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Lists of accomplishments and honors fail to provide insights into the process of discovery and the day-to-day interactions that made them possible. In these brief pieces, you will learn about the individuals that make up the Intramural Research Program (IRP). In addition to learning about their goals and achievements, you will learn about their inspirational moments, their individual roads to discovery, and most of all, why they are passionate about the research that they do in the IRP.
Kaitlyn Sadtler experiments with biomaterials to boost the body’s ability to regenerate.
NIH IDEAS Lab inventions enable otherwise impossible research.
Jesus Valenzuela dissects how our bodies react to insect bites.
Unexpected Leads to Curb Addiction
Lorenzo Leggio seizes new opportunities to develop treatments for substance use disorders.
Shaping Therapies for Sickle Cell Disease
Swee Lay Thein is hunting for new ways to help patients with deformed red blood cells.
Yi Gu is on a journey to find out how the brain learns the lay of the land.
Shahinaz Gadalla aims to improve outcomes for stem cell transplants.
Preserving Cellular Health During Aging
Nathan Basisty looks for molecular markers to assess biological age and prevent future disease.
Ancient Genes, Modern Diseases
Neil Hanchard searches for genetic secrets in the birthplace of humanity.
Yaron Rotman seeks treatments for an increasingly common cause of liver injury.
Turning Face Perception on Its Head
David Leopold is devising new ways to study how our brains process social cues.
Safeguarding a Second Chance at Life
Sean Agbor-Enoh uses an innovative test to predict complications in organ transplant recipients.
Mariana Kaplan aims to stop the immune system from harming the cells it is supposed to defend.
Emily Chew has a vision to reduce the risk of eye disease by filling gaps in nutrition.
Avindra Nath investigates the mysterious ways viruses affect the nervous system.
David Takeda is laying the groundwork for a bold new approach to cancer therapy.
Smart Devices for Better Health
Sherine El-Toukhy leverages digital technologies to improve access to healthcare.
Paule Joseph explores how variations in taste and smell might contribute to obesity and addiction.
Mario Penzo uses cutting-edge genetic techniques to observe and influence brain circuits involved in stress and anxiety.
Virtual Realities, Real Discoveries
Susan Persky uses immersive simulations to understand how genomic information influences people’s health behaviors.
Alex Chesler works with colleagues across the IRP to uncover the mysteries of touch and pain.
Janet Hall explores the cascading effects of hormonal disruptions on the reproductive system.
Antonina Roll-Mecak examines how tubulin diversity might affect cell shape, movement, and recovery after injury.
Leorey Saligan works as a nurse and scientist to improve both quality of life and therapeutic outcomes for patients suffering from fatigue.
Elizabeth Rasch and her multidisciplinary team develop better ways to measure disability.
The Long Road to Understanding Kidney Cancer
W. Marston Linehan investigates kidney cancer gene pathways to find new treatment strategies.
One Gene, Three Disorders, and No Cures
Karen Usdin investigates how multiple copies of a short DNA repeat give rise to the Fragile X-related disorders.
Tongqing Zhou brings the tools of structural biology to the search for an HIV vaccine.
Bibiana Bielekova moves from the bench to the bedside and back again in pursuit of a cure for multiple sclerosis.
Myriam Gorospe views aging through a molecular lens to help lengthen healthspan.
Bechara Kachar uses high-tech imaging to understand the cell biology of hearing.
By manipulating the mouse genome, Rafael Casellas brings human gene therapy closer to reality.
Jerrel Yakel studies the neural circuits that underlie learning and memory.
Carlos Zarate speeds up treatment for major depression.
Kevin Hall applies a physicist’s view of energy to the human body.
Keir Neuman applies physics to transform the field of biology.
Rosa Puertollano dives into the mechanisms of cellular cleanup.
Research into the Realm of Risk
Caroline Fox investigates risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease.
Mark Schiffman uses molecular epidemiology to predict and prevent cervical cancer.
Decoding Telomere Biology and Cancer Risk
Sharon Savage guides a team to unraveling the secrets of our telomeres.
Ken Yamada investigates the molecular basis of cell motility and adhesion.
Addiction Dogma Finds New Directions
Geoffrey Schoenbaum investigates how our insight (or lack thereof) shapes behavior.
Vision to Grow as Scientist and Mentor
Kapil Bharti accelerates to grow RPE from stem cells, aiming to restore damaged eyesight.
Chronic Plus Binge: A Better Model of Alcohol Abuse
Bin Gao probes the immune system to prevent and treat advanced liver disease.
Karen Adelman investigates how the body’s cells stay on top of their environment.
Cheryl Cropp ventures away from the bench to dig into cancer data.
Building Bodily Cancer Defenses
James Gulley provides new tools in the immune system’s fight against cancer.
Christina Annunziata brings her unique expertise to bear on the problem of ovarian cancer.
From the Mountains to the Clinic
Sonja M. Best hunts for viruses that evade the immune system.
The Microbiome: When Good Bugs Go Bad
Yasmine Belkaid explores the fine balance that exists between microbes and their hosts.
Anand Swaroop aims to treat retinal diseases with cell-based therapies.
Gary Felsenfeld celebrates 50 years at the NIH with an indefatigable research agenda.
Michael Collins and his Clinical Center colleagues cure a teenager of a debilitating bone disorder.
Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz peers into the life and death of cells.
Thomas Kunkel inspects DNA replication fidelity for underpinnings of health and disease.
Owen Schwartz finds ways for scientists to visualize the previously unknown.
Hari Shroff builds microscopes that shine light on the boundaries of neuroscience.
Teresa Przytycka answers complex biological questions using computational tools.
Pratip Chattopadhyay develops cutting-edge tools to peer into the immune system.
A Two-year Clinical Research Odyssey
William Gahl searches for answers to some of the most confounding undiagnosed diseases.
A Conviction, an Addiction, and a Mouse
Veronica Alvarez takes the path less traveled to understand addiction.
Brian Brooks looks for ways to help families with childhood blindness.
And the Award for Best Supporting Cell Goes To…
Lisa Cunningham uses cellular stress to protect the inner ear from chemotherapy.