Focus:

If the saying that two heads are better than one is true, then joining two fields of science may be better than one to spur more advances in medicine. With a $6.7 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers will bring together immunologists, oncologists and biomedical engineers in an effort to build new tools to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Channels: Grant Funded News, All Journal News, Cancer, Education, Engineering, Immunology, NIH NIBIB Grant News,

Keywords: Jonathan Schneck, JH-TIE, immunoengineering

What factors affect how human touch perceives softness, like the feel of pressing your fingertip against a marshmallow, a piece of clay or a rubber ball? By exploring this question in detail, UC San Diego researchers discovered clever tricks to design materials that replicate different levels of perceived softness.

Channels: All Journal News, Grant Funded News, Materials Science, Embargoed Feed - hidden, NIH NIBIB Grant News, Staff Picks,

Keywords: Haptics, materials science , softness, tactile feedback, Tactile Perception, Haptic interface, tactile materials

Bioengineers have developed a 3D printing technique that creates the interacting networks for transport of air, blood, and other bodily fluids—a major step toward 3D printed replacement organs.

Channels: All Journal News, Grant Funded News, Liver Disease, Respiratory Diseases and Disorders, Surgery, Transplantation, NIH NIBIB Grant News,

Keywords: tissue bioengineering , Biomaterials, 3D Bioprinting, lung tissue, liver tissue, replacement organs, biogels, Hydrogels, vascularization

NIBIB-funded researchers used photoacoustic imaging for rapid measurement of metabolic rate of individual cells from breast tumors—information that can help guide treatment strategies.

Channels: All Journal News, Cancer, Cell Biology, Women's Health, Grant Funded News, NIH NIBIB Grant News,

Keywords: Breast Cancer, single cell analysis, photoacoustic imaging, metabolic rate, oxygen consumption rate, Diagnosis, Treatment

A new technique to rehabilitate lungs that are too damaged to be considered for transplant could benefit an increasing population of patients with end-stage lung disease.

Channels: All Journal News, Respiratory Diseases and Disorders, Surgery, Transplantation, Nature (journal), Embargoed Feed - hidden, Grant Funded News, NIH NIBIB Grant News,

Keywords: Transplant, lung, lung injury repair, Gastric Aspiration, Lung Disease

As many as a billion people could be newly exposed to disease-carrying mosquitoes by the end of the century because of global warming, says a new study that examines temperature changes on a monthly basis across the world.

Channels: Grant Funded News, NIH NIBIB Grant News, Climate Science, Environmental Health, Infectious Diseases, Public Health, Zika Virus, PLOS ONE, Embargoed Feed - hidden, All Journal News,

Keywords: mosquitoes, Climate Change, zika virus, aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus

Experimenting with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers report they have successfully used positron emission tomography (PET) scans to calculate in real time how much of an immunotherapy drug reaches a tumor and what parts of a cancer remain unaffected.

Channels: All Journal News, Grant Funded News, NIH NIBIB Grant News, Cancer, Immunology, Pharmaceuticals,

Keywords: Sridhar Nimmagadda, Nimmagadda, PET, Positron Emission Tomography, Cancer, Radiolabel, Cancer Treatment, Cancer Drug, Drugs, Immunotherapy, checkpoint inhibitor, Tumor

Using strong and targeted but noninvasive magnets at specific sites in the brains of people with and without mild learning and memory problems, Johns Hopkins researchers report they were able to detect differences in the concentrations of brain chemicals that transmit messages between neurons. The strength of these magnetic fields allows the researchers to measure tiny amounts and compare multiple brain metabolite levels at the same time. These studies may ultimately help to reveal what initiates memory decline and may, perhaps, even predict dementia risk. The researchers believe that measuring such data over time will allow them to more accurately detect and describe changes in metabolism in the brain as a person progresses from healthy to mild cognitive impairment and to dementia.

Channels: All Journal News, Grant Funded News, NIH NIBIB Grant News, Aging, Alzheimer's and Dementia, Neuro, Mental Health,

Keywords: Gwenn Smith, Brain

A new Johns Hopkins study offers promise towards someday being able to non-invasively examine changes in cancerous tumors to determine whether they’ll respond to radiation treatment, before treatment even begins.

Channels: All Journal News, Grant Funded News, Cancer, Personalized Medicine, Local - Maryland, Embargoed Feed - hidden, NIH NIBIB Grant News,

Specialized lung cells appear in the developing fetus much earlier than scientists previously thought. Investigating the fetal signaling pathways active in the biological events by which alveoli form may offer future opportunities to treat lung damage caused by prematurity and other lung injuries.

Channels: Children's Health, Local - Pennsylvania, Local - Philly Metro, Embargoed Feed - hidden, Grant Funded News, Cell Biology, Respiratory Diseases and Disorders, NIH NIBIB Grant News,

Keywords: Pulmonology, Pediatrics, alveolar cells, Lung Development, Cell Fate