at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) involving twelve people with persistent neurological symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection found differences in immune cell profiles and autonomic dysfunction. Long COVID symptoms include fatigue, “brain fog,” and sleep disturbances, which can last for months. The study used deep phenotyping to analyze clinical and biological features, and found lower levels of T cells, increased numbers of B cells, and problems with the autonomic nervous system in Long COVID patients. The…

Scanning electron micrograph of a human T cell from the immune system of a healthy donor. In an 11-year study by the National Institutes of Health, researchers further characterized idiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia (ICL), a rare immune deficiency that increases vulnerability to infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, and cancers. Credit: NIAIDNIH researchers uncover new details on rare immune disease.NIH researchers characterize ICL, a rare immune deficiency, linking severe cases to higher risk of infections and…