Latest news releases from NIH-funded organizations

Funded Research News

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-Oct-2026 06:16 ET (29-Oct-2026 10:16 GMT/UTC)

5-May-2026

Researchers find virtual reality intervention improves interactions between autistic individuals and police officers

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study found that an innovative virtual reality intervention was helpful for improving interactions between autistic teens and adults and law enforcement officers. These findings suggest that brief, focused interventions could support the transition from adolescence into adulthood and enhance independence for those in the autism community.

Journal

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

5-May-2026

 

How can the same genetic mutation lead to different clinical outcomes?

Penn State
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have developed methods using induced pluripotent stem cells and CRISPR gene editing to evaluate how genetic variants elsewhere in an individual's genome — their genetic background — work with a deletion on chromosome 16 that is associated with various neurodevelopmental outcomes to help determine the features that the individual will develop.

Journal

Nature Communications

5-May-2026

Potatoes may have shaped genetic makeup of Indigenous Andeans

University at Buffalo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Evolutionary biologists and anthropologists found that natural selection favored Indigenous Andeans who had an unusually high number of salivary amylase genes (AMY1) starting around 6,000 to 10,000 years ago — the same period when potatoes were first grown in the Andean highlands, 

Journal

Nature Communications

Funder

Leakey Foundation

5-May-2026

TGen, City of Hope study surveys dysfunctional gene splicing in metastatic kidney disease

The Translational Genomics Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at City of Hope® and TGen (part of City of Hope) have identified a significant correlation between a tumor’s “splicing burden” and its clinical response to treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

Journal

Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer

5-May-2026

Gut hormone FGF15 changes how mice respond to weight loss

Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new study published in Diabetes, University of Michigan researchers found that a gut hormone known as fibroblast growth factor 15, or FGF15, is essential for preserving lean mass during diet-induced weight loss.

Journal

Diabetes

Funder

Department of Veterans' Affairs, Michigan Nutrition Obesity Research Center, Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research