The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) appointed Robert A. Colbert, M.D., Ph.D., as the director of the Institute's Clinical Research Program on February 16, 2020. Colbert, who joined the NIAMS in 2008, had served as deputy clinical director since 2012 and as acting clinical director since June 2018. "What excites me about the NIAMS Clinical Research Program director position is the opportunity we have to make an impact," Colbert explained. "We have a number of research programs that are making new discoveries that reveal how diseases develop and evolve and are translating these discoveries into

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered a second gene that causes melorheostosis, a rare group of conditions involving an often painful and disfiguring overgrowth of bone tissue. The gene, SMAD3, is part of a pathway that regulates cell development and growth. The researchers are now working to develop an animal model with a mutant version of SMAD3 to test potential treatments for the condition. The study appears in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

There’s no doubt that the global COVID-19 pandemic has upended our daily lives in unprecedented ways. This crisis has imposed unique challenges for people from all walks of life. I want to take a moment to acknowledge the strength, adaptability and resolve of the entire NIAMS community as we navigate this unpredictable situation.