NIAMS is saddened to share the news that Paul Plotz, M.D., who dedicated nearly four decades of service to science at the NIH, passed away on January 13, 2024, at the age of 86 after a long illness. Dr. Plotz was a world-renowned rheumatologist, immunologist, and researcher known internationally as an expert in myositis, an inflammatory muscle disease and rare autoimmune condition. He retired from NIH in 2011 after serving in a variety of leadership roles, including as chief of the NIAMS Arthritis and Rheumatism Branch, as well as acting scientific director and acting deputy director. He also was senior

Dr. Lindsey A. Criswell, Director of NIAMS, recently spoke at the 2023 annual meeting of the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) program. The BIRCWH program, which is led by the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health, provides career development training opportunities by connecting junior faculty with senior faculty who have a shared interest in women’s health and sex differences research. BIRCWH is co-sponsored by NIAMS. Dr. Criswell delivered the Legacy of Leadership lecture where she discussed her career trajectory, and the importance of mentorship, collaboration, and work-life balance. She also talked about some of the different

NIAMS strives to advance the best science on arthritis, musculoskeletal, and skin diseases, which have a profound effect on the quality of life for millions of Americans. To further the NIAMS mission—and importantly, to best steward the resources allocated to us by Congress—we are making some changes to our funding approach and strategy. These include reserving a larger portion of funding to support applications beyond the payline (which is the funding percentile up to which almost all grant applications will be funded). Historically, NIAMS has paid most of its applications according to a strict payline-driven approach, with limited funds available

The NIAMS Labs Core Facilities facilitate deeper dives into tissues and cells and help researchers unravel the mysteries of human disease by offering cutting edge instruments, technologies, and data analysis services. A new video series provides researchers with a look inside five of the institute’s facilities: Biodata Mining and Discovery Section Translational Immunology Section Genomic Technology Section Light Imaging Section Flow Cytometry Section The videos highlight each core facility, from tools such as powerful microscopes and advanced sequencing technologies to consultation, trainings, and data analysis services. The core facilities help scientists answer many of their most complex research questions. For

Four of every five people diagnosed with an autoimmune disease are female. A newly published study, funded in part by NIAMS, helps shed light on why. Read more about this study: NIH Director's Blog: Study Offers New Clues to Why Most People with Autoimmune Diseases Are Women NIH Research Matters: Understanding Sex Differences in Autoimmune Disease

Dr. Lindsey A. Criswell, Director of NIAMS, joined other NIH Institute and Center directors in a joint commentary published recently by Nature Medicine . They highlight the diversity of the All of Us Research Program participant cohort and urge researchers to use the program’s dataset in their studies. This invaluable resource enables research across many areas of importance to NIH and may accelerate medical discoveries that benefit us all in the future. Read the full commentary from Nature Medicine .

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), through the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH), has announced the six recipients of the EXposome in Autoimmune Diseases PLANning (EXACT-PLAN) Awards . The EXACT-PLAN awardees will lay the groundwork for the EXACT Initiative, which is envisioned as a multisite, collaborative network that will adopt a team science approach to produce a systems level understanding of the role of the exposome in autoimmune diseases. The newly awarded projects support planning of research strategies, conceptualizing and testing technologies, and building partnerships, infrastructure, and capabilities to address the goals of the future initiative. This