NIH Common Fund
Cool Videos: Heart Attack
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Up next in our scientific film fest is an original music video, straight from the Big Apple. Created by researchers at The Rockefeller University, this song-and-dance routine provides an entertaining—and informative—look at how blood clots form, their role in causing heart attacks, and what approaches are being tried to break up these clots.
Before (or after!) you hit “play,” it might help to take a few moments to review the scientists’ description of their efforts: the key to saving the lives of heart attack victims lies in the molecules that control how blood vessels become clogged. This molecular biomedicine music video explains how ischemic injury can be prevented shortly after heart attack symptoms begin: clot blocking. The science is the collaborative work of Dr. Barry Coller of Rockefeller, Dr. Craig Thomas and his colleagues at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), and Dr. Marta Filizola and her Mount Sinai colleagues.
Links:
Laboratory of Blood and Vascular Biology, The Rockefeller University
Filizola Laboratory, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Center for Clinical and Translational Science, The Rockefeller University
Clinical and Translational Science Awards (NCATS/NIH)
NIH Common Fund Video Competition
NIH support: Common Fund; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Cool Videos: Accelerating Discoveries Toward Better Health
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
One of the biggest challenges in biomedical research today is breaking down the barriers that slow the translation of new scientific discoveries into treatments and cures. Today’s video drives home that point through a parody of the Emmy Award-winning TV series, “Breaking Bad.”
Shot in Albuquerque by the University of New Mexico’s Clinical and Translational Science Center, this film focuses on a dramatic but obviously fictional example of what it takes to move fundamental knowledge about biology into a therapy that can make a difference in a patient’s life. Here’s the plot in a nutshell: “Walter White explains to his class that clinical and translational science is about accelerating basic science to clinical science and then into practice, bringing new discoveries and technology to the people. This parody shows how Walter and Jesse Pinkman bring basic science to clinical practice, and enable a multiple sclerosis (MS) patient to walk again.”
Links:
Clinical & Translational Science Center, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
Clinical and Translational Science Awards (National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences/NIH)
NIH Common Fund Video Competition
NIH support: Common Fund; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Cool Videos: Diving for Drugs
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Who says biomedical scientists always have to work indoors? The next installment in our mini-film fest proves otherwise, offering a close-up look at some medicinal chemists who are busy carrying out their research in warm waters off the Florida Keys.
This aquatic adventure may not be as action-packed as “Pirates of the Caribbean” or “Finding Nemo.” But these researchers from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy in Gainesville are out to discover something far more valuable to patients than sunken treasure: marine life with chemical compounds that may provide the basis for new treatments and cures.
Cool Videos: Myotonic Dystrophy
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Today, I’d like to share a video that tells the inspirational story of two young Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers who are taking aim at a genetic disease that has touched both of their lives. Called myotonic dystrophy (DM), the disease is the most common form of muscular dystrophy in adults and causes a wide variety of health problems—including muscle wasting and weakness, irregular heartbeats, and profound fatigue.
If you’d like a few more details before or after watching these scientists’ video, here’s their description of their work: “Eric Wang started his lab at MIT in 2013 through receiving an NIH Early Independence Award. Learn about the path that led him to study myotonic dystrophy, a disease that affects his family. Eric’s team of researchers includes Ona McConnell, an avid field hockey goalie who is affected by myotonic dystrophy herself. Determined to make a difference, Eric and Ona hope to inspire others in their efforts to better understand and treat this disease.”
Links:
Formula for Innovation: People + Ideas + Time
Posted on by Dr. Sally Rockey and Dr. Francis Collins
In these times of tight budgets and rapidly evolving science, we must consider new ways to invest biomedical research dollars to achieve maximum impact—to turn scientific discoveries into better health as swiftly as possible. We do this by thinking strategically about the areas of research that we support, as well as the process by which we fund that research.
Historically, most NIH-funded grants have been “project-based,” which means that their applications have clearly delineated aims for what will be accomplished during a defined project period. These research project grants typically last three to five years and vary in award amount. For example, the average annual direct cost of the R01 grant—the gold standard of NIH funding—was around $282,000 in FY 2013, with an average duration of about 4.3 years.
NIH Common Fund: 10 Years of Transformative Science
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Happy 10th Anniversary to the Common Fund! It’s hard to believe that it’s been a decade since I joined then-NIH Director Elias Zerhouni at the National Press Club to launch this trans-NIH effort to catalyze innovation and speed progress across many fields of biomedical research.
We’re marking this milestone with a special celebration today at NIH’s main campus. And, for those of you who can’t make it to Bethesda to join in the festivities, you can watch the videocast (live or archived). But allow me also to take this opportunity to share just a bit of the history and a few of the many achievements of this bold new approach to the support of science.
