In recognition of pioneering research and development that has brought NIH technology from the theoretical realms of the laboratory to clinical applications.

Awardee

National Heart Lung and Blood Institute 

• Dr. W. French Anderson

This development is the first and only FDA approved diagnostic test kit for parvovirus B19. Parvovirus B19 infection in pregnancy is often overlooked simply because most infected pregnant women are asymptomatic or have only mild manifestations, such as slight itching. However, pregnant women (in the first and second trimesters) with the B19 infection can give rise to serious fetal complications during pregnancy. Up to 50% of women are susceptible to parvovirus B19 infection. The B19 infection may result in anemia, pregnancy miscarriage and/or other problems.

This new, accelerated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method reduces the total imaging time for lengthy scans. The method may be used for imaging dynamic events such as heart motion or brain activity. The technology exploits the spatial and temporal correlation of magnetic resonance signals by combining parallel imaging and temporal filtering to achieve a new MRI technique referred to as (TSENSE). The TSENSE method has a higher degree of artifact suppression using parallel imaging and temporal filtering.

The pool of potential medicinal candidates found in natural products is vast. One section of one plant can contain thousands of potential candidate compounds. Natural products research has become increasingly interesting to pharmaceutical companies engaged in new drug discovery. As a result, a device is needed that will extract candidate compounds more efficiently and cost-effectively. 

Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are attractive delivery vectors in the field of gene therapy. A team from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) developed AAV5-based vectors for delivering gene therapy products into parts of human bodies. Gene therapy is on the brink of becoming a common medical practice; however, developing safe and effective gene therapy products has been challenging. One major issue has been finding a delivery vector to target the diseased tissues in the body without devastating side effects.

On July 20, 2012, a committee of the European Medicines Agency recommended for regulatory approval the first gene therapy using an adeno-associated virus vector to treat lipoprotein lipase deficiency (LPLD), a very rare genetic disease. With a normal diet, patients lacking sufficient levels of lipoprotein lipase have abnormally high serum triglycerides and high levels of very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), resulting in acute severe pancreatitis and chronic conditions associated with high levels of VLDL, such as cardiovascular diseases.