Speaking of Science The Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Historical failings, like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 that restricted immigration from China for 61 years, have cast a shadow of prejudice and discrimination over Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) populations. Its effects continue to loom heavy, often reducing these groups to a single racial-ethnic category and masking major differences that exist between them, even when it comes to their health. In this episode, Devon Valera, from the Office of NIH History, breaks down how history has shaped AANHPI experiences and perceptions, and Dr. Jacqueline Vo from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), explains why science is now calling to dismantle the myth that these populations are a monolithic group.  

Beverly Gage came to the NIH with a condition that had never been observed before. A mysterious genetic mutation that caused her chronic joint pain and inflammation led her to Dr. Michael Ombrello, an expert in rare inflammatory diseases at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). Where their paths cross shows us the current challenges of diagnosing, treating, and living with a disorder that is new to science.

The blood-brain barrier keeps bad actors like toxins, viruses, and bacteria from entering the brain. But in the case of brain cancer when the danger is already inside, the blood-brain barrier can work against a person’s health by shutting out the medications meant to eliminate the threat. Dr. Sadhana Jackson from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) works to figure out ways to selectively get cancer treatments through the blood-brain barrier to treat patients with certain types of brain tumors known as gliomas.
Learn more about Dr. Jackson work at https://irp.nih.gov/pi/sadhana-jackson.

Epidemiologists are the watchful guardians of public health. They collect and analyze data to track the status quo. When there are deviations, they crunch the numbers to understand who is getting sick, where, how, and why. Dr. Meredith Shiels is an epidemiologist and senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) studying cancer mortality rates to discern what populations might be at higher risk, figure out ways to mitigate those risks, and evaluate whether those measures are working.  
Learn more about Dr. Shiels’s research at  https://irp.nih.gov/pi/meredith-shiels.

Despite negative consequences and the desire to stop, millions of people with compulsive behaviors can’t break the self-destructive cycles that disrupt their daily lives. Dr. Veronica Alvarez and Dr. Bruno Averbeck from the National Institute of Mental Health run the Center on Compulsive Behaviors (CCB) which brings together NIH scientists to understand what drives these repetitive and often detrimental behaviors. The CCB strives to decipher the neural circuitry that leads to compulsive behaviors in hopes of improving treatments and designing new interventions.
Learn more about the CCB at https://research.ninds.nih.gov/researchers/center-compulsive-behaviors-ccb.

Sugars, also referred to as carbohydrates, aren’t just substances we add to make coffee taste less bitter or food sweeter; they are an entire class of molecules necessary for life. The study of these carbohydrates is called glycobiology. Dr. John Hanover is a glycobiologist and the chief of the laboratory of cell and molecular biology at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). His work is advancing scientists’ understanding of the sugar structures responsible for rare diseases and genetic transgenerational inheritance.