January 6, 2021
The intent of the Breakthrough Award is to support promising research that has high potential to lead to or make breakthroughs in breast cancer. The critical components of this award mechanism are: Impact: Research supported by the Breakthrough Award will have the potential for a major impact and accelerate progress toward ending breast cancer. The impact may be near-term or long-term, but must move beyond a minor advancement and have the potential to lead to a new approach that is fundamentally better than interventions already approved or in clinical development. Applications are expected to identify the breast cancer patients or at-risk individuals who would ultimately benefit from the proposed research. Research Scope: The Breakthrough Award is structured with four different funding levels. The levels are designed to support major (but not all) stages of research that will lead to clinical application. Each level has a defined research scope. It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator (PI) to select the level that aligns with the scope of the proposed research. The funding level should be selected based on the research scope defined in the Program Announcement, and not on the amount of the budget.
January 4, 2021
Some pregnant health providers are choosing to get an emergency-approved vaccine, although frustration over the lack of safety information remains.
In Absence of Data, Pregnant Women Push Forward With COVID-19 Vaccine
January 2, 2021
At least a decade of women’s progress in the work force has been wiped out by the pandemic
Women are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, research shows
January 1, 2021
Biological sex is increasingly recognized as a critical determinant of health and disease, particularly relevant to the topical COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Epidemiological data and observational reports from both the original SARS epidemic and the most recent COVID-19 pandemic have a common feature: males are more likely to exhibit enhanced disease severity and mortality than females. Sex differences in cardiovascular disease and COVID-19 share mechanistic foundations, namely, the involvement of both the innate immune system and the canonical renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Immunological differences suggest that females mount a rapid and aggressive innate immune response, and the attenuated antiviral response in males may confer enhanced susceptibility to severe disease. Furthermore, the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is involved in disease pathogenesis in cardiovascular disease and COVID-19, either to serve as a protective mechanism by deactivating the RAS or as the receptor for viral entry, respectively. Loss of membrane ACE2 and a corresponding increase in plasma ACE2 are associated with worsened cardiovascular disease outcomes, a mechanism attributed to a disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM17). SARS-CoV-2 infection also leads to ADAM17 activation, a positive feedback cycle that exacerbates ACE2 loss. Therefore, the relationship between cardiovascular disease and COVID-19 is critically dependent on the loss of membrane ACE2 by ADAM17-mediated proteolytic cleavage. This article explores potential mechanisms involved in COVID-19 that may contribute to sex-specific susceptibility focusing on the innate immune system and the RAS, namely, genetics and sex hormones. Finally, we highlight here the added challenges of gender in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sex differences in COVID-19: candidate pathways, genetics of ACE2, and sex hormones
December 30, 2020
In an in-depth study of how COVID-19 affects a patient’s brain, National Institutes of Health researchers consistently spotted hallmarks of damage caused by thinning and leaky brain blood vessels in tissue samples from patients who died shortly after contracting the disease. In addition, they saw no signs of SARS-CoV-2 in the tissue samples, suggesting the damage was not caused by a direct viral attack on the brain. The results were published as a correspondence in the New England Journal of Medicine.
December 28, 2020
The Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease at Purdue University is partnering with a Cleveland-based technology firm to develop a rapid diagnostic platform for the virus that causes COVID-19 and other pathogens. The university says the effort with IdentifySensors Biologics "takes a completely different path" than current diagnostic tests. The platform combines technology based on the work of Lia Stanciu, a professor of materials engineering at Purdue, which the university says can identify pathogens "by their induced distinctive resistance change to electronic materials."
December 28, 2020
In 2020, working women suffered unprecedented losses, facing both disproportionate job loss and a mushrooming of caregiving responsibilities—a combination that could ultimately roll back much of the progress women have made in the workforce over the past years and decades. But, with a new year, a new presidential administration, and a coronavirus vaccine on the horizon, do women stand a chance of recovering in 2021? Six experts—from Melinda Gates to Time’s Up CEO Tina Tchen—weighed in on the question. All emphasized the critical importance of addressing key gaps like accessible childcare and paid family leave. But from unique perches—lobbying Congress on these issues, working with businesses to better serve female workers, and analyzing economic data—each has a different outlook for the new year.
Will working women recover in 2021? Six experts share their predictions
December 26, 2020
There are sex differences in the pubertal emergence of genetic effects on eating pathology (adrenarche in males; gonadarche in females), and at least some genetic contributions to eating pathology seem to vary between the sexes. Furthermore, sex steroid hormones (eg, testosterone, estradiol, progesterone) are leading contributors to differential risk for eating pathology in males and females across the life span. Emerging data suggest that between-sex and within-sex variability in risk might occur via hormone-driven modulation (activation/deactivation) of genetic influences and neural responsiveness to food-related cues.
A Narrative Review of Sex Differences in Eating Disorders: Is There a Biological Basis?
December 23, 2020
Serotonin is a neurochemical that plays a critical role in the way the brain controls our thoughts and feelings. For example, many antidepressants are designed to alter serotonin signals sent between neurons. In an article in Cell, National Institutes of Health-funded researchers described how they used advanced genetic engineering techniques to transform a bacterial protein into a new research tool that may help monitor serotonin transmission with greater fidelity than current methods. Preclinical experiments, primarily in mice, showed that the sensor could detect subtle, real-time changes in brain serotonin levels during sleep, fear, and social interactions, as well as test the effectiveness of new psychoactive drugs. The study was funded, in part, by the NIH’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative which aims to revolutionize our understanding of the brain under healthy and disease conditions.
AI-designed serotonin sensor may help scientists study sleep and mental health
December 22, 2020
Common methods of preserving a woman’s fertility before starting breast cancer treatment are safe for young women, according to a large study that tracked Swedish women for more than 2 decades. About 6% of the women who chose to freeze their embryos, eggs, or ovarian tissue before undergoing treatment for breast cancer died over the 23 years covered by the study. During the same period, 13% of matched women who didn’t undergo fertility preservation died, according to the study results published on November 19 in JAMA Oncology.
Fertility Preservation Safe for Young Women with Breast Cancer
