NIAID Now

NIAID’s HIV/AIDS Flickr album features a collection of downloadable HIV-related images, including infographics, microscopy images, photographs of HIV researchers and molecular models. These images are public domain and can be freely re-used. Please credit the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Curious about where challenge trials take place on the NIH campus? Dr. Matthew Memoli led a livestreamed “virtual tour” of the Special Clinical Studies Unit, where Ebola patients were cared for and where participants in challenge trials of influenza, RSV, and other pathogens stay while they are infectious.

Could an influenza virus like the one which caused the 1918 pandemic emerge today? If it did, could we stop it? In a short video, NIAID experts discuss how seasonal and pandemic influenzas change over time, and how researchers are working to improve influenza vaccines.

At this week's HIV Research for Prevention (HIV R4P) conference in Madrid, scientists have reported progress in numerous areas of HIV prevention research. NIAID-supported scientists highlighted the need to expand HIV prevention and treatment services among populations greatly affected by HIV, described early findings from a study assessing the safety of a vaginal ring containing both an anti-HIV drug and a birth-control agent, and reported the added benefits of an intervention designed to facilitate treatment for HIV and injection drug use.

Video: NIAID scientist Dr. Jeffery Taubenberger talks about his research on 1918 flu.

The annual NIH Research Festival showcases research by scientists who work in the 27 Institutes and Centers of the National Institutes of Health. This year’s event featured talks by NIAID’s Director, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., and four of our intramural researchers.

A new NIAID-supported study lays the foundation for understanding the causes of and ultimately developing treatments for nasal polyps—small growths that develop on inflamed mucous membranes lining the nose and sinuses. The work opens the horizon for further research, as well as efforts to better understand other diseases characterized by inflamed barrier tissues, such as asthma and eczema.

August 20 is World Mosquito Day. NIAID is part of the fight against these death-dealing insects.

NIAID supported the development of a new drug to treat smallpox, the first to be approved specifically to treat the viral disease.

The gut microbiome—the community of bacteria and other microbes naturally present in the gastrointestinal tract—plays a critical role in human health. NIAID Now spoke with senior investigator Jason Brenchley, Ph.D., about the link between the gut microbiome and HIV infection, and his lab’s recent research findings.

As part of HIV.gov's series of Facebook Live dispatches from the 22nd International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam, Carl Dieffenbach, Ph.D., shared highlights from the conference's second full day of HIV research presentations.

The first full day of sessions at the 22nd International AIDS Conference  (AIDS 2018) in Amsterdam was filled with new scientific findings shared by researchers from around the world. In a Facebook Live interview with HIV.gov, Carl Dieffenbach, Ph.D., discussed highlights of three studies presented today at the conference.

PATRIC is one of six NIAID-funded Bioinformatics Resource Centers (BRCs) for Infectious Diseases and focuses on bacterial species. The BRCs compile large datasets in a standardized way, allowing scientists to perform analyses more efficiently. This can include assessing the function of specific genes, identifying markers for diagnosing a particular bacterial infection, or discovering new bacterial resistance mechanisms.

Ebola vaccine concept could have broad use against several viruses.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is experiencing an outbreak of Ebola virus disease. As the U.S. government’s lead agency on biomedical infectious disease research, NIAID is providing several layers of support to the DRC and World Health Organization, which are leading a global, multi-sectoral response to the outbreak.

The collaboration made possible the rapid and robust sharing of Zika materials such as Zika isolates and serum samples.

The Broadway and Hollywood star, a lifelong advocate of health and gender equity, graced the stage of NIH’s Ruth Kirschstein Auditorium on May 15 to give the annual J. Edward Rall Cultural Lecture, named for former Deputy Director for Intramural Research Joseph “Ed” Rall. Streisand took the opportunity to highlight an issue that is — literally — near and dear to her heart: women’s cardiovascular health.

Each year, NIAID-funded scientists visit the beaches of Delaware Bay to test shorebirds for avian flu viruses. A video from NIAID Now profiles their work.

In a new study in Science Translational Medicine, NIAID-funded researchers probe the tuberculosis bacterium’s cell membrane construction processes—and find a weakness that future TB drugs could exploit to halt the bacteria’s growth.

NIAID is conducting and supporting research, including two clinical trials, on the potentially deadly disease Valley fever, or coccidioidomycosis. People can get Valley fever by inhaling a soil-residing fungus endemic to parts of the southwestern United States.

NIAID supports biomedical research to combat the growing public health threat of antimicrobial resistance. Check out NIAID’s image library of antimicrobial-resistant microbes and related graphics.

Dr. David M. Morens delivered the 2018 John R. LaMontagne Memorial Lecture about the deadliest pandemic of all time.

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine has produced a video to accompany its spring issue on antimicrobial resistance and what NIAID is doing about it. NIAID Now spoke with the video’s animator, Jeff Day, about how the video came to be.

Most people living with HIV have a single genetic strain of the virus, but in certain cases, a person can acquire a second strain of HIV—a condition known as HIV superinfection. In a new study published online today in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, NIAID researchers and scientists at the Uganda Virus Research Institute describe a case of HIV superinfection they were able to identify with unique precision.

During the second full day at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston, NIAID’s Anne Rancourt conducted Facebook Live interviews with three leaders from the Department of Health and Human Services about HIV research highlights and their implications.

A woman’s risk of acquiring HIV through sex with a male partner living with HIV increases during pregnancy and is highest during the postpartum period, new research funded in part by NIAID suggests. Researchers observed this trend of increased risk of HIV transmission per sex act even after taking into account behavioral factors, such as use of condoms or PrEP. The findings suggest that biological changes during and after pregnancy may increase a woman’s HIV risk.

NIAID scientists have demonstrated that a slight change to a powerful, naturally occurring HIV antibody helps it last longer in the human body while counteracting the virus just as well in the laboratory. These characteristics could reduce the cost and increase the convenience of giving people antibodies for HIV prevention because fewer doses of an antibody could achieve the same protective effect.

A new analysis of malaria parasites sampled over seven years reveals how malaria multi-drug resistance spread in Southeast Asia. The authors note the findings could have implications for managing effective malaria treatment options and mitigating global health risk.

A team of NIAID-supported scientists has found that the presence of the bacterium Lactobacillus in the upper part of the airways may protect infants from long-term consequences of an infection with respiratory syncytial virus, creating opportunities for interventions to avoid the development of wheezing and perhaps asthma.

NIAID makes many resources available to researchers, such as reagents, model organisms, and tissue samples. Now it’s even easier to find these resources on our site using the Resources for Researchers feature.

International field research poses many challenges to NIAID researchers, but that hasn’t stopped a team from returning to Jordan year after year to study Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

A new study offers insights into the immune cell defects that occur in Chediak-Higashi syndrome, a rare genetic disease. Their findings also suggest a potential strategy to develop treatments for this complex syndrome, which is characterized by immune deficiency, predisposition to bleeding, recurring infections and neurological disorders.

To make additional HIV prevention options a reality, NIAID supports research on a variety of innovative, long-acting HIV prevention products that could be inserted in the vagina, injected or implanted from once a month to once a year by people who commit to use them on an ongoing basis. These products include a vaginal ring that also delivers contraception.

For a visual trek through several species of ticks, check out NIAID’s Tick Pics and Flicks—a collection of photographs and video footage of the diverse arachnids known to carry pathogens that cause illnesses such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, tularemia and more.

Daily antiretroviral therapy can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood to levels that are undetectable with standard tests. Staying on treatment is crucial to keep the virus suppressed. NIAID-supported research has demonstrated that achieving and maintaining a “durably undetectable” viral load (the amount of HIV in the blood) not only preserves the health of the person living with HIV, but also prevents sexual transmission of the virus to an HIV-negative partner.

We should all be thankful to have some histamine in our bodies. This chemical messenger helps our brains stay alert, lets our stomachs dissolve food and powers our immune systems to root out and kill infectious parasites.

Haunted houses, ghastly ghouls, spooky spirits and… frightening food allergies? Halloween can be a stressful time for families managing food allergies. Many popular candies contain peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs and other potentially allergenic foods. Reading food labels carefully can help ensure a safe and happy Halloween for everyone.

“There is real value in experimental odysseys,” says Thomas A. Waldmann, M.D., of the National Cancer Institute.

The NIH Distinguished Investigator celebrated a new leg of one such journey this summer. In June, colleague Michael J. Lenardo, M.D., an investigator at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, published his finding of a genetic cause and potential treatment for a subset of the gastrointestinal disease Waldmann had discovered in 1961. Dr. Lenardo, who Dr. Waldmann recruited to the NIH more than two decades ago, will join Dr. Waldmann to give a Clinical Center Grand Rounds lecture on their discoveries in Masur Auditorium in Building 10 on November 15, 2017.

The fever, fatigue, muscle and headache caused by influenza (flu) can make even the healthiest person feel miserable for days. For more vulnerable people, such as the very young or the elderly, flu can be fatal. Although vaccination is recommended and can help protect against flu infection, there is a need for effective therapies to combat illness caused by the flu virus.

Findings from a pair of NIAID-funded studies in zebrafish shed light on how nerve damage is initiated in leprosy and suggest a potential target for the development of strategies to prevent tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases.

Vaccine could provide broad protection against all of these illnesses, as well as other mosquito-borne diseases.

It’s easy for people to overlook the importance of fast, reliable diagnostic tests in scientific research. Most often, ill patients focus on what treatment is available for them to recover. But without a timely and accurate diagnosis, physicians won’t know the most optimal treatment to provide.

In recent years, multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively-drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) has become increasingly common—and difficult to treat. A new study funded by NIAID reveals that by unravelling the TB bacteria’s DNA and testing it for certain mutations, researchers were able to estimate to what extent the bacteria are resistant to fluoroquinolones, a class of powerful antibiotics typically used to treat TB.

Have you ever heard about a research finding and thought, “What does that mean?” New observations and discoveries continually contribute to the ever-expanding body of scientific knowledge that ultimately guides medical practice. NIAID Video SNiPs are quick summaries for science lovers and scientists that explain how an incremental advance can provide fresh insights, affect disease outcomes, and improve public health.

Ensuring a durable end to the HIV pandemic will require a safe and effective HIV vaccine. A whiteboard video explains how an HIV vaccine could be developed, while focusing on a vaccine currently being tested in a large, NIAID-funded clinical trial in South Africa called HVTN 702.

Read the report and recommendations on a possible Zika virus human challenge study.

Development of a safe and effective preventive HIV vaccine remains key to realizing a durable end to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.