Speaking of Science

The average age for the start of puberty has been dropping for decades. It's a global trend that could be signaling a public health threat to the physical and psychological development of younger, more vulnerable swaths of the population. Still, there's no clear culprit for early puberty; it's a complicated puzzle with many scattered pieces. At the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), pediatric neuroendocrinologist Dr. Natalie Shaw has been assembling the pieces together and recently found a new lead hiding in plain sight.

This year has seen a record number of dengue cases all over the world. It might not be a fluke, as climate change expands the areas where the mosquito that transmits the tropical disease can thrive. New measures for treatment and protection are necessary, but there's something peculiar about the way dengue infects the body that has stumped scientists for decades. That is, until now. Dr. Leah Katzelnick, Dr. Camila Odio and Dr. Stephen Whitehead from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) are digging into dengue and coming up with ways to defy it.

Historical failings, like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 that restricted immigration from China for 61 years, have cast a shadow of prejudice and discrimination over Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) populations. Its effects continue to loom heavy, often reducing these groups to a single racial-ethnic category and masking major differences that exist between them, even when it comes to their health. In this episode, Devon Valera, from the Office of NIH History, breaks down how history has shaped AANHPI experiences and perceptions, and Dr. Jacqueline Vo from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), explains why science is now calling to dismantle the myth that these populations are a monolithic group.

Beverly Gage came to the NIH with a condition that had never been observed before. A mysterious genetic mutation that caused her chronic joint pain and inflammation led her to Dr. Michael Ombrello, an expert in rare inflammatory diseases at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). Where their paths cross shows us the current challenges of diagnosing, treating, and living with a disorder that is new to science.

The blood-brain barrier keeps bad actors like toxins, viruses, and bacteria from entering the brain. But in the case of brain cancer when the danger is already inside, the blood-brain barrier can work against a person's health by shutting out the medications meant to eliminate the threat. Dr. Sadhana Jackson from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) works to figure out ways to selectively get cancer treatments through the blood-brain barrier to treat patients with certain types of brain tumors known as gliomas.
Learn more about Dr. Jackson work at https://irp.nih.gov/pi/sadhana-jackson.