Festival Scenes: NIAID Science Featured at NIH Research Event | NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Festival Scenes: NIAID Science Featured at NIH Research Event | NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Festival Scenes: NIAID Science Featured at NIH Research Event

NIAID Now | September 19, 2018

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.

Talks were also delivered by directors of NIH’s National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Diana Bianchi, M.D., who described “The most important nine months of your life”; the National Institute of Mental Health, Joshua Gordon, M.D., Ph.D., who outlined “Mental health research: priorities and progress”; and the National Library of Medicine, Patricia Flatley Brennan, R.N., Ph.D., who presented “Advancing health through accelerating information access: The National Library of Medicine prepares for its third century”. The four plenaries are viewable online(link is external). (Dr. Fauci’s speech begins at begins 1:34.)




 

 

In “Studying influenza virus and vaccine organization by cryo-electron microscopy: the next ice age,” Audray K. Harris, Ph.D., explained how advanced electron microscopy techniques are giving researchers a clearer picture of the structure of key flu surface proteins. This information is enabling the development of next-generation flu vaccines, including the possible development of a “universal” flu vaccine capable of providing long lasting protection against multiple flu strains.

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Credit: NIAID

 

Dr. Fauci, one of the world’s foremost investigators of HIV/AIDS since the earliest days of the pandemic, delivered a plenary address, “Ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic: an achievable goal.”

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NIAID Director Dr. Anthony S. Fauci.
Credit: NIAID

 

Four investigators from NIAID’s Division of Intramural Research described their work on the third day of the festival.

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NIAID researchers, from left, Dr. Jeffery Taubenberger, Dr. Pamela Guerrerio, Dr. Ian Myles, and Dr. Audray Harris.
Credit: NIAID

 

Ian Myles, M.D., M.P.H., outlined “A rosier future for allergic dermatitis,” which may be possible through the application of live Roseomonas mucosa, naturally occurring skin surface bacteria. Dr. Myles presented findings from an early-stage clinical trial of adults and children in which volunteers who received topical applications of Roseomonas bacteria experienced improvement of their atopic dermatitis (eczema) symptoms. Read more about trial and see video of Dr. Myles explaining study results in this May 3, 2018, NIAID press release.

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Credit: NIAID

 

Pamela Guerrerio, M.D., Ph.D., of NIAID’s Laboratory of Allergic Diseases, described her research into the connections between atopic dermatitis and development of food allergies in children and infants. Among the projects she described are ones aimed at improving the ability of food allergy and food sensitivity tests to accurately diagnose food allergies, including in children with eczema.

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Credit: NIAID

 

In his talk, “On the centennial of the 1918 influenza: lessons from the past and planning for the future,”Jeffery K. Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D., detailed the enormous impact of the “mother of all pandemics”—the virus responsible for the 1918 flu pandemic—and outlined research aimed at better understanding how influenza virus causes disease and finding ways to predict who will develop serious illness following infection.

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Credit: NIAID

 

In “Studying influenza virus and vaccine organization by cryo-electron microscopy: the next ice age,” Audray K. Harris, Ph.D., explained how advanced electron microscopy techniques are giving researchers a clearer picture of the structure of key flu surface proteins. This information is enabling the development of next-generation flu vaccines, including the possible development of a “universal” flu vaccine capable of providing long lasting protection against multiple flu strains.

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Credit: NIAID

 

Dr. Fauci, one of the world’s foremost investigators of HIV/AIDS since the earliest days of the pandemic, delivered a plenary address, “Ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic: an achievable goal.”

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NIAID Director Dr. Anthony S. Fauci.
Credit: NIAID

To learn more about these research projects, watch the full presentations(link is external) by Drs. Myles, Guerrerio, Taubenberger, and Harris.