The News reader from Sicilian.Net

National Institutes of Health (NIH) News Releases News Releases from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) NHGRI Launches Genomic Careers Resource for Students 18 Mar 2010 at 4:36pm To help students planning their professional careers understand the opportunities in the fields of genetics and genomics, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) today launched the Genomic Careers Resource on the institute's Web site, www.genome.gov. The careers resource showcases nearly 50 career opportunities through video interviews, career profiles, tools to rate potential career choices, and an interactive game. NIH Announces Genetic Testing Registry 18 Mar 2010 at 2:01pm The National Institutes of Health announced today that it is creating a public database that researchers, consumers, health care providers, and others can search for information submitted voluntarily by genetic test providers. The Genetic Testing Registry (GTR) aims to enhance access to information about the availability, validity, and usefulness of genetic tests. Adding Common Genetic Variants to Breast Cancer Risk Models Offers Only Small... 18 Mar 2010 at 1:01pm Scientists report that breast cancer risk assessment models, which predict a woman's chance of developing breast cancer, do not perform better when they include common inherited genetic variants recently linked to the disease. Therefore, recommendations for breast cancer screening or treatments will remain unchanged for most women. The study, led by investigators from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, appears in the March 18, 2010, New England Journal of Medicine. NIH Clinical Center to Open State-of-the-Art Pharmaceutical Development Facility 17 Mar 2010 at 4:06pm Members of the media are invited to tour the new one-of-a-kind National Institutes of Health Clinical Center pharmaceutical development facility. Originally established in 1956, the resource enables NIH intramural researchers to design studies with tailored drug treatment. Facility staff manage, analyze, and create experimental medications and vaccines used in clinical research studies at the Clinical Center, NIH's clinical research hospital. Bench to Bassinet Program Seeks Congenital Heart Disease Treatments 16 Mar 2010 at 1:51pm To help speed the translation of scientific discoveries into usable treatments in congenital heart disease, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health recently launched the Bench to Bassinet Program. This program, which involves several major research institutions across the country, will be highlighted in the March 23 edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Congenital heart disease affects the lives of 40,000 newborns a year in the United States, and up to 2 million adults are living with congenital heart disease. Statement of Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy ... 15 Mar 2010 at 7:51pm On National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, joins American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians in remembering those who have succumbed to HIV/AIDS. We at NIAID reaffirm our commitment on this occasion to the goal of controlling and ultimately ending this devastating pandemic. NIH Partners with PEPFAR to Strengthen Medical Education in Africa 15 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm The National Institutes of Health has announced a new initiative to strengthen medical education in Sub-Saharan Africa, in collaboration with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR. The program, called the Medical Education Partnership Initiative, is a joint effort of the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Defense and 19 components of NIH. Impulsive-Antisocial Personality Traits Linked to a Hypersensitive Brain Rewa... 15 Mar 2010 at 2:55pm Normal individuals who scored high on a measure of impulsive/antisocial traits display a hypersensitive brain reward system, according to a brain imaging study by researchers at Vanderbilt University. The findings provide the first evidence of differences in the brain's reward system that may underlie vulnerability to what's typically referred to as psychopathy. Brain Activities Bring Together Area Students, NIH Scientists 15 Mar 2010 at 2:01pm Busloads of students from Washington, D.C., area schools will visit the National Museum of Health and Medicine at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on March 17 and 18 for a special experience. These students, grades five through eight, will participate in the museum's 11th annual Brain Awareness Week. During these two days, scientists from five institutes at the National Institutes of Health will host interactive sessions focusing on brain health and neuroscience. Landmark ACCORD Trial Finds Intensive Blood Pressure and Combination Lipid Th... 15 Mar 2010 at 2:01pm Lowering blood pressure to normal levels -- below currently recommended levels -- did not significantly reduce the combined risk of fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular disease events in adults with type 2 diabetes who were at especially high risk for cardiovascular disease events, according to new results from the landmark Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) clinical trial. Similarly, treating multiple blood lipids with combination drug therapy of a fibrate and a statin did not reduce the combined risk of cardiovascular disease events more than treatment with statin alone. The study of more than 10,000 participants is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. Barrier in Mosquito Midgut Protects Invading Pathogens 11 Mar 2010 at 8:31pm Scientists studying the Anopheles gambiae mosquito ? the main vector of malaria ? have found that when the mosquito takes a blood meal, that act triggers two enzymes to form a network of crisscrossing proteins around the ingested blood. The formation of this protein barrier, the researchers found, is part of the normal digestive process that allows so-called "healthy" or commensal gut bacteria to grow without activating mosquito immune responses. But there is a downside: The barrier also prevents the mosquito's immune defense system from clearing any disease-causing agents that may have slipped into the blood meal, such as the Plasmodium malaria parasite, which in turn can be passed on to humans. Hereditary Condition Causing Limb Weakness Traced to Gene for Rare Disorder 11 Mar 2010 at 6:41pm A gene that causes a fatal childhood brain disorder can also cause adults to develop peripheral neuropathy, a condition resulting in weakness and decreased sensation in the hands and limbs, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. The study is the first to show that different mutations in the same gene cause the two seemingly unrelated disorders. Dr. Francis S. Collins Receives Albany Medical Center Prize 10 Mar 2010 at 9:01pm NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. has been named a recipient of the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research for his leading role in mapping the human genome. While accepting the honor, Dr. Collins declined his portion of the $500,000 prize in order to comply with government ethics rules. Panel Questions "VBAC Bans," Advocates Expanded Delivery Options for Women 10 Mar 2010 at 9:01pm An independent panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health confronted a troubling fact that pregnant women currently have limited access to clinicians and facilities able and willing to offer a trial of labor after previous cesarean delivery because of so-called VBAC bans. Many, even those at low risk for complications in a trial of labor, are not offered this option. The panel affirmed that a trial of labor is a reasonable option for many women with a prior cesarean delivery. They also urged that current VBAC guidelines be revisited, malpractice concerns be addressed, and additional research undertaken to better understand the medical and non-medical factors that influence decision making for women with previous cesarean deliveries. Vaccinating Children against Flu Helps Protect Wider Community 9 Mar 2010 at 9:01pm Results of a clinical trial conducted in a largely self-contained religious community during the 2008-09 influenza season show that immunizing children against seasonal influenza can significantly protect unvaccinated community members against influenza as well. The study was conducted to determine if immunized children could act as a barrier to limit the spread of influenza to the wider, unvaccinated community, a concept known as herd immunity. Newsfeed display by CaRP