EurekAlert! National Institutes of Health

Latest news releases from NIH-funded organizations

Funded Research News

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 8-Nov-2025 02:11 ET (8-Nov-2025 07:11 GMT/UTC)

28-Aug-2025

MERIT grant awarded to study cure for HIV

Weill Cornell Medicine
Grant and Award Announcement

Nearly 20 years ago, a man named Timothy Ray Brown who was living with HIV and cancer, underwent two courses of stem cell transplantation to treat his acute myeloid leukemia. By using donor cells that lacked a key molecule needed for HIV to enter and infect immune cells, the procedures not only led to remission of his cancer, but also cured him of HIV.

Funder: NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

28-Aug-2025

NIH awards OHSU scientists, collaborators $8.4 million to develop a cure for HIV

Oregon Health & Science University

Adam Castillejo, Paul Edmonds and Marc Franke live a world apart, yet they share one infinitesimally rare trait: Each of them literally embodies the cure for HIV.

Although HIV can now be managed over a lifetime of antiretroviral therapy, which suppresses the viral load, there is no definitive therapy to entirely rid the body of a virus that affects an estimated 40 million people worldwide — with a tiny number of notable exceptions.

In the coming year, three of them will gather to officially begin a unique scientific collaboration.

Funder: NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

28-Aug-2025

Novel therapy for pet cats with head and neck cancers could help humans, too

Cell Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have reported results from the first-ever clinical trial of a new class of targeted therapy in pet cats with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC)—a cancer which is notoriously deadly and difficult to treat. Publishing in the Cell Press journal Cancer Cell on August 28, the study found that 35% of the cats who received treatment had their disease controlled with minimal side effects—and the drug will likely be effective for humans with HNSCC as well.

Journal: Cancer Cell
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health, Center for Companion Animal Health at the University of California Davis

28-Aug-2025

New blood test for ALS detects early signs years before symptoms appear

Johns Hopkins Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

By 2040, experts estimate that nearly 400,000 people worldwide will be living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. This degenerative nervous system disease damages nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movement, leading to progressive muscle weakness, loss of muscle mass and, eventually, difficulty breathing. Current ALS diagnosis relies on neurological evaluations and the presence of symptoms; at present, there is no definitive diagnostic test.

Journal: Nature Medicine
Funder: Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Institute on Aging, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Division of Intramural Research, MSD France, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Muscular Dystrophy Association

28-Aug-2025

Landmark multi-center trial: Transcendental Meditation cuts diabetes risk and supports weight loss in Black women

Maharishi International University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A landmark clinical trial published in the Journal of Women’s Health reports that Transcendental Meditation (TM) significantly reduced diabetes risk factors and supported weight loss in older Black women at high risk for heart disease. The multi-center study—conducted at Morehouse School of Medicine and Howard University Hospital in collaboration with Maharishi International University—found that meditation improved blood sugar control, insulin resistance, cholesterol, and weight, pointing to a promising low-cost strategy amid the nation’s ongoing epidemics of obesity and diabetes.

Journal: Journal of Women s Health
Funder: NIH/National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health