UGA to establish national NIH-funded center to fight flu

The National Institutes of Health has awarded the University of Georgia a contract to establish the Center for Influenza Disease and Emergence Research (CIDER). The contract will provide $1 million in first-year funding and is expected to be supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, for seven years and up to approximately $92 million.

UCI to lead transfer of UC COVID-19 patient information to federal database

Irvine, Calif., March 24, 2021 – Vaccines are here, but as COVID-19 cases continue and variants spread, researchers need easy access to a wide variety of data to better understand the disease. Led by the University of California, Irvine, UC hospitals have received a $500,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to make this possible.

Rutgers University’s Resilient, Innovative Year Confronting COVID-19

The last year, which has been unlike any other in Rutgers’ 254-year history, has centered on keeping the Rutgers community safe, providing top-notch health care, developing the first saliva test for the coronavirus and helping society cope with the biggest global public health crisis since the 1918 influenza pandemic.

NIH Awards UC San Diego $33 Million for Five COVID-19 Diagnostic Projects

UC San Diego was awarded five COVID-19 Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) projects by the National Institutes of Health totaling nearly $33 million, which will fund efforts that range from managing a large data center to expanding testing in disadvantaged communities.

New NIH Grant Supports Innovative Approach to Cochlear Implant Surgery

The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine was awarded a new five-year, $2 million grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) for “Application of Mild Therapeutic Hypothermia for Hearing Conservation During Cochlear Implant Surgeries.” It follows a pilot grant from the CTSI, a small business innovation grant from the National Institutes of Health, and industry funding to Dr. Suhrud Rajguru, Ph.D., associate professor at the Miller School of Medicine in biomedical engineering and otolaryngology, and his laboratory.

Nutrition, companionship reduce pain in mice with sickle cell disease, UCI-led study finds

Irvine, Calif., Feb. 1, 2021 — Researchers from the University of California, Irvine and the University of Minnesota have found that an enriched diet and companionship can reduce pain in mice with sickle cell disease by increasing serotonin. They also discovered that duloxetine, an antidepressant that boosts serotonin levels, could be an alternative to opioids in treating chronic pain.

Recruiting Starts at University of Miami Health System for NIH Study of COVID-19 Immunity

The University of Miami Health System is one of five sites nationally and the only one in the Southeast U.S. chosen to participate in a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) study looking at people who have had COVID-19 or have had a COVID-19 vaccine to examine the durability and robustness of participants’ antibody and T-cell responses to the virus.

Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Ranked No. 1 in NIH Funding

The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (JHSON) is ranked No. 1 among schools of nursing for total funding received from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for fiscal year 2020. Its grants range in topics from health equity, resilience, gender norms, aging, cardiovascular health, health of Indigenous people, HIV, trauma, violence, and more.

Research News Tip Sheet: Story Ideas From Johns Hopkins Medicine

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every other Tuesday.

Research News Tip Sheet: Story Ideas From Johns Hopkins Medicine

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every other Tuesday.

Mindfulness interventions can change health behaviors – Integrated model helps to explain how they work

A growing body of evidence supports the effectiveness of mindfulness approaches to promote positive changes in health behaviors. New neurobiologically based models of “mindful self-regulation” help to explain the how mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) work to help people make healthy behavior changes, according to a review in the November/December issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

Computational Biologist Thomas Norman of Sloan Kettering Institute Honored with Distinguished NIH Director’s New Innovator Award

Computational biologist Thomas Norman, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s (MSK) Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI) has been named one of 53 recipients of the prestigious 2020 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s New Innovator Award. As part of the award, Dr. Norman will receive $1.5 million in direct costs upfront in the first year of a five-year award.

New Research Shows Air Pollution Could Play a Role in Development of Cardiometabolic Diseases, Diabetes

Air pollution is the world’s leading environmental risk factor, and causes more than nine million deaths per year. New research published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation shows air pollution may play a role in the development of cardiometabolic diseases, such as diabetes. Importantly, the effects were reversible with cessation of exposure.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Awards and Appointments

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) announces its most recent awards and appointments for the institution’s physicians, scientists, nurses, and staff.

First Patients in NIH ACTIV-3 Clinical Trial Enroll in Dallas

On Wednesday in Dallas, just one day after the initiative was launched by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Baylor Scott & White Research Institute enrolled the first patient in the world for the ACTIV-3 clinical trial. A second patient was enrolled the following day.

UAH collaboration with HudsonAlpha expands knowledge of how our cells work

In an effort to better understand how our cells work, scientists have studied the function of 208 proteins responsible for orchestrating the regulation genes in the human genome. A paper appearing in the journal “Nature” describes the collaborative effort.

Baylor Scott & White Research Institute Expands Efforts in the Fight Against COVID-19

As the global response to the SARS-COV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 approaches 200 days, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the research and development arm of Baylor Scott & White Health, is accelerating its pace of bringing clinical trials online.

Baylor Scott & White Research Institute continues to mobilize staff and resources, including components needed to integrate critical patient-safety measures at every participating site within the Baylor Scott & White system for industry sponsored drug trials, investigator-initiated drug trials and research studies, and observational and data studies designed to help increase knowledge around case trends, viral epidemiology, and care best practices.

UA Little Rock receives nearly $450,000 to develop deep learning methods to identify cells that advance complex diseases

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor has received a $443,854 grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop unique deep learning methods to identify key cell networks in complex diseases. Dr. Mary Yang, professor of information science and director of the Midsouth Bioinformatics Center at UA Little Rock, will conduct research that will help doctors and scientists further understand how complex diseases evolve and develop in the body as well as how to identify effective drug targets.

UCI receives record $529 million in research funding for fiscal 2019-20

Irvine, Calif., July 20, 2020 — From cutting-edge research and clinical trials focused on cancer care to creating a new center devoted to protecting personal data privacy, University of California, Irvine scholars, scientists and physicians are blazing new paths to help change the world. And their impact keeps growing. In fiscal 2019-20, which ended June 30, UCI researchers received the most funding in campus history: $529 million in grants and contracts.

University of Miami Miller School Plays Pivotal Role in Securing a $15 Million National Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine investigators play a pivotal role in a consortium of Florida institutions just awarded a $15 million grant to collaborate on Alzheimer’s disease research. The five-year National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging grant brings together top Florida researchers to focus on better understanding how to diagnose, treat, prevent, and potentially cure Alzheimer’s in diverse populations.

Larger study to test combination treatment for COVID-19

A study is now enrolling participants to determine whether a treatment combining a low dose of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin can prevent hospitalization and death in people with COVID-19.

Dr. Ann Collier, professor of medicine, Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the University of Washington School of Medicine, explains the national study is looking to enroll 2,000 patients at sites across the country.

Solving a medical mystery and changing CDC screenings for COVID-19

UC Davis Health physicians and medical staff who treated the first case of community transmission of COVID-19 in the U.S. provide a detailed case study of her condition and the medical steps and challenges they experienced before arriving at a diagnosis and treatment.

PECASE Honoree Michael Boyce on Sugar’s Role in Cell Signaling and on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Scientific Workforce

Sugars are the body’s primary energy source, but they also play signaling roles in the cell by acting as tags on proteins and lipids. NIGMS grantee and Presidential award recipient Michael Boyce discusses the importance of these sugar tags and their role in disease, as well as his efforts toward diversity, equity, and inclusion in the scientific workforce.

Validating NIH Toolbox to help evaluate cognitive processing in people with intellectual disability

Cognitive processing in people with intellectual disability can now be accurately assessed thanks to UC Davis Health researchers who updated and validated series of tests, part of the NIH Toolbox Cognitive Battery.

New High-Throughput Method to Study Gene Splicing at an Unprecedented Scale Reveals New Details About the Process

Genes are like instructions, but with options for building more than one thing. Daniel Larson, senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute, studies this gene “splicing” process, which happens in normal cells and goes awry in blood cancers like leukemia.

NIH funds Chicago-based study of chronic fatigue syndrome and mono in college age students

Researchers at DePaul University and Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago will examine potential connections between chronic fatigue and mono in college students under a new five-year study funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, one of the National Institutes of Health.

FY 2020 Spending Bill Funds Critical Initiatives While Neglecting Urgent Priorities

The spending bill passed today is a welcome step forward. Allocations in the bill will strengthen public health and research efforts during the year ahead and will provide critical support for important goals. At the same time, the legislation in its final form also brings inadequate responses to current and urgent challenges with the potential for long-term and costly consequences.

House Drug Pricing Bill Serves Patients, Public Health

H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act passed by the House of Representatives today introduces critically needed and significant steps to reduce costs and improve access to life-saving therapies for conditions including HIV and hepatitis C. Importantly, the legislation also brings essential resources to combat antibiotic resistance, find and develop new infection fighting drugs and bring them to market. The balanced approach of this legislation will serve patients and public health.

NINDS Awards Coriell Institute for Medical Research $7.7 Million Contract

The five-year award will support the NINDS Human Genetics Resource Center, a collection of biological samples and corresponding demographic, clinical, and genetic data made available to qualified researchers around the world. This repository includes samples from subjects with various diseases – such as cerebrovascular disease, dystonia, epilepsy, motor neuron disease, parkinsonism, and Tourette Syndrome.