April 13, 2021

New Assay Detects Marker of Metastatic Cancers, Infection, Trauma and Neurological Disease

Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research demonstrated the potential of a novel blood test for cathepsin B, a well-studied protein important to brain development and function, as an indicator for a range of disease states.Cathepsin B plays an important role in the body, regulating the metabolism, immune responses, degradation of

April 8, 2021

Accelerated Cellular Aging Associated with Mortality Seen in Depressed Individuals

Cells from healthy individuals with major depressive disorder were found to have higher than expected rates of methylation at specific sites on their DNA, when compared to cells from healthy individuals without MDD, according to a study by a multidisciplinary team of Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and University of California San Francisco

April 5, 2021

Phase 1 Clinical Trial of WRAIR-developed COVID-19 Vaccine Begins

A unique vaccine to protect against COVID-19 begins clinical testing Tuesday, 6 April, at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), part of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command. Scientists developed a nanoparticle vaccine, based on a ferritin platform, which offers a flexible approach to targeting multiple variants of

March 5, 2021

WRAIR, Duke scientists find evidence of monoclonal antibodies’ efficacy in fighting malarial infection

Scientists at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, in a collaboration with Duke University, have confirmed that monoclonal antibodies can be an effective tool in the global fight against malaria.The study, led by Dr. Sheetij Dutta, chief of the Structural Vaccinology Laboratory at WRAIR, showed that mAbs such as CIS43 were most effective in a

Dec. 22, 2020

Newly Identified PTSD Biotypes Enable Improved Screening Tools, Shed Light on Divergent Efficacy of PTSD Treatments

Researchers from the PTSD Systems Biology Consortium, led by scientists from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, have identified distinct biotypes for post-traumatic stress disorder, the first of their kind for any psychological disorder. “These biotypes can refine the development of screening tools and may explain the varying efficacy of

Dec. 18, 2020

Brain Injury Signatures Found among Healthy Persons Link to Occupational Blast Exposure

Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research recently demonstrated that brain-related proteins are linked to low levels of overpressure exposure from weapons and explosives used in training.   Blast overpressure is the displacement of air above normal atmospheric pressure. Service Members are exposed to overpressure generated by heavy

Nov. 3, 2020

MicroRNA May Serve as Therapeutic Targets for Traumatic Brain Injury

Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research have shown that microRNA biomarkers related to Alzheimer’s disease play a role in brain damage caused by traumatic brain injury.TBI or brain trauma results from blows to the head, leading to chronic disruption of the brain and a cascade of long-term health conditions. Patients who suffer

Oct. 9, 2020

WRAIR Continues Its Fight against Drug-resistant Bacteria and Wound Infections

Though the COVID-19 pandemic remains a top priority for the U.S. Army and government’s healthcare and medical research apparatus, SARS-CoV-2 is just one of many ongoing infectious disease-related public health concerns. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria remain a significant threat to the public as well as Service Members, on and off the

Sept. 30, 2020

Cognitive Flexibility Training Manages Responses to Social Conflict

Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research and Army Research Laboratory have developed a computer-based training to reduce anger, reactive aggression and hostile attribution bias—the tendency to attribute hostile intent to the actions of others—in ambiguous social conflict situations.Anger and aggression are common reactions to

July 7, 2020

Long-studied Protein Could Be a Measure of Traumatic Brain Injury

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research have recently demonstrated that cathepsin B, a well-studied protein important to brain development and function, can be used as biomarker, or indicator of severity, for traumatic brain injury.  Traumatic brain injury or brain trauma results from blows to the head, leading to life-changing