EurekAlert! National Institutes of Health - NIH-funded News

Latest news releases from NIH-funded organizations

Funded Research News

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 30-Oct-2026 08:17 ET (30-Oct-2026 12:17 GMT/UTC)

How peach fuzz could hold clues to develop new treatments for chronic itch

University of Michigan
Peer-Reviewed Publication

"We need a new pathway to target if we want to treat chronic itch," said Bo Duan of the University of Michigan. "And our research suggests that this population of neurons could be a target in the future."

Journal: Neuron

A new vision: How Utah State bioengineering researchers are changing the outlook for aging eyes

Utah State University

Tissue engineers have developed a model to mimic the effects of aging to improve prevention and treatment of age-related macular degeneration and other age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.

Journal: GeroScience
Funder: BrightFocus Foundation

Topical gel helps burn wounds heal faster using an existing FDA-approved drug

Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Los Angeles, CA – June 4, 2026 – Researchers at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation and University of Arizona College of Medicine, have developed a topical gel formulation with 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), to treat burn wounds, achieving near-complete closure in 21 days.

Journal: Biomaterials
Funder: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Defense

Irregular sleep in preschool-age children is associated with lower verbal and memory performance

American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Reports and Proceedings

A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2026 annual meeting found that irregular sleep — including variability in sleep timing and duration — was associated with lower receptive vocabulary and visuospatial memory scores in preschool-age children, even after accounting for total sleep duration.

Journal: SLEEP
Meeting: SLEEP 2026

How new discoveries about 'ground plans' for neurons could simplify brain, behavior research

University of Michigan
Peer-Reviewed Publication

"Instead of studying all 8,000 kinds of neurons, we can instead understand how circuits work by studying these 200 modular elements that are wired together in various ways for different functions."

Journal: Nature
Funder: Pew Charitable Trusts, McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience