Wilmer Eye Institute Awarded More Than $20 Million for Clinical Trial Investigating Genetic Eye Condition

The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine has received two awards totaling more than $20 million from the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health, both of which will be used for a six-year clinical trial investigating a potential treatment for the most common inherited retinal disease, retinitis pigmentosa.

Johns Hopkins Medicine-Led Study Shows Rapid COVID-19 Tests Done at Home are Reliable

In a study involving nearly 1,000 patients seen at the Baltimore Convention Center Field Hospital (BCCFH) during a five-month period in 2022 — researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine, the University of Maryland School of Medicine and five other collaborators report that a rapid antigen test (RAT) for detecting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can be used at home with accuracy comparable to the same test being administered by a health care professional.

Long-Term Study Reaffirms Benefits of Covid-19 Vaccination for Organ Transplant Recipients

A two-year study found that spikes of post-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 viral infections (commonly known as COVID-19 breakthrough cases) remain common, yet hospitalization rates have dramatically dropped following the first wave of the virus’ omicron subvariant.

Study Shows Positive Outcomes for First Three U.S. Living HIV-To-HIV Kidney Transplant Donors

Based on findings from a study published today in the journal, The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and three collaborating medical institutions suggest that people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who donate a kidney to other people living with HIV (PLWH) have a low risk of developing end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) or other kidney problems in the years following the donation.

‘Tipping The Balance’ Of Immune Cells from Bad to Good Reverses Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms in Mice

According to the federal government’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, nearly 3 million people worldwide — with almost a third in the United States — are living with multiple sclerosis (MS), a disabling neurological disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks nerves feeding information to the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). Although rarely fatal, MS can lead to long-term disabilities, and impair movement, muscle control, vision and cognition.

AI Used to Advance Drug Delivery System for Glaucoma and Other Chronic Diseases

Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have used artificial intelligence models and machine-learning algorithms to successfully predict which components of amino acids that make up therapeutic proteins are most likely to safely deliver therapeutic drugs to animal eye cells.

New Studies Suggest Social Isolation Is a Risk Factor for Dementia in Older Adults, Point to Ways to Reduce Risk

In two studies using nationally representative data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study gathered on thousands of Americans, researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health have significantly added to evidence that social isolation is a substantial risk factor for dementia in community-dwelling (noninstitutionalized) older adults, and identified technology as an effective way to intervene.

Key Change in Genetics of SARS-CoV-2 Evolved to Counter Weakness Caused by the Virus’ Initial Mutation that Enabled Its Spread

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine say their new studies suggest that the first pandemic-accelerating mutation in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, evolved as a way to correct vulnerabilities caused by the mutation that started the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Study Shows Paxlovid Can Safely Be Used to Reduce Risk of Severe COVID in People Who Are Pregnant

Findings from a Johns Hopkins Medicine research study published today in JAMA Network Open provide strong evidence that people who are pregnant and have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) can safely take the antiviral drug Paxlovid to reduce the possibility of severe disease.

‘You can always make a change’: 15-Year-Old Johns Hopkins Patient with Type 2 Diabetes Thrives Almost 2 Years After Diagnosis

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. Youth onset type 2 diabetes is rising worldwide, and a recent study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, documented a steep rise in new diagnoses of type 2 diabetes among children during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic

Trick-Or-Treat Tips — Johns Hopkins Children’s Center Experts Available to Talk About Halloween Safety

It’s that time of year: costumes, candy and trick-or-treating. As families celebrate this season, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center experts are available for interviews on a variety of tips to help ensure a safe and fun Halloween.

Johns Hopkins Medicine Scientists Create Nanobody That Can Punch Through Tough Brain Cells and Potentially Treat Parkinson’s Disease

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have helped develop a nanobody capable of getting through the tough exterior of brain cells and untangling misshapen proteins that lead to Parkinson’s disease, Lewy body dementia, and other neurocognitive disorders caused by the damaging protein.

Protein Parts Must Indeed Wiggle and Jiggle to Work Right, New Research Suggests

Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists report they have probed the atomic structure of proteins to add to evidence that the wobbles, shakes and quivers of proteins play a critical role in their ability to function. The findings of the research may help scientists design new drugs that can modify or disrupt the intricate “dances” of proteins to alter their functions.

Johns Hopkins Medicine Study: Abnormal Heart Metabolism May Predict Future Sudden Cardiac Death

Adults with abnormal heart metabolism are up to three times more likely to experience life-threatening arrhythmias (an irregular heart rhythm), and MRI techniques could be used to detect the condition and predict future sudden cardiac death (SCD), according to a small, but rigorous study led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers.

Johns Hopkins Researchers Call for Closing Gap in Collecting Racial and Ethnic Data in Studies of Rare Genetic Condition

In a review of published research papers, investigators from the Johns Hopkins Medicine Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) Center have identified a substantial lack of racial and ethnic data that may be negatively impacting the treatment and diagnosis of this rare disorder in diverse patients.

Measuring Levels of Proteins in Eye Fluid May Accurately Predict Need for Lifelong Macular Degeneration Therapy

In a study of eye fluid from 38 patients, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have found that levels of a specific protein appears to help accurately predict whether people with the wet form of age-related macular degeneration may need lifelong, frequent eye injections to preserve vision or if they can be safely weaned off the treatments.

Johns Hopkins Medicine Researchers Link Sugar-Studded Protein to Alzheimer’s Disease

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they discovered that a special sugar molecule could play a key role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. If further research confirms the finding, the molecule, known as a glycan, could serve as a new target for early diagnostic tests, treatments and perhaps prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, say the researchers.

Johns Hopkins Medicine Experts Available to Discuss Importance of Mental Well-Being

Nearly 20% of adults — about 50 million American people — are experiencing a mental illness, and about one in five children are affected by a mental disorder each year. There are many types of mental illness, including mood, anxiety and personality disorders.

Why Breakthrough COVID? Antibodies Fighting Original Virus May Be Weaker Against Omicron

If you’re wondering why after two vaccination doses and a booster shot, you still got sick from the omicron strain of the virus that causes COVID-19, one possible answer may have been found in a recent study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Combining Two ‘Old Therapies’ Packs a Powerful Punch Against Pediatric Brain Tumors

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and Italy’s Catholic University of the Sacred Heart medical school have provided solid evidence that copper, the first metal used medicinally, may now have a new role — helping save children from a devastating central nervous system cancer known as medulloblastoma.

In Covid-19 Vaccinated People, Those with Prior Infection Likely to Have More Antibodies

In what is believed to be one of the largest studies of its kind, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have shown that antibody levels against SARS-CoV-2 (the COVID-19 virus) stay more durable — that is, remain higher over an extended period of time — in people who were infected by the virus and then received protection from two doses of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine compared with those who only got immunized.

Statins Likely Not Helpful In Reducing Covid-19 Mortality or Severity

Findings from a recent Johns Hopkins Medicine-led study of nearly 4,500 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 over a four-month period provide a stronger case for a very different conclusion: Statins likely did not confer any impact — positive or negative — on COVID-related mortality and may be associated with an significantly increased risk — nearly 1 chance in 5 — of more serious illness.

‘Leaky’ Heart Valves in Pregnant Women Need More Attention Than Once Thought, Study Suggests

An analysis of more than 20,000 individual medical records suggests that a form of heart valve disease thought to be relatively benign during pregnancy may put women at risk for serious bleeding, high blood pressure, organ damage and other complications during childbirth, according to research from Johns Hopkins Medicine.