Skin is the body’s largest organ and plays a vital role in health. It helps regulate body temperature, retain body fluid, and defend against the outside world. It also allows the sensation of touch and pain. Skin is a complex structure made up of multiple layers. It contains fat, nerves, glands, and hair follicles. Scientists have been able to grow human skin outside the body for over 40 years. However, skin grown in cultures lacked embedded structures, like hair follicles and sweat glands, found in real skin. A team of researchers led by Dr. Karl Koehler of Boston Children’s Hospital

The human back is a complex structure with bones, nerves, tendons, discs, and more — all places where something can go wrong and cause pain, which, for many people, becomes a long-term or chronic problem. Life stresses and other medical and mental health conditions aggravate the problem. With so many pieces, it’s hard to get a holistic view of the puzzle or pinpoint the cause of the pain. “People tend to focus on one aspect or another,” said Jeffrey Lotz, Ph.D., a medical engineer who studies back pain at the University of California, San Francisco. “Some people think it’s largely

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A new study, which analyzed 40 years of Framingham Heart Study data, found an association between lowered rates of hip fractures and decreases in smoking and heavy drinking.The rates of hip fractures in the United States have been declining over the past few decades.

Lindsey A. Criswell, M.D., M.P.H., D.Sc., has been named director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). Dr. Criswell is currently vice chancellor of research at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She is a professor of rheumatology and a professor of orofacial sciences at UCSF. She expects to join NIH in early 2021, as the third director in the history of NIAMS. “Dr. Criswell has rich experience as a clinician, researcher and administrator. Her ability to oversee the research program of one of the country’s top research-intensive medical schools, and her expertise in

Dear Colleagues, When I last reached out back in April, we were all just beginning to navigate the unpredictable situation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since that time, you have all demonstrated great patience, strong resolve, and a tremendous amount of adaptability. NIH understands that the pandemic continues to upend lives and livelihoods, including those of its grantees and their institutions. To help you move through these uncertain times, the agency has provided the grantee community with a number of COVID-19 flexibilities. The agency will continue to monitor the situation and will post guide notices and updated FAQs on

NIH scientists developed and recently released a free, online data query tool called NeutGX. Researchers around the world can use NeutGX to explore the genetic basis of neutrophil-mediated inflammation in autoimmune diseases, cancer, infectious diseases and other conditions.