NICHD researcher Gisela Storz, Ph.D., has never been afraid to ask questions. Her boldness and persistence have served her well, not just in scientific pursuits, but also in her quest to improve equity and diversity in the workplace.
News
NICHD issues News Releases and Media Advisories to the news media. Spotlight and Research Feature articles explain NICHD research findings and public health issues to the general public. An Item of Interest is a short announcement of relevant information, such as a notable staff change.
Media Advisory: Gout treatment may help prevent obesity-related type 2 diabetes, suggests small NIH study
The drug colchicine, used to treat the arthritic condition gout, could potentially reduce complications accompanying metabolic syndrome, a combination of high blood pressure, high blood sugar and other conditions that increase the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.
Spotlight: Harnessing light to study human development and the brain
NICHD’s Amir Gandjbakhche, Ph.D., leads a team that is pioneering the use of portable imaging technology to study human development and health conditions, including brain injuries and disorders.
Item of Interest: NICHD Data and Specimen Hub (DASH) Releases New Biospecimen Request Functionality
Now available in DASH: Researchers can request access to NICHD biospecimens for secondary analyses.
Spotlight: Women in Science: Reflecting on Five Decades of Research with Keiko Ozato
Seventy-seven year old NICHD researcher Keiko Ozato, Ph.D., started her laboratory in 1981. We caught up with her as she thought about how some early challenges shaped her life and research career.
Media Advisory: Proximity to muscle cells may promote spread of prostate cancer cells, NIH study suggests
Proximity to nearby muscle cells may make prostate cancer cells more likely to invade nearby tissues and spread to other organs, according to an early study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The presence of muscle cells appears to make cancer cells more likely to fuse two or more cancer cells into a single cell, thereby increasing their invasiveness and ability to spread.
Media Advisory: NICHD chronicles its major research advances of 2018
As 2018 winds down, a new slideshow highlights a selection of initiatives, therapies, and scientific advances supported by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Spotlight: Selected NICHD Research Advances of 2018
In 2018, researchers funded by NICHD made significant progress in advancing the health and well-being of infants, children, teenagers, and adults across the United States and around the world.
Release: Astrocytes regulate signal speeds of neurons
NIH findings in rodents suggest that astrocytes play an important role in how the brain processes information.
Podcast: Rethinking Disability: The Egans and Down Syndrome
Dr. Kathleen Egan and her son David Egan, pioneers of inclusion for people with Down syndrome, share their experiences. Listen.
Science Update: Researchers identify two cell types that produce melatonin in pineal gland
The brain’s pineal gland has two kinds of pinealocytes—cells that make melatonin—the hormone that regulates the body’s sleep and wake cycles, according to a rodent study conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The findings have the potential to inform future research on disorders that involve melatonin, such as jet lag and seasonal affective disorder.
Media Advisory: Gene variations linked to severity of Zika-related birth defects, small NIH study suggests
The severity of birth defects caused by Zika virus infection may be influenced by natural variations in a pregnant woman’s genes for a key enzyme, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.
Release: Neurons absorb and release water when firing, NIH study suggests
Neurons absorb and release water when they relay messages throughout the brain, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. Tracking this water movement with imaging technology may one day provide valuable information on normal brain activity, as well as how injury or disease affect brain function.
Release: EXP2 protein helps deadliest malaria parasite obtain nutrients during infection
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have deciphered the role of a key protein that the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum uses to obtain nutrients while infecting red blood cells. Their study appears in Nature Microbiology.
Podcast: Boosting Mobility for People with Disabilities
A computerized skateboard, a self-motorized toy car, and a robotic prosthetic arm are just a few of the research projects supported by NICHD’s National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research. Listen to the latest podcast.
Science Update: NICHD researchers identify neurons that prevent sensory overload
New findings in zebrafish help explain how the brain filters information from the environment and may improve our understanding of neurological disorders.
Science Update: Sexual minority females less likely to obtain a driver’s license than heterosexual peers, NICHD study suggests
NICHD researchers find that sexual minority men are more likely to have lived in three or more different places in the past year.
Science Update: NICHD researchers identify protein important for neurodevelopment in mice
A protein found only in mouse embryos and not in adult mice is important for fetal neurodevelopment, according to NICHD researchers.
Science Update: Bone maturation varies with bone size, suggest NIH researchers
To reach their adult proportions, bones mature on separate time scales, with the long bones like those in the arms and legs maturing much more slowly than shorter bones, like those in the fingers and toes, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The study results may lead to new insights and potential treatments for disorders in which bones fail to grow normally.
Media Advisory: NIH researchers identify sequence leading to release of malaria parasites from red blood cells
The vacuole, a compartment inside human red blood cells in which malaria parasites reproduce and develop, takes on a distinct spherical shape just minutes before its membrane ruptures, leading to the release of parasites into the blood stream, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.