In an ongoing clinical trial, a paralyzed woman was able to reach for and sip from a drink on her own — for the first time in nearly 15 years — by using her thoughts to direct a robotic arm. The trial, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, is evaluating the safety and feasibility of an investigational device called the BrainGate neural interface system.

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  1. Reach of national clinical and translational research consortium The National Institutes of Health announced that it will provide $200 million over five years to five health research centers to speed scientific discoveries into treatments for patients. The grants were awarded as part of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program, which is led by the NIH’s National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)....
  2. Possible alternate therapy for adults with poorly controlled asthma A drug commonly used for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) successfully treats adults whose asthma is not well-controlled on low doses of inhaled corticosteroids, reported researchers supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health....
  3. Medicare Card, Comparable effectiveness shown for two common sudden deafness treatments Direct injection of steroids into the middle ear for the treatment of sudden deafness was shown to be no more or less effective than oral steroids in restoring hearing levels in a large comparison study of patients. The study results appear in the May 25, 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. […]...
  4. Study named 2011 Breakthrough of the Year by Science The journal Science has chosen the HPTN 052 clinical trial, an international HIV prevention trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, as the 2011 Breakthrough of the Year....
  5. Medicare, Funded HIV clinical research sites to join pediatric tuberculosis vaccine study Several U.S. government-funded HIV/AIDS clinical research sites in Africa will join other collaborators in an ongoing clinical trial testing an investigational tuberculosis (TB) vaccine in infants at risk for TB infection. “We are pleased to be able to tap into our existing HIV/AIDS clinical research infrastructure to help test promising investigational vaccines against TB,” said […]...
  6. Medicare Help for Individuals with Limited Income Extra Help for People with Limited Income and Resources If you are not sure if you qualify for extra help paying for Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage, visit these two online resources: 1. Apply Online for Extra Help with Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs If your resources are less than $11,710 (single) or $23,410 (married) and […]...
  7. Project REACH App Challenge (Monetary Prizes) This challenge calls for an app that provides access to information about the availability of shelters, free clinics, and other social services used by America’s homeless. Volunteers and outreach workers should be able to use this app to easily share information with those in need. The Department of Veterans Affairs will award $10,000 to up […]...
  8. Blog Post Mental Illness Defined as Disruption in Neural Circuits Research on neural circuits is changing how mental illnesses are understood and may ultimately lead to new ways to treat brain disorders early enough to prevent symptoms....
  9. Study of youth to seek origins of heart disease among African-Americans Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health are undertaking a preliminary study to identify the early origins of heart disease among African-Americans. The new feasibility study will enroll children and grand children of participants taking part in the largest study of heart disease risk factors among African-American adults, the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), in […]...
  10. Possible clues found to why HIV vaccine showed modest protection Insights into how the first vaccine ever reported to modestly prevent HIV infection in people might have worked were published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Scientists have found that among adults who received the experimental HIV vaccine during the landmark RV144 clinical trial, those who produced relatively high levels of a […]...
  11. Adverse Cardiovascular Events Reported in Testosterone Trial in Older Men A clinical trial of testosterone treatment in older men, reported June 30 online in the New England Journal of Medicine, has found a higher rate of adverse cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and elevated blood pressure, in a group of older men receiving testosterone gel compared to those receiving placebo. Due to these events, […]...
  12. From Touchpad to Thought-pad? The study, published in Nature, found that when research subjects had their brains connected to a computer displaying two merged images, they could force the computer to display one of the images and discard the other. The signals transmitted from each subject’s brain to the computer were derived from just a handful of brain cells....
  13. Funded study shows reduction in death for men with intermediate-grade prostate cancer Short-term hormone therapy given in combination with radiation therapy to men with early-stage prostate cancer increased their chances of living longer compared to treatment with radiation therapy alone, according to a clinical trial supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. Benefits of the combined treatment were limited mainly […]...
  14. NIH-Funded Study Finds Early HAART during TB Treatment Boosts Survival Rate in People Co-Infected with HIV and TB A clinical trial in Cambodia has found it possible to prolong the survival of untreated HIV-infected adults with very weak immune systems and newly diagnosed tuberculosis (TB) by starting anti-HIV therapy two weeks after beginning TB treatment, rather than waiting eight weeks, as has been standard. This finding by scientists co-funded by the National Institute […]...
  15. Medicare – From Neurons to Thought: Coherent Electrical Patterns Observed Across the Brain Amidst the background hum of electrical signaling generated by neurons in the brain, scientists have found that local groups of neurons, firing in coordination, sometimes create a signal that is mirrored instantaneously and precisely by other groups of neurons across the brain....