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November 2021

Lung Autopsies of COVID-19 Patients Reveal Treatment Clues

November 17, 2021

Lung autopsy and plasma samples from people who died of COVID-19 have provided a clearer picture of how the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads and damages lung tissue. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health and their collaborators say the information, published in Science Translational Medicine, could help predict severe and prolonged COVID-19 cases, particularly among high-risk people, and inform effective treatments.

This image shows a colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell infected with a variant strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (blue), isolated from a patient sample.

Long-Term Study of Children with COVID-19 Begins

November 15, 2021

A large, long-term study of the impacts of COVID-19 on children has enrolled its first participant at the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The study, which is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, will track up to 1,000 children and young adults who previously tested positive for COVID-19 and evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on their physical and mental health over three years.

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round yellow particles) emerging from the surface of a cell cultured in the lab

October 2021

NIH Researchers Identify How Two People Controlled HIV After Stopping Treatment

October 28, 2021

Research led by scientists at the National Institutes of Health has identified two distinct ways that people with HIV can control the virus for an extended period after stopping antiretroviral therapy (ART) under medical supervision. This information could inform efforts to develop new tools to help people with HIV put the virus into remission without taking lifelong medication, which can have long-term side-effects. 

HIV-infected T cell

Media Availability—COVID Vaccine Booster Increases Antibody Responses, Is Protective in Rhesus Macaques

October 21, 2021

A booster dose of the mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine given to rhesus macaques about six months after their primary vaccine series significantly increased levels of neutralizing antibodies against all known SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health scientists and colleagues. 

Colorized scanning electron micrograph of chronically infected and partially lysed cells (green) infected with a variant strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (blue), isolated from a patient sample. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland.

Subcutaneous Interferon Does Not Improve Outcomes for Hospitalized Adults with COVID-19

October 18, 2021

A clinical trial has found that treatment with the immunomodulator interferon beta-1a plus the antiviral remdesivir was not superior to treatment with remdesivir alone in hospitalized adults with COVID-19 pneumonia. In addition, in a subgroup of patients who required high-flow oxygen, investigators found that interferon beta-1a was associated with more adverse events and worse outcomes. These findings were published today in the journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 

Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell infected with SARS-CoV-2

September 2021

NIAID Issues New Awards to Fund “Pan-Coronavirus” Vaccines

September 28, 2021

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded approximately $36.3 million to three academic institutions to conduct research to develop vaccines to protect against multiple types of coronaviruses and viral variants. The awards are intended to fuel vaccine research for a diverse family of coronaviruses, with a primary focus on potential pandemic-causing coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV-2. 

NIAID Scientists Find a Key to Hepatitis C Entry into Cells

September 21, 2021

Understanding Structure of HCV Proteins Could Aid in Vaccine Development

A cluster of circular hepatitis virus particles, as captured by a transmission electron microscope.

August 2021

HIV Vaccine Candidate Does Not Sufficiently Protect Women Against HIV Infection

August 31, 2021

An investigational HIV vaccine tested in the “Imbokodo” clinical trial conducted in sub-Saharan Africa posed no safety concerns but did not provide sufficient protection against HIV infection, according to a primary analysis of the study data. The Phase 2b proof-of-concept study, which began in November 2017, enrolled 2,637 women ages 18 to 35 years from five countries.

HIV-infected T-cell

NIH Launches Study of Extra COVID-19 Vaccine Dose in People with Autoimmune Disease

August 27, 2021

The National Institutes of Health has begun a clinical trial to assess the antibody response to an extra dose of an authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine in people with autoimmune disease who did not respond to an original COVID-19 vaccine regimen. The trial also will investigate whether pausing immunosuppressive therapy for autoimmune disease improves the antibody response to an extra dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in this population.

Image of cell infected with SARS-CoV-2

NIH Hamster Study Evaluates Airborne and Fomite Transmission of SARS-CoV-2

August 17, 2021

National Institutes of Health scientists studying SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have defined in Syrian hamsters how different routes of virus exposure are linked to disease severity.  Their study, published in Nature Communications, details the efficiency of airborne transmission between hamsters and examines how the virus replicates and causes disease throughout the respiratory system. Their work also shows that virus transmission via fomites—exposure from contaminated surface contact—is markedly less efficient than airborne transmission but does occur.

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round red particles) emerging from the surface of a cell cultured in the lab.

NIH Makes Substantial New Investment in HIV Cure Research

August 17, 2021

The National Institutes of Health has awarded approximately $53 million in annual funding over the next five years to 10 research organizations in a continued effort to find a cure for HIV. The new awards for the Martin Delaney Collaboratories for HIV Cure Research program further expand the initiative’s 2016 renewal from six institutions to 10, and represent a funding increase of approximately 75 percent.

Monoclonal Antibody Prevents Malaria in Small NIH Trial

August 11, 2021

One dose of a new monoclonal antibody discovered and developed at the National Institutes of Health safely prevented malaria for up to nine months in people who were exposed to the malaria parasite. The small, carefully monitored clinical trial is the first to demonstrate that a monoclonal antibody can prevent malaria in people. The trial was sponsored and conducted by scientists from the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, and was funded by NIAID.

Malaria parasite connecting to human red blood cell

NIH Launches Study of Third COVID-19 Vaccine Dose in Kidney Transplant Recipients

August 10, 2021

A pilot study has begun to assess the antibody response to a third dose of an authorized COVID-19 mRNA vaccine in kidney transplant recipients who did not respond to two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The Phase 2 trial is sponsored and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. 

Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell (purple) heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (yellow)

July 2021

NIH Awards More than $20 Million to International HIV Database Centers

July 22, 2021

The National Institutes of Health has renewed grants to seven regional centers that compose the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA), awarding $20.8 million in first-year funding. The 15-year-old IeDEA program efficiently advances knowledge about HIV by pooling and analyzing de-identified health data from more than two million people with HIV on five continents to answer research questions that individual studies cannot address. The grants are expected to last five years and to total an estimated $100 million.  

Beaded AIDS Awareness ribbon pin on knit scarf

June 2021

Investigational Malaria Vaccine Gives Strong, Lasting Protection

June 30, 2021

Two U.S. Phase 1 clinical trials of a novel candidate malaria vaccine have found that the regimen conferred unprecedentedly high levels of durable protection when volunteers were later exposed to disease-causing malaria parasites. The vaccine combines live parasites with either of two widely used antimalarial drugs—an approach termed chemoprophylaxis vaccination. A Phase 2 clinical trial of the vaccine is now underway in Mali, a malaria-endemic country.

Malaria sporozoites

Adjuvant Developed with NIH Funding Enhances Efficacy of India’s COVID-19 Vaccine

June 29, 2021

An adjuvant developed with funding from the National Institutes of Health has contributed to the success of the highly efficacious COVAXIN COVID-19 vaccine, which roughly 25 million people have received to date in India and elsewhere. Adjuvants are substances formulated as part of a vaccine to boost immune responses and enhance a vaccine’s effectiveness. COVAXIN was developed and is manufactured in India, which is currently suffering a devastating health crisis due to COVID-19. 

SEM image of SARS-CoV-2 emerging from cultured cells

NIH Begins Study of COVID-19 Vaccination During Pregnancy and Postpartum

June 23, 2021

A new observational study has begun to evaluate the immune responses generated by COVID-19 vaccines administered to pregnant or postpartum people. Researchers will measure the development and durability of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in people vaccinated during pregnancy or the first two postpartum months. Researchers also will assess vaccine safety and evaluate the transfer of vaccine-induced antibodies to infants across the placenta and through breast milk. 

A pregnant woman in a blue dress

NIH Scientists Describe “Multi-Kingdom Dialogue” Between Internal, External Microbiota

June 23, 2021

National Institutes of Health scientists and their collaborators have identified an internal communication network in mammals that may regulate tissue repair and inflammation, providing new insights on how diseases such as obesity and inflammatory skin disorders develop. The new research is published in Cell.

This image shows an outline of a body with microorganisms inside to represent the billions of living things within a person that contribute to human health and disease.

Biden Administration to Invest $3 Billion from American Rescue Plan as Part of COVID-19 Antiviral Development Strategy

June 17, 2021

Through collaboration within the HHS, including NIH, NIAID, and BARDA, the Antiviral Program for Pandemics will respond to the urgent need for antivirals to treat COVID-19.

Statement—U.S. Clinical Trial Results Show Novavax Vaccine is Safe and Prevents COVID-19

June 14, 2021

Results from the PREVENT-19 clinical trial show that the investigational NVX-CoV2373 vaccine demonstrated 90.4% efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 disease.

close up of vaccine needle in arm

Clinical Trial Evaluating Mixed COVID-19 Vaccine Schedules Begins

June 01, 2021

The National Institutes of Health has started a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in which adult volunteers who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will receive booster doses of different COVID-19 vaccines to determine the safety and immunogenicity of mixed boosted regimens.

Transmission electron micrograph of a SARS-CoV-2 virus particle (UK B.1.1.7 variant)

NIH Launches Clinical Trial of Universal Influenza Vaccine Candidate

June 01, 2021

A first-in-human, Phase 1 trial assessing the safety and immunogenicity of an investigational nanoparticle influenza vaccine designed to provide long-lasting protection against multiple flu virus strains has begun at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Healthy participants 18 to 50 years old will receive either a licensed seasonal influenza vaccine or the experimental vaccine, FluMos-v1.

computer-generated image of nanoparticle influenza vaccine

May 2021

NIH Scientists Find that Salmonella Use Intestinal Epithelial Cells to Colonize the Gut

May 26, 2021

The immune system’s attempt to eliminate Salmonella bacteria from the gastrointestinal (GI) tract instead facilitates colonization of the intestinal tract and fecal shedding, according to National Institutes of Health scientists. The study, published in Cell Host & Microbe, was conducted by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) scientists at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana.

Scanning electron micrograph of Salmonella Typhimurium invading a human epithelial cell.

Gene Therapy Restores Immune Function in Children with Rare Immunodeficiency

May 11, 2021

An investigational gene therapy can safely restore the immune systems of infants and children who have a rare, life-threatening inherited immunodeficiency disorder, according to research supported in part by the National Institutes of Health.

A DNA double helix rests on a print-out illustration of the DNA letters A, T, C and G.

NIH Statement on World Asthma Day 2021

May 05, 2021

On World Asthma Day, the National Institutes of Health reaffirms its commitment to research to improve the lives of people with asthma. More than 25 million people in the United States have asthma, including 5.1 million children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This chronic lung disease can reduce quality of life, contributes to considerable emotional and financial stress, and is a major contributing factor to missed time from school and work.