NIBIB-funded researchers are developing an autonomous robot that can perform bowel surgery with minimal assistance from a surgeon. In preclinical models, the robot outperformed expert surgeons when compared head-to-head.

As the number of Covid-19 cases grows in the United States, experts wonder if the country fully understands the current threat from the pandemic. As the use of at-home Covid-19 tests rises, so does the concern that most of those test results go unreported, leading to an undercount of the true number of Covid-19 cases across the country. Source: CNN.com

An NIH-funded team at Cornell University has developed a compound delivered into the nose that blocked a protein used by SARS-CoV-2 to get into cells and prevented severe infection in mice. Antiviral drugs that target host cells may work against many existing and future variants of the virus that causes COVID-19. Source: NIH Research Matters

NIBIB-funded researchers are developing a method to activate natural killer cells using an external magnetic field, which not only enhances their cytotoxicity, but allows them to be tracked using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to verify that they’ve reached their target.

Researchers have discovered a molecular switch involved in controlling the transition from normal tissue repair to incomplete, or permanent, damage. The NIH-supported researchers also suggest a possible drug candidate to control this switch and slow the progression of chronic kidney disease. Source: NIH Director's Blog

Researchers in Atlanta have helped the federal government evaluate dozens of Covid tests and pioneer a new model for developing novel diagnostics. Source: The New York Times

Kaitlyn Sadtler, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, and Jamel Ali, Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering, have received a Grainger Grant for their project titled, “Evaluating the role of micro-mechanical remodeling during immune-mediating tissue regeneration.” The award to Florida A&M University, marks the first Grainger Grant to a Historically Black College and University. Source: National Academy of Engineering

Scientists have developed a single point-of-care assay that identifies malaria, typhoid—or both simultaneously—in just 15 minutes.

Bioengineers at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) are asking big questions—and striking up trans-NIH collaborations to answer them. And by joining forces with researchers across NIH’s intramural research program (IRP), they’re moving discovery into entirely new places. Read more at the NIH Catalyst.